Skip to main content Link Menu Expand (external link) Document Search Copy Copied
Cracking the tech interview

Diphthongs

Sure, here are the diphthongs in English that may be challenging for Portuguese speakers (they don’t exist in Portuguese):

/eɪ/ (as in "day"): The closest sound is the monophthong /e/.
/aɪ/ (as in "fly"): The closest sound is the monophthong /a/.
/oʊ/ (as in "go"): The closest sound is the monophthong /o/.
/aʊ/ (as in "now"): The closest sound is the monophthong /au/.
/ɔɪ/ (as in "boy"): The closest sound is the vowel /ɔ/ followed by a semivowel /j/.
/eə/ (as in "hair"): The closest sound is the vowel /e/ followed by the consonant /r/.
/ɪə/ (as in "ear"): The closest sound is the vowel /i/ followed by the consonant /r/.
/ʊə/ (as in "tour"): The closest sound is the vowel /u/ followed by the consonant /r/.

It’s worth noting that even when a sound exists in both languages, the pronunciation can vary, and Portuguese speakers may still find certain English diphthongs challenging due to differences in stress patterns, intonation, or the specific combination of sounds.