Comparison of Portuguese and Spanish

Linguistic comparison

Portuguese and Spanish, although closely related Romance languages, differ in many aspects of their phonology, grammar, and lexicon. Both belong to a subset of the Romance languages known as West Iberian Romance, which also includes several other languages or dialects with fewer speakers, all of which are mutually intelligible to some degree. A 1949 study by Italian American linguist Mario Pei, analyzing the degree of difference from a language's parent (Latin, in the case of Romance languages) by comparing phonology, inflection, syntax, vocabulary, and intonation, indicated the following percentages (the higher the percentage, the greater the distance from Latin): In the case of Spanish it was 20%, the third closest Romance language to Latin, only behind Sardinian (8% distance) and Italian (12% distance). Portuguese was 31%, making it the second furthest language from Latin after French (44% distance). The most obvious differences are in pronunciation. Mutual intelligibility is greater between the written languages than between the spoken forms. Compare, for example, the following sentences—roughly equivalent to the English proverb "A word to the wise is sufficient," or, a more literal translation, "To a good listener, a few words are enough. ":
Al buen entendedor pocas palabras bastan (al ˈβwen entendeˈðoɾ ˈpokas paˈlaβɾas ˈβastan)
Ao bom entendedor poucas palavras bastam
Some Brazilian dialects, however, including some found in the Brazilian Amazon, sustain more similarities with the European pronunciation than with that of the southern Brazilian region. There are also some significant differences between European and Brazilian Portuguese as there are between British and American English or Peninsular and Latin American Spanish. This article notes these differences below only where:
both Brazilian and European Portuguese differ not only from each other, but from Spanish as well;
both Peninsular (i. e. European) and Latin American Spanish differ not only from each other, but also from Portuguese; or
either Brazilian or European Portuguese differs from Spanish with syntax not possible in Spanish (while the other dialect does not).

Portuguese and Spanish share a great number of words that are spelled identically or almost identically (although the pronunciation almost always differs), or which differ in predictable ways. Consider, for example, the following paragraph, taken from the Gramática esencial del español, by Manuel Seco (Espasa Calpe, 1989), and compare it to the literal Portuguese translation below, noting the lexical similarities and occasional differences of word order:

Pero, a pesar de esta variedad de posibilidades que la voz posee, sería un instrumento de comunicación muy pobre si no contara más que con ella. La capacidad de expresión del hombre no dispondría de más medios que la de los animales. La voz, sola, es para el hombre apenas una materia informe, que para convertirse en un instrumento perfecto de comunicación debe ser sometida a un cierto tratamiento. Esa manipulación que recibe la voz son las "articulaciones". (Spanish)

Mas, apesar da variedade de possibilidades que a voz possui, seria um instrumento de comunicação muito pobre se não se contasse com mais do que ela. A capacidade de expressão do homem não disporia de mais meios que a dos animais. A voz, sozinha, é para o homem apenas uma matéria informe, que para se converter num instrumento perfeito de comunicação deve ser submetida a um certo tratamento. Essa manipulação que a voz recebe são as "articulações". (Portuguese)

But, despite this variety of possibilities that the voice possesses, it would be a very poor instrument of communication if there were no more to it. Man's capacity for expression would not have any more tools than that of animals. The voice alone is for man just a formless medium, which to become a perfect communication instrument must be subjected to certain processes. The manipulations that the voice undergoes are the "articulations". (English)Now, observe the following sample, which was taken from the newspaper El País. It uses a more day to day language and has few cognates, and, consequently, the intelligibility ends up being very low for speakers who have no knowledge of the other language. Más de 200 personas encendieron hogueras e intentaron acercarse de nuevo a la delegación, la meta que no lograron el día anterior. Más contenedores ardieron en esas calles. Varias furgonetas de la Policía cargaron e intentaron hacerles frente. Pero lejos de arredrarse, los manifestantes corrieron contra un grupo de agentes que se quedó solo en la vía. La policía los dispersó disparando pelotas de goma, hasta lograr resguardarse de nuevo en la calle de Mallorca. La tensión se masticaba entre los agentes, rodeados de hogueras. (Spanish)

Mais de 200 pessoas atearam fogo e tentaram aproximar se de novo à estação, objetivo esse que não conseguiram no dia anterior. Mais contentores foram incendiados nas ruas. Várias viaturas policiais intervieram e tentaram confrontá las. No entanto, em vez de recuar, os manifestantes viraram se contra um grupo de agentes que ficou isolado na estrada. A polícia dispersou os disparando balas de borracha, até se abrigar novamente na Rua de Maiorca. A tensão era palpável nos agentes, cercados por focos de incêndio. (Portuguese)

More than 200 people again lit bonfires and tried to approach the station, a goal they did not achieve the day before. More containers were burned in the streets. Several loaded police vans attempted to confront them. But far from being intimidated, the protesters moved against an isolated group of agents on the road. The police dispersed them by shooting rubber bullets and managed to take cover again on Mallorca Street. The tension was palpable among the police, as they were surrounded by bonfires. (English)

While the majority of lexical differences between Spanish and Portuguese come from the influence of the Arabic language on Spanish vocabulary, most of the similarities and cognate words in the two languages have their origin in Latin, but several of these cognates differ, to a greater or lesser extent, in meaning.

Many pairs of cognates have come to have different meanings due to semantic change. These false friends include the following:
Spanish diseñar means 'to design' in Spanish, while its Portuguese cognate desenhar means 'to draw'. Similarly, Spanish dibujo for 'drawing', with an archaic Portuguese equivalent debuxo meaning 'sketch' and was displaced by rascunho; in turn the cf. Spanish rasguño means 'scratch' (compare "scratchpad", i. e. notebook, in English). Spanish largo (rare/archaic luengo) means 'long', while ancho means 'wide'. In Portuguese largo (rare/archaic ancho) means 'wide' and longo like in English 'long'. Spanish extrañar can mean 'to find strange' or 'to miss'. Portuguese estranhar means 'to find strange', or to lock horns. Spanish raro can mean 'rare' or 'strange'. In Portuguese, it just means 'rare'. Spanish aún can mean 'yet/still' and todavía can mean both 'yet/still' or 'however/nevertheless'. Portuguese todavia means 'however/nevertheless'. In Portuguese, 'yet/still' is ainda. Spanish (estar) embarazada means '(to be) pregnant'. Portuguese (estar) embaraçada means '(to be) embarrassed' or '(to be) entangled'. However, Spanish does have the term embarazoso/a meaning 'embarrassing'. 'Pregnant' in Portuguese is grávida (cognate of less user word in Spanish). The Portuguese prenhe and Spanish preñada are used mainly for pregnant animals but rarely for women, in both languages
Spanish exquisito means 'exquisite/sophisticated'. Portuguese esquisito means 'strange/weird'. Experto means 'expert' in both Spanish and Portuguese, but in Portuguese it should not be confused with its homophone esperto (a homophone only in Brazil), which means 'smart/intelligent'. 'Expert' in Portuguese may also be perito, especialista, or exímio, which are the same in Spanish (Sp. eximio is spelled without the accent mark). Spanish escoba is 'broom'. Portuguese escova is 'brush' (Portuguese uses 'vassoura' for 'broom'). However, in some varieties of Spanish, escobilla or escobeta means 'toilet brush'. Spanish apellido 'surname' is apelido in European Portuguese, and sobrenome in both Brazilian and European Portuguese (but Portuguese usually say apelido). Spanish sobrenombre/apodo 'nickname' is apelido/alcunha/codinome in Brazilian Portuguese, and alcunha in European Portuguese. Spanish rojo is 'red'. Portuguese roxo is 'purple'. 'Red' in Portuguese is vermelho (cognate with Spanish bermejo and bermellón, which mean 'vermilion' or 'cinnabar'). In European Portuguese the word encarnado (literally in the flesh) is also used as synonym of 'red' even though vermelho is more frequent. Spanish rubio means 'blond hair'. Portuguese ruivo or ruço means 'red hair'. Spanish apenas means 'hardly'. Portuguese apenas is 'only'. Thus the Spanish phrase él apenas pudo dormir means 'he could not even/hardly sleep', or 'he was just barely able to sleep', whereas the Portuguese phrase ele pôde apenas dormir means 'all he could do was sleep'. Spanish vaso means 'drinking glass (tumbler)', while Portuguese vaso means flower pot or toilet (from vaso sanitário). A 'drinking glass' in Portuguese is copo, while Spanish copa is a wine glass. A wine glass in Portuguese is copo, taça is a champagne glass or dessert cup (i. e. chocolate mousse or ice cream) while Spanish taza is a 'coffee cup or teacup'; Spanish taza also refers to the bathroom bowl. 'Coffee cup' in Portuguese is xícara de café/chávena, while Spanish jícara is 'bowl' or 'gourd.' Spanish (and European Portuguese) cachorro means puppy, while in Brazilian Portuguese, it can refer to a dog of any age.

A number of the frequent "function words" (pronouns, conjunctions, etc.) are cognates in the two languages but are used in slightly different ways, including the following:

The Spanish pronoun todo can mean 'all/every', or 'everything'. Portuguese distinguishes between todo 'all/every' (masculine) and tudo 'everything' (neuter, used for an indefinite object or abstraction). Todos los insectos tienen seis patas. (Spanish)
Todos os insectos têm seis patas. (Portuguese)
'All insects have six legs.' El ladrón lo robó todo. (Spanish)
O ladrão roubou tudo. (Portuguese)
'The thief stole everything' or 'The thief stole it all.'

The cardinal numbers are very similar in Spanish and Portuguese, but there are differences of usage in numbers one and two. Spanish has different words for the masculine singular indefinite article ('a, an') and the numeral 'one', thus un capítulo 'a chapter', but capítulo uno 'chapter one'. In Portuguese, both words are the same: um capítulo and capítulo um. Spanish uno can also be used as a pronoun, like the English generic "one", to represent an indeterminate subject, but this is not possible with Portuguese um; the reflexive pronoun se must be used instead. Se may be used in Spanish to form passive and impersonal constructions, as well. Uno (or Se) debe pensar antes de actuar. (Spanish)
Deve se pensar antes de agir. (Portuguese)
'One should think before acting.' This still applies in cases where a relatively indeterminate subject is genderized, such as the Spanish todos a una [voz] ('all at once', literally 'all at one [voice]'). It should be rewritten in Portuguese without any cardinal number. For example, todos juntos 'all together'. On the other hand, in Portuguese, cardinal number 'two' inflects with gender (dois if masculine, duas if feminine), while in Spanish dos is used for both. Uno más uno es igual a dos. (Spanish)
Um mais um é igual a dois. (Portuguese)
'One plus one equals two.' Dos cabezas piensan mejor que una. (Spanish)
Duas cabeças pensam melhor que uma. (Portuguese)
'Two heads think better than one.' Tengo dos hermanos y dos hermanas. (Spanish)
Tenho dois irmãos e duas irmãs. (Portuguese)
'I have two brothers and two sisters.'

The conjunction "and" in Spanish is y (pronounced before a consonant, before a vowel) before all words except those beginning with an sound (spelled i or hi ). Before a syllabic sound (and not the diphthong as in hierro), the Spanish conjunction is e Portuguese uses e before all words. Sal y pimienta. (Spanish)
Sal e pimenta. (Portuguese)
'Salt and pepper.' Judío e hindú. (Spanish)
Judeu e hindu. (Portuguese)
'Jewish and Hindu.' Leones y hienas. (Spanish)
Leões e hienas. (Portuguese)
'Lions and hyenas.' Similarly, for the conjunction "or" Spanish uses o before all words except those beginning with o or ho , in which case it uses u Portuguese always uses ou ~. Vino o agua. (Spanish)
Vinho ou água. (Portuguese)
'Wine or water.' Uno u otro. (Spanish)
Um ou outro. (Portuguese)
'One or the other.'

Spanish le and les are changed to se when followed by lo, la, los, or las. For example, "Mi abuelo les compró los regalos" becomes "Mi abuelo se los compró". See also "Combining pronouns in Spanish" below. In addition, Spanish uses sé as an irregular verb in the first person singular indicative of saber (to know), and the second person singular imperative of ser (to be). In Portuguese, these are sei and sê respectively.

Despite the mostly cognate vocabulary between Spanish and Portuguese, a significant number of common words are entirely different in the two languages (although in some cases cognates exist, but are rare or archaic in one of the two languages). Examples include the following:
Meaning Spanish Portuguese Notesalibi coartada < Lat. álibi < Lat. store, shop tienda < Late Lat. (< ) loja < Fr. knee rodilla < Lat. ('little wheel')joelho < Lat. The learned word rótula ('kneecap' in both Sp. and Port.) is from the same root as Spanish rodilla. Sp. de hinojos 'kneeling' is from the same source as Port. joelho. home hogar < Lat. Lar < Lat. Spanish also has lar: both words can also be used to mean "fireplace" (lareira in Pt. )street calle < Lat. rua < Lat. (legal) prosecutor fiscal < Lat. procurador < Lat. highway, road carretera < carreta + era < carro < Lat. < Gaulish carros estrada < Lat. retailer minorista < Lat. retalhista < Late Lat. Brazilian Port. uses varejistasales rebajas < Lat. prefix 're' + saldos, liquidação < Ita. , Lat. grocer abarrotero Uncertain < Lat. or < Pre Roman merceeiro < Lat. organic food comida orgánica < Lat. + Greek alimentação biológica, Bio < Lat. + Greek Brazilian Port. tends to use orgânica. fight, brawl pelea < Lat. briga < Ita. or Occitan riff raff, mob chusma < Genoese ciüsma < Gr. canalha < Occitan Brazilian Port. tends to use ralé, gentalhapolice station comisaría (de policía) < Lat. + Gr. esquadra, posto de polícia < Lat. + Gr. Brazilian Port. tends to use delegacia (de polícia)litter, rubbish basura < Lat. lixo < Lat. hole agujero < Lat. + suffix buraco < Proto Germanic drill taladro < Lat. berbequim < Fr. < Dutch Brazilian Por. uses furadeirademolition hammer rompedor < Lat. martelo demolidor < Lat. sauce salsa < Lat. molho < Lat. Spanish (specifically Mexican Sp.) has mole, but this is a false cognate deriving from Nahuatl mōlli. plane cepilladora < Lat. plaina < Lat. camshaft, camshaft tree árbol de levas < Lat. árvore de cames < Lat. + Germanic gills branquias < Lat. < Gr. guelras < Proto Germanic In zoology, Port. also uses brânquias (branchiae). goose oca < Lat. ganso < Gothic/Suebian Spanish also has ganso. chicken pollo < Lat. frango < Probably Fr. francolin < Ita. francolino, all of lamp lámpara < Lat. candeeiro < Lat. Portuguese lâmpada usually means 'light bulb' (except in certain idioms, like lâmpada de Aladino, i. e., 'Aladdin's lamp')meal comida < Lat. refeição, repasto (arch.) < Lat. Portuguese 'comida' means foodowl búho < Lat. coruja (*maybe from Lat. cunicularis) of kennel perrera < uncertain origin, perhaps Pre Roman. canil < Lat. catterycriadero < Lat. gatil < Proto Ger. ground suelo < Lat. chão < Lat. Port. also has solo. office despacho < Lat. gabinete, escritório < Occitan, Lat. ground floor planta baja < Lat. rés do chão, rés de chão< Lat. Brazilian Port. tends to use térreobuoy flotador < Fr. + Sp. suffix boia < Old Fr. bouée < Frankish nappy, diaper (baby) pañal < Lat. fralda < Gothic performance actuación < Lat. actuare, representación < Lat. performance < Eng 'performance' < Anglo French preemptive preventivo < Lat. preemptivo < Eng 'preemptive' < Lat report informe < Lat. relatório < Lat. relatus + ório suffix < highlightrealce < Lat. + prefix destaque < Germanic prison cárcel < Lat. prisão< Lat. Span. also has prisión and estar a preso (to be in prison) and Port. archaic cárcere. squirrel ardilla < Pre Roman or probably Berber esquilo Lat. scūrĭōlus < Gr. garret, mansard zaquizamí, buhardilla < Hisp Ar. , < Lat. água furtada, mansarda < Lat. , < Fr. watercress berro < Celtic agrião < Gr. mint menta < Lat. mentha < Gr. hortelã < Lat. Port. also has menta. sour cherry cereza gordal < Lat. ginja < Frankish stepchild hijastro(a) < Lat. enteado(a) < Lat. step brother hermanastro(a) < Lat. + suffix meio irmã(o) < Lat. stump, amputated limb muñón < Pre Roman/Basque coto < Celtic Goidelic baby changing (area) cambiador (infantil) < Lat + dor fraldário < Gothic + arius blade hoja < Lat. lâmina < Lat. butcher(s)(shop) carniceria < Lat. talho < Lat. Brazilian Port. uses açougueshoe polish betún < Lat. graxa < Lat. shaving afeitar < Lat. barbear < Lat. pocket knife navaja < Lat. canivete < Old Fr. Portuguese 'navalha' means razor. Canivete also exists in Spanish diving buceo < Port. mergulho < Lat. bait cebo < Lat. isca < Lat. skirt falda < Germanic saia < Lat. sagum < Celtic Saya also exists in Spanishglasses gafas < Uncertain, maybe Arabic óculos < Lat. stiffness (muscular) agujetas < Lat. dor muscular < Lat. operating theatre quirófano < Gr. sala de operações, sala de cirurgia, bloco operatório < Ger + Lat. , < Ger + Gr. , < Ger + Lat. stem cell research investigación con células madre < Lat. pesquisa de células estaminais < Lat. Brazilian Por. uses pesquisa de células troncostream, creek arroyuelo < Vulg. Lat. * < Pre Roman ribeira, ribeiro < Lat. stubborn terco or testarudo < Lat. teimoso < Lat. , < Gr. plateau meseta < Lat. planalto < Lat. wave ola < Uncertain origin vaga < Gothic or < Old Norse , both from Ancient Germanic 'vigan' to shakeBoth in Brazilian Por. and European Por. onda is usedbroom aulaga < Ar. vassoura, giesta, carqueja < Lat. , < Lat. , < Maybe Lat. pants, knickers bragas < Lat. braca < Celtic cuecas < Lat. (bed) sheet sábana < Lat. lençol < Lat. basketball baloncesto < Frankish + Lat. basquetebol < Eng. Latin American Spanish prefers básquet, basquetbol and básquetbolreporter periodista, periodicista < repórter < Eng. Spanish has reporteroricochet rebote < Frankish + Lat. prefix ricochete < Fr. riff raff, mob chusma < Genoese ciüsma < Gr. canalha < Occitan cashew anacardo < Lat. caju < Tupi Peruvian Spanish uses cajú, Dominican cajuil, Venezuelan caujil and rural Uruguayan cajuela and caguela. mushroom seta < Uncertain origin or hongo cogumelo < Lat. oleander adelfa < Ar. aloendro, loendro < Lat. pumpkincalabaza < Pre Romanabóbora < Lat. Port. cabaça means 'calabash'squid calamar < Lat. lula < Lat. Port. also has calamardate fecha < Lat. data < Lat. elsewhere, somewhere, nowhere en otro lugar < Lat. , en alguna parte < Lat. , en ningún lugar < Lat. alhures < Provençal , algures < Lat. + Provençal , nenhures < Lat. + Provençal nobody nadie < Lat. ninguém < Lat. lawn césped < Lat. caespesrelvado, grama < Lat. relevare, < Lat. gramen Certain dialects of Spanish use gramaholiday, vacation vacaciones < Lat. vacatio < vacationisFérias < Lat. feriae In Latin America, (día) feriado means "public holiday"card tarjeta < Fr. targe + diminutive suffix eta cartão, carta < Gr. χάρτης < Lat. charta beef steak filete < Lat. filumbife < Eng. beef steak Port. also has filé
Spanish also has bife (only used in Argentina and other Latin American countries)retaliation retorsión < Lat. retorsusretaliação < Lat. retalio remorse arrepentimiento < Lat. remorso(s) < Lat. Sp. also has remordimiento and Port. also has arrependimentoboot (car) maletero < Old Fr. + Sp. suffix malle + eta + eroporta bagagens < Lat. + Germanic portare + baugaz Brazilian Port. tends to use porta malas or bagageiraglove box (car) guantero < Frankish + Sp. suffix want + eroporta luvas < Lat. + Gothic/Suebian portare + lôfa thin delgado < Lat. magro < Lat. surface, peel superficie < Lat. superficĭestona < Celt. tondā/tunna Port. also has superfície. earring pendiente < Lat. penderebrinco < Lat. vinculum watermelon sandía < Ar. sindiyyahmelancia < balancia < Lat. bilanx passion fruit fruto de la pasión < Lat. fructa + passiomaracujá < Tupi moruku'ia Sp. also has maracuyá; Caribbean Sp. uses parchawindow ventana < Lat. janela < Lat. Lat. 'wind opening' < 'wind'. Lat. is a diminutive of 'door, opening' (the same root as Eng. January and janitor) < the name , the God of gates or doors. counter ventanilla < Lat. balcão < Germanic Sp. balcón means 'balcony'to disrupt, to get in the way (of someone/smthg) molestar, estorbar < Lat. , atrapalhar < Low Frankish to erase borrar < Late Lat. apagar < Lat. Sp. apagar means 'to turn off' (a meaning that also exists in Port., e. g. apagar a luz 'to turn off the light'). to forget olvidar < Lat. esquecer < Lat. Olvidar also exists in Port. (but is far less common). A learned cognate, obliterar, exists in both languages. to retort, to strike back contraatacar < Lat. + Ita. ripostar < Fr. Riposter also exists in Spanish (Caribbean Spanish)to throw, to add echar < Lat. atirar, pôr < Gothic/Suebian , < Lat. to smell oler < Lat. cheirar < Lat. to snore roncar < Lat. < Gr. ressonar Prefix + < Lat. Por. uses roncar for very loud snoring in humans or animal sounds i. e. pigsto rummage, to snoophurgar < Lat. vasculhar < Proto Celt. slug babosa < Lat. lesma < Lat. simple sencillo < Lat. simples < Lat. Sp. also has simple. stage escenario < Lat. palco < Langobardic fear temor < Lat. receio < Lat. re + Port. also has temor. harvest, crop cosecha < Lat. seara < Celtic Port. colheita and recolha (both < Lat. ) generally refer to the harvest of crops, wine or data collection (i. e. online surveys, personal data). black negro < Lat. preto < Lat. 'compressed, dense' Port. also has negro and Sp. also has prieto. Use and connotation vary greatly (i. e. the use of preto to refer to people of African descent is considered a slur in Port. but the prieto in Sp. can often mean "dark", "tan", or "swarthy" in a similar fashion to moreno in both Sp. and Port.). near cerca < Lat. perto perh. < Lat. *, alteration of 'compressed'far lejos < Lat. longe < Lat. spark chispa (onomatopoeic) faísca < Germanic shard esquirla < Lat. , < Indo European lasca < *Proto Germanic , or < *Lat. toy juguete < Lat. + Sp. suffix brinquedo < Proto Germanic swine cochino (onomatopoeic) suíno < Latin suīnus < Proto Germanic dew rocío < Lat. orvalho < Gothic/Suebian 'ur' + 'vallen' < Proto Germanic pen bolígrafo < Lat. caneta < Lat. print (evidence) huella < Lat. marca < Germanic windrow hilera < Lat. + Sp. era leira < Proto Celtic yesterday ayer < Lat. ontem < Lat. to stay quedarse < Lat. ficar < Vulg. Lat. * hairdresser peluquero < peluque < French perruque "wig" cabeleireiro < cabeleira 'head of hair; wig' < cabelo < Lat. Port. peruca means 'wig'chair silla < Lat. cadeira < Lat. *, perh. < Proto Celtic * cup, mug taza < Arabic chávena < Malay < Chinese < , caneca < Germanic Brazilian Port. tends to use xícara < Sp. jícara < Nahuatl xīcalli. fork tenedor < Lat. + Sp. suffix garfo < either via Lat. or < Fr. ladybird mariquita < Lat. toponymic Maria + dimin. suffix 'quita' Joaninha < Lat. toponymic robin petirrojo < Lat. pectus + russuspisco < Lat < Gaulish peach melocotón < Lat. pêssego < Lat. pillowcase funda < Lat. fronha < Celt. grasshopper saltamontes < Lat. gafanhoto < Proto Celtic weasel, skunk mofeta < Ita. doninha < Lat. trousers pantalón < Fr. < Ita. calças < Lat. doorbell timbre(de la puerta) < Fr. campainha < Lat. Spanish also has campanilla. thunder trueno < Lat. trovão < Lat. noise ruido < Lat. barulho < Gaulish Port. also has ruído, particularly for isolated/unexpected sounds or noises. handicapped minusválido < Lat. Deficiente < Lat. development desarrollo < Lat. + prefix des desenvolvimento < Lat. + des unavoidable indefectible < Lat. + prefix in incontornável < Lat. + prefix in drug addict drogadicto < Eng. toxicodependente, drogado < Lat. , < Fr. Both Port. and Sp. have 'toxicomania' for drug addictionbudget presupuesto < Lat. orçamento < Uncertain, Ita. 'orza' or likely Frankish *lurz + Lat. to injurelesionar < Lat. magoar < Lat. or aleijar < Lat. Brazilian Port. tends to use machucar < Lat. Vocabulary differences between the two languages arose from various factors. Portuguese and Spanish evolved separately from the Middle Ages onwards and Portuguese being more Atlantic, didn't absorb much Mediterranean influence:

Broadly speaking, the grammars of Portuguese and Spanish share many common features. Nevertheless, some differences between them can present hurdles to people acquainted with one and learning the other.

In many varieties of Portuguese, personal names are normally preceded by a definite article, a trait also found in Catalan. In Portuguese, this is a relatively recent development, which some Brazilian dialects have not adopted yet, most notably in some states of the Brazilian Northeast. In those dialects of Portuguese that do regularly use definite articles before proper nouns, the article may be omitted for extra formality, or to show distance in a literary narrative. Compare, for example, English "Mary left", Spanish María salió, and Portuguese A Maria saiu. Note, however, that in many Spanish dialects the definite article is used before personal names; thus, la María salió is commonly heard. Portuguese uses the definite article before the names of some cities and almost all countries except relatively new ones, such as Cingapura/Singapura ('Singapore'), and those related to Portugal (or with which Portugal has historical relationships, even though this is a rough rule) and the Portuguese speaking countries, e. g., a Holanda but Portugal; o México but Angola, a Suécia, but Moçambique. The major exception to the country rule is o Brasil. In Spanish, use of the definite article is optional with some countries: (la) China, (el) Japón, (la) India, (la) Argentina, (el) Ecuador, (el) Perú, (el) Uruguay, (el) Paraguay, (el) Brasil, (los) Estados Unidos, etc. The same is true with two continents: (la) Antártida and (el) África; with archipelagos and islands: (las) Filipinas, (las) Canarias, (las) Azores, with some provinces, regions or territories: (el) Tíbet, (la) Toscana, (el) Piamonte, (el) Lacio and with some cities: (el) Cairo, (la) Valeta. Spanish uses the definite article with all geographical names when they appear with an adjective or modifying phrase, as in the following examples: la España medieval 'medieval Spain', el Puerto Rico prehispánico 'pre Hispanic Puerto Rico', el Portugal de Salazar 'Portugal during Salazar's dictatorship', etc. Santiago es la capital de Chile. (Spanish)
Santiago é a capital do Chile. (Portuguese)
'Santiago is the capital of Chile.' Él es de Costa Rica, que está en América Central. (Spanish)
Ele é da Costa Rica, que fica na América Central. (Portuguese)
'He is from Costa Rica, which is in Central America.' Tengo un boleto para (los) Estados Unidos de América. (Spanish)
Tenho um bilhete para os Estados Unidos da América. (Portuguese)
'I have a ticket to the United States of America.' Nueva Delhi no es la ciudad más poblada de (la) India. (Spanish)
Nova Déli não é a cidade mais populosa da Índia. (Portuguese)
'New Delhi is not the most populous city in India.' La Europa medieval pertenecía a monarcas absolutos. (Spanish)
A Europa medieval pertencia a monarcas absolutos. (Portuguese)
'Medieval Europe belonged to absolute monarchs.' Portuguese omits the definite article in stating the time of day unless para as is used. Son las nueve y cuarto, but also Son nueve y quince or Son nueve quince. (Spanish)
São (as) nove (horas) e quinze (minutos). (Portuguese) (parenthesical parts often omitted)
'It's nine fifteen.' Or:'It's a quarter past/after nine.' In addition, in most dialects of Portuguese the definite article is used before possessive adjectives (as it is used in Italian), which is not possible in Spanish. For instance, the sentence 'This is my brother' is Este es mi hermano in Spanish, but may be Este é o meu irmão in Portuguese. Nevertheless, in many Brazilian dialects (mostly in the Northeast) and in casual Brazilian Portuguese the article is not used in sentences such as: Este é meu irmão (although it usually reappears in sentences such as "O meu irmão está lá").

European Portuguese differs from Brazilian Portuguese with regard to the placement of clitic personal pronouns, and Spanish is in turn different from both of them. In Spanish, clitic pronouns normally come before the verb, except with the imperative, the infinitive, and the gerund. In verbal periphrases, they precede the auxiliary verb. In spoken Brazilian Portuguese, clitic pronouns normally come before the main verb. In verbal periphrases, they come between the auxiliary verb and the main verb. This occurs even with the imperative, the infinitive, the gerund, and the past participle. In European Portuguese, clitic pronouns may come before or after the verb, depending on the type of clause. In verbal periphrases, they may precede or follow the auxiliary verb, or follow the main verb (when this is in the infinitive or the gerund). Spanish Portuguese Meaning Ella le dio un libro. Ela deu lhe um livro. Ela lhe deu um livro. 'She gave him/her a book.' Dígame dónde ha estado. Dime dónde has estado. Diga me por onde esteve. Diz me onde estiveste. Me diga por onde esteve. Me diz onde estiveste. 'Tell me where you've been.' Hazme una foto. Tira me uma foto. Me tira uma foto. 'Take a picture for me.' Quería verte. Te quería ver. Queria ver te. Queria te ver. Te queria ver. 'I wanted to see you.' No te he conseguido ver. No he conseguido verte. No conseguí verte. Não consegui ver te. Não consegui te ver. Não te consegui ver. 'I didn't manage to see you.'

In Portuguese, verbs in the future indicative or conditional tense may be split into morphemes, and the clitic pronoun can be inserted between them, a feature known as mesoclisis. This also occurred in Old Spanish, but no comparable phenomenon takes place in modern Spanish:

Lo traerá. (Spanish)
Trá lo á. (European Portuguese and formal written Brazilian Portuguese)
'He/She will bring it.' However, these tenses are often replaced with others in the spoken language. Future indicative is sometimes replaced by present indicative; conditional is very often replaced by imperfect indicative. In colloquial language, most Portuguese would state trá lo á as vai trazê lo ('going to bring it') or irá trazê lo ('will bring it'). In Brazilian Portuguese, "vai trazer ele" would be the vernacular use.

In standard Spanish, stressed pronouns in the subject position are never used for inanimate subjects (i. e., things, as opposed to people or animals), not even for clarity or disambiguation purposes, except when modified by an attribute (él solito may mean 'he by himself' or 'it by itself'). Portuguese knows no such restriction, so that stressed pronouns referring to inanimate subjects can either be used or dropped:

¿Dónde están las llaves? (Están) En la mesa. (Spanish – pronoun should be dropped, not *Ellas están ; verb is often dropped)
O que é das chaves?/ Cadê as chaves? (Elas estão) Na mesa. (Portuguese – pronoun and verb are optional, the verb can be used without the pronoun: Estão )
'Where are the keys? (They are) On the table.' (English – pronoun and verb are not necessarily required, but the verb requires the pronoun, not *Are )

The use of second person pronouns differs dramatically between Spanish and Portuguese, and even more so between European and Brazilian Portuguese. Spanish tú and usted correspond etymologically to Portuguese tu and você, but Portuguese has gained a third, even more formal form o(s) senhor(es), a(s) senhora(s), demoting você to an "equalizing" rather than respectful register. The old familiar forms have been largely lost in the Portuguese speaking world, as the Portuguese equalizing forms você or vocês have displaced tu to a large extent and vós almost entirely; and even where tu is still used, the second person verb forms that historically corresponded to it are often replaced by the same (third person) forms that are used with "você". In the plural, Portuguese familiar vós is archaic nearly everywhere (as with the old English second singular "thou"), and both the subject pronoun and its corresponding second person plural verb forms are generally limited to the Bible, traditional prayers, and spoken varieties of certain regions of rural Portugal; normally, the familiar (and equalizing) form is now vocês, although in Portugal the second person plural forms are retained for both object and possessive pronouns (e. g., vocês e a vossa família). In the case of northern and central Peninsular Spanish, tú, usted, vosotros, and ustedes have more or less kept their original functions; if anything, tú is displacing usted out of common use and usted is coming to be used only for formal situations (like o senhor in Portuguese). Latin American Spanish is more complicated: vosotros has fallen out of use in favor of ustedes, but certain regions of Spanish America also use vos as a singular informal pronoun, displacing tú out of its original role to a greater or lesser extent (see voseo). Spoken Brazilian Portuguese has dramatically simplified the pronoun system, with você(s) tending to displace all other forms. Although a few parts of Brazil still use tu and the corresponding second person singular verb forms, most areas either use tu with third person verb forms or (increasingly) drop tu entirely in favor of você. This has in turn caused the original third person possessive seu, sua to shift to primarily second person use, alongside the appearance of a new third person possessive dele, dela (plural deles, delas, "their") that follows the noun (thus paraphrases such as o carro dele "his car", o carro dela "her car"). The formal o senhor is also increasingly restricted to certain situations, such as that of a storekeeper addressing a customer, or a child or teenager addressing an adult stranger. More conservative in this regard is the fluminense dialect of Brazilian Portuguese (spoken in Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo and in the Zona da Mata of the state of Minas Gerais) – especially its carioca sociolect. This dialect generally preserves intimate or familiar tu, the standard equalizing form você, and the respectful or formal o senhor/a senhora, together with their related possessives, to such an extent that almost all speakers use these forms, according to context. Nevertheless, a minority of educated speakers correctly conjugates all of the tu pronouns formally; otherwise, it is mostly conjugated as você. Standard Portuguese usage has vocês and os senhores/as senhoras as plurals of você and o senhor/a senhora, but the vernacular has also produced new forms with the second person familiar plural function, such as gente (compare a gente as a possible colloquial variation of nós, "we"/"us", that should be conjugated—but commonly is not—as third person singular), pessoas, pessoal, [meu] povo, cês (eye dialect for vocês in colloquial pronunciation), and galera (the latter mainly associated with youth slang). It is often said that the gaúcho, nordestino and amazofonia dialects, as well as some sociolects elsewhere, such as that in and around the city of Santos, have preserved tu; but unlike in fluminense, the use of você is very limited, and entirely absent among some speakers, and tu takes its place. In these areas, the verb with tu is conjugated in the third person form (as with você) – except among educated speakers in some urban centers such as Porto Alegre and, especially, Belém. See Brazilian Portuguese.

The Portuguese and Spanish verbs for expressing "liking" are similar in form (gostar and gustar respectively) but different in their arrangement of arguments. Arguments in linguistics are expressions that enable a verb to complete its meaning. Expressions of liking typically require two arguments: (1) a person who likes something (sometimes called the "experiencer"), and (2) something that the person likes (sometimes called the "theme"). Portuguese and Spanish (as well as English) assign different grammatical cases to these arguments, as shown in the following table:
+ Argument structure with verbs of liking Person who likes Thing that is liked Form Portuguese Subject Object of preposition de (Eu) gosto de música. Spanish Indirect object Subject Me gusta la música. English Subject Direct object I like music. The Portuguese sentence can be translated literally as "[I] [take satisfaction] [from] [the music]", while the Spanish corresponds to "[To me] [(it) is pleasing] [the music]." It is also possible in Spanish to express it as: "(Yo) gusto de la música", although this use has become antiquated.

In Spanish, the compound perfect is constructed with the auxiliary verb haber (< Latin ). Although Portuguese used to use its cognate verb (haver) in this way, now it is more common to form these tenses with ter ('to have') (< Latin ). While ter is occasionally used as an auxiliary by other Iberian languages, it is much more pervasive in Portuguese to the extent that most Portuguese verb tables only list ter with regard to the perfect. Yo ya hube comido cuando mi madre volvió. (Spanish) [perfect form of haber]
Yo ya había comido cuando mi madre volvió. (Spanish) [imperfect form of haber]
Eu já comera quando a minha mãe voltou. (Portuguese) [pluperfect inherited from Latin]
Eu já tinha comido quando a minha mãe voltou. (Portuguese) [imperfect form of ter]
Eu já havia comido quando a minha mãe voltou. (Portuguese) [imperfect form of haver]
'I had already eaten when my mother returned.'

A class of false friends between the two languages is composed of the verb forms with endings containing ra , such as cantara, cantaras, cantáramos, and so on. Spanish has two forms for the imperfect subjunctive, one with endings in se and another with endings in ra (e. g., cantase/cantara 'were I to sing'), which are usually interchangeable. In Portuguese, only cantasse has this value; cantara is employed as a pluperfect indicative, i. e., the equivalent to Spanish había cantado ('I had sung'). Although there is a strong tendency to use a verb phrase instead in the spoken language, like in Spanish and English (havia cantado), the simple tense is still frequent in literature.

The future subjunctive, now virtually obsolete in Spanish, or circumscribed to legal documents, continues in use in both written and spoken Portuguese. It is used in subordinate clauses referring to a hypothetical future event or state – either adverbial clauses (usually introduced by se 'if ' or quando 'when') or adjective clauses that modify nouns referring to a hypothetical future entity. Spanish, in the analogous if clauses, uses the present indicative, and in the cuando and adjective clauses uses the present subjunctive. Se eu for eleito presidente, mudarei a lei. (Portuguese)
Si yo soy (also fuere) elegido presidente, cambiaré la ley. (Spanish)
'If I am elected president, I will change the law.' Quando fores mais velho, compreenderás. (Portuguese)
Cuando seas (also fueres) mayor, comprenderás. (Spanish)
'When you are older, you'll understand.' Dar se á/Se dará o prêmio à primeira pessoa que disser a resposta correcta. (Portuguese)
Se dará el premio a la primera persona que diga (also dijere) la respuesta correcta. (Spanish)
'The prize will be given to the first person who says the right answer.'

In the preterite tense, a number of irregular verbs in Portuguese change the stem vowel to indicate differences between first and third person singular: fiz 'I did' vs. fez 'he did', pude 'I could' vs. pôde 'he could', fui 'I was' vs. foi 'he was', tive 'I had' vs. teve 'he had', etc. Historically, these vowel differences are due to vowel raising (metaphony) triggered by the final of the first person singular in Latin. Spanish maintains such a difference only in fui 'I was' vs. fue 'he was'. In all other cases in Spanish, the stem vowel has been regularized throughout the conjugation and a new third person ending o adopted: hice 'I did' vs. hizo 'he did', pude 'I could' vs. pudo 'he could', etc. Portuguese verbs ending in duzir are regular in the preterite, while their Spanish counterparts in ducir undergo a consonant change and are stressed on the stem; thus Portuguese reduzi vs. Spanish reduje ('I reduced'). Similarly, the preterite of andar is regular in Portuguese (andaste), but irregular in Spanish (anduviste, 'you went'). Meanwhile, Spanish maintains many more irregular forms in the future and conditional: saldré 'I will leave', pondré 'I will put', vendré 'I will come', diré 'I will say', etc. Portuguese has only three: farei 'I will do', direi 'I will say', trarei 'I will carry'. In the imperfect tense, Spanish has three irregular verbs while Portuguese has four; ser (to be) is the only such verb that is irregular in the imperfect across both languages. While the counterparts of the Spanish verbs tener (to have), poner (to put), and venir (to come) are irregular in Portuguese, the counterparts of the Portuguese verbs ir (to go) and ver (to see) are irregular in Spanish. Portuguese drops e in "irregular" third person singular present indicative forms after ⟨z⟩ and ⟨r⟩, according to phonological rules: faz 'he does', diz 'he says', quer 'he wants', etc. Spanish has restored e by analogy with other verbs: hace 'he does', dice 'he says', quiere 'he wants', etc. (The same type of analogy accounts for fiz vs hice 'I did' in the past tense. In nouns such as paz 'peace', luz 'light', amor 'love', etc. e was dropped in both languages and never restored).

Spanish employs a preposition, the so called "personal a", before the direct object of a transitive verb (except tener) when it denotes a specific person(s), or domestic pet; thus Veo a Juan 'I see John'; Hemos invitado a los estudiantes 'We've invited the students.' In Portuguese, personal a is virtually non existent, except before Deus 'God': louvar a Deus 'to praise God', amar a Deus 'to love God'.

Quite common in both languages are the prepositions a (which often translates as "to") and para (which often translates as "for"). However, European Portuguese and Spanish distinguish between going somewhere for a short while versus a longer stay, especially if it is an intended destination, in the latter case using para instead of a. While there is no specified duration of stay before a European Portuguese speaker must switch prepositions, a implies one will return sooner, rather than later, relative to the context. This distinction is not made in English and Brazilian Portuguese. In Spanish the distinction is not made if the duration is given in the context (maybe implicitly), and in this case a is generally preferred. Fui al mercado cerca de mi casa. (Spanish)
Fui ao mercado perto de/da minha casa./Fui para o mercado perto de/da minha casa. (European and Brazilian Portuguese)
'I went to the market near my house.' [temporary displacement]

El presidente anterior fue exiliado a Portugal. (Spanish)
O presidente anterior foi exilado para Portugal. (European and Brazilian Portuguese)
'The former president was exiled to Portugal.' [permanent, or more lasting displacement]

Note, though, in the first example, para could be used in Portuguese if in contrast to a very brief period of time. Não fico muito tempo, só um minuto. Tenho que/de ir para o mercado. (Portuguese)
'I can't stay long, only a minute. I have to go to the market.' [pending task or appointment]

In informal, non standard Brazilian Portuguese, em (in its original form or combined with a given article in a contraction, yielding no, na, numa, etc. ), often replaces the preposition a from standard Portuguese. Vou na padaria. (non standard Brazilian Portuguese)
Vou à padaria. (standard Portuguese)
'I'm going to the bakery.' Fui numa festa ontem. (non standard Brazilian Portuguese)
Fui a uma festa ontem. (standard Portuguese)
'I went to a party yesterday.' Such a construction is not used in Spanish or in European Portuguese. In Portuguese the preposition até can also be used when the duration of the stay is expected to be short or when there is a specific reason for going somewhere. In Spanish hasta has the same meaning and function. Vou até a praia. Voy hasta la playa. 'I'm going to the beach.'

Spanish has two prepositions of direction: para ('for', including 'headed for [a destination]') and hacia ('toward [not necessarily implying arrival]'). Of them, only para exists in Portuguese, covering both meanings. Este regalo es para ti. (Spanish)
Este presente é para ti. (Portuguese)
'This gift is for you.' Aquel/Ese avión va hacia Brasilia. (Spanish)
Aquele avião voa para Brasília. (Portuguese)
'That airplane is flying toward Brasília.' Colloquially, para is often reduced in both languages: to pa in Spanish, and to pra (sometimes written p'ra and this form may be used in literature) or pa (only in slang in Portugal and Rio de Janeiro, and not permitted in writing) in Portuguese. Portuguese pra, in turn, may join with the definite article: pra + o > pro (BP) or prò (EP), pra + a > pra (BP) or prà (EP), etc. In reference to the slang option pa, these become: pa + o > pò, pa + a > pà, etc.

Both languages have a construction similar to the English "going to" future. Spanish includes the preposition a between the conjugated form of ir "to go" and the infinitive: Vamos a cantar "We're going to sing" or "Let's sing" (present tense of ir + a + infinitive). Usually, in Portuguese, there is no preposition between the helping verb and the main verb: Vamos cantar (present tense of ir + infinitive). This also applies when the verb is in other tenses:

Ayer yo iba a leer el libro, pero no tuve la oportunidad. (Spanish)
Ontem eu ia ler o livro, mas não tive a oportunidade. (Portuguese)
Yesterday I was going to read the book, but never had the chance.

While as a rule the same prepositions are used in the same contexts in both languages, there are many exceptions. Nuestros gastos de energía. (Spanish)
(Os) nossos gastos com/de energia. (Portuguese)
Our energy expenses. Voy a votar por/a Juan. (Spanish)
Vou votar em/no João. (Portuguese)
I'm going to vote for John.

Although the vocabularies of Spanish and Portuguese are similar, the two languages differ phonologically from each other, very likely because of the stronger Celtic substratum in Portuguese. Phonetically Portuguese bears similarities to French and to Catalan while the phonetics of Spanish are more comparable to those of Sardinian and Sicilian. Portuguese has a significantly larger phonemic inventory than Spanish. This may partially explain why Portuguese is generally not very intelligible to Spanish speakers despite the lexical similarity between the two languages. One of the main differences between the Spanish and Portuguese pronunciation are the vowel sounds. Standard Spanish has a basic vowel phonological system, with five phonemic vowels (, , , , ). Phonetic nasalization occurs in Spanish for vowels occurring between nasal consonants or when preceding a syllable final nasal consonant ( and ), but it is not distinctive as in Portuguese. Dialectally, there are Spanish dialects with a greater number of vowels, with some (as Murcian and Eastern Andalusian) reaching up to 8 to 10 vowel sounds. On the other hand, Portuguese has seven to nine oral vowels (, *, , , *, , , , ) ( is closer to in Portugal, while the near close near back unrounded vowel —also rendered as or —is only found in European Portuguese) plus five phonemic nasal vowels (, , , , ) when preceding an omitted syllable final nasal ( and ) or when is marked with a tilde (~): ⟨ã⟩ and ⟨õ⟩. This appears to be, similarly to French, a Celtic phonological adaptation to Latin. Portuguese, as Catalan, uses vowel height, contrasting stressed and unstressed (reduced) vowels. Moreover, Spanish has two semivowels as allophones, ; while Portuguese has four, two oral and two nasalized glides (non syllabic near close vowels, as those of most English speech, are allophones of the glides in the Brazilian dialects where near closeds are used). The following considerations are based on a comparison of standard versions of Spanish and Portuguese. Apparent divergence of the information below from anyone's personal pronunciation may indicate one's idiolect (or dialect) diverges from the mentioned standards. Information on Portuguese phonology is adapted from Celso Pedro Luft (Novo Manual de Português, 1971), and information on Spanish phonology adapted from Manuel Seco (Gramática Esencial del Español, 1994). Comparing the phonemic inventory of the two languages, a noticeable divergence stands out. First, standard Portuguese has more phonemes than Spanish. Also, each language has phonemes that are not shared by the other.

Since the late Middle Ages, both languages have gone through sound shifts and mergers that set them further apart.

Spelling Pronunciation Notes Spanish Portuguese b (EP) (BP) In Spanish and European Portuguese is lenited after a continuant. d  (EP) (BP) In Spanish and European Portuguese is lenited after a continuant. In all Portuguese dialects, the consonants and have affricate allophones, happening when before a palatalizing (, , mainly in Brazil), or an elided or unstressed before another (that actually becomes in Portugal), stressed one, leading to sandhi ( → , → , , both in Brazil and Portugal). t (EP) (BP) g (EP) (BP) In Spanish and European Portuguese is lenited after a continuant. l (EP) (BP) In European Portuguese syllable final is velarized as in Catalan (see dark l), while in most Brazilian dialects and some rural European ones it is vocalized to Caipira rhoticizes to English like ar, while portunhol da pampa velarizes it. r , rr In Portuguese, r and rr have several possible pronunciations. In most dialects, it is a guttural r as in French (, and in Portugal and Brazil, , , , and in Brazil), while in rural northern Portugal and southern Brazil it is a trilled r (like in Galician). In dialects of Portugal and Galicia and all Brazilian dialects word final r may be a tap, though English like , or is more common in some southern and western Brazilian dialects, while in northern and eastern dialects it is guttural. In all Portuguese dialects across the world, word final r is always pronounced tap before vowel initial words. In Spanish, r and rr have kept their original pronunciation as an alveolar trill Intervocalic r is an alveolar tap in both languages Middle r after /l/, /n/, & /s/, and root initial positions is also trill [r] in Spanish & guttural trill or other variants in Portuguese; the same goes for compound word ciudadrealeño (from Ciudad Real) However, after vowels, the initial r of the root becomes rr in prefixed or compound words to reflect the trill pronunciation: prorrogar, infrarrojo, autorretrato, arriesgar, puertorriqueño, Monterrey. Syllable final r is either trill [r] or tap [] in Spanish, but tap is more frequent in colloquial speech and trill is usually pronounced in emphatic and oratorical or formal speech. Word final r in Spanish is either tap or trill before a pause or consonant initial word & only tap before vowel initial word. v Originally, the letters ⟨b⟩ and ⟨v⟩ stood for distinct sounds pronounced and , respectively, but the two eventually merged into a single phoneme in Spanish. In most varieties of Portuguese they remained separate phonemes, and the bilabial fricative of Old Portuguese subsequently changed into the labiodental fricative , as in French and Italian. Since no distinction is made anymore between the pronunciation of ⟨b⟩ and ⟨v⟩, Spanish spelling has been reformed according to Classical Latin. In Portuguese, the spelling of these letters is based on pronunciation, which is closer to Latin and modern Italian. This leads to some orthographic disparities:

Compare for example Spanish gobierno, haber, libro with Portuguese governo, haver, livro. The endings of the imperfect indicative tense of 1st. conjugation verbs (with infinitives ending in ar) are spelled with ⟨b⟩ in Spanish (cantaba, cantabas, cantábamos, and so on), but with ⟨v⟩ in Portuguese (cantava, cantavas, cantávamos, etc.) The Spanish adjectival suffix ble, as in posible (also used in English, "possible"), corresponds to vel in Portuguese: possível. In Spanish, the plosives b, d, g are lenited, usually realized as "soft" approximants (here represented without the undertracks) after continuants. While similar pronunciations can be heard in European Portuguese, most speakers of Brazilian Portuguese pronounce these phonemes consistently as "hard" plosives This can make a Portuguese phrase such as uma bala ("a bullet") sound like una pala ("a shovel") to a Spanish speaker.

In Spanish, the following word final consonants are possible: l, r, n, d, z, j, s, x, but other final consonants are also allowed in loanwords. In Portuguese, the following word final consonants are possible: l, r, s, x; z (only after a stressed vowel); n (only after an unstressed vowel). The final m is an orthographic sign of a nasal sound. Other consonants typically receive a paragogic e in loanwords.

Barranquenho a transitional Spanish–Portuguese dialect with Southern Spanish traits spoken in the Portuguese municipality of Barrancos. Portuñol/Portunhol is the name for the mixed languages spoken in the borders of Brazil with Spanish speaking countries. Papiamento is a creole language with Spanish and Portuguese influences. Judaeo Spanish language is derived from medieval Castilian language, but has been influenced by Judaeo Portuguese. Fala d'Ambo is a creole language derived from Portuguese but influenced by the rulers of Spanish Guinea.