Acute vowels
Á á É é Í í Ó ó Ú ú
The acute accent can mark a stressed vowel and distinguish vowel quality according to Portuguese spelling.
PORTUGUESE CHARACTER SET
Portuguese accented letters
Copy the accented vowels and C with cedilla used in modern Portuguese. The practical set includes acute, circumflex, grave, tilde, and cedilla forms.
Click a character, then paste with Ctrl+V or ⌘V.
Characters 24Groups 5Format Unicode text
QUICK REFERENCE
Find the right character
Circumflex vowels
 â Ê ê Ô ô
The circumflex marks stressed closed vowels in words that require it.
Nasal vowels
à ã Õ õ
The tilde marks nasalization in forms such as não, irmã, and põe.
Grave A
À à
The grave accent appears on A in contractions involving the preposition a, commonly discussed as crasis.
C with cedilla
Ç ç
Ç represents an S-like sound before A, O, or U in spellings such as açúcar and coração.
KEYBOARD METHODS
How to type and insert these characters
Use a Portuguese layout for regular writing
Add the Portuguese layout that matches your region, then use its dead keys for accents and its cedilla key. For occasional characters, copy them here or use a listed four-digit Alt code on a numeric keypad.
Use Option dead keys or Portuguese input
On the ABC layout, Option + E begins an acute, Option + I a circumflex, Option + grave a grave, and Option + N a tilde. Enter the vowel after the dead key. Option + C produces ç.
Hold the base letter
Touch and hold A, C, E, I, O, or U, then slide to the required form. A Portuguese keyboard improves suggestions and gives faster access during regular writing.
Convert the Unicode value
In Microsoft Word, type the hexadecimal value without U+ and press Alt+X. For example, 00E3 converts to ã, 00E7 to ç, and 00F5 to õ.
UNICODE REFERENCE
Character codes
| Character | Name | Group | Unicode | Windows Alt | HTML named | HTML decimal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Á | Capital A with acute | Acute vowels | U+00C1 | Alt+0193 | Á | Á |
| á | Lowercase a with acute | Acute vowels | U+00E1 | Alt+0225 | á | á |
| À | Capital A with grave | Grave A | U+00C0 | Alt+0192 | À | À |
| à | Lowercase a with grave | Grave A | U+00E0 | Alt+0224 | à | à |
| Â | Capital A with circumflex | Circumflex vowels | U+00C2 | Alt+0194 | Â | Â |
| â | Lowercase a with circumflex | Circumflex vowels | U+00E2 | Alt+0226 | â | â |
| Ã | Capital A with tilde | Nasal vowels | U+00C3 | Alt+0195 | Ã | Ã |
| ã | Lowercase a with tilde | Nasal vowels | U+00E3 | Alt+0227 | ã | ã |
| É | Capital E with acute | Acute vowels | U+00C9 | Alt+0201 | É | É |
| é | Lowercase e with acute | Acute vowels | U+00E9 | Alt+0233 | é | é |
| Ê | Capital E with circumflex | Circumflex vowels | U+00CA | Alt+0202 | Ê | Ê |
| ê | Lowercase e with circumflex | Circumflex vowels | U+00EA | Alt+0234 | ê | ê |
| Í | Capital I with acute | Acute vowels | U+00CD | Alt+0205 | Í | Í |
| í | Lowercase i with acute | Acute vowels | U+00ED | Alt+0237 | í | í |
| Ó | Capital O with acute | Acute vowels | U+00D3 | Alt+0211 | Ó | Ó |
| ó | Lowercase o with acute | Acute vowels | U+00F3 | Alt+0243 | ó | ó |
| Ô | Capital O with circumflex | Circumflex vowels | U+00D4 | Alt+0212 | Ô | Ô |
| ô | Lowercase o with circumflex | Circumflex vowels | U+00F4 | Alt+0244 | ô | ô |
| Õ | Capital O with tilde | Nasal vowels | U+00D5 | Alt+0213 | Õ | Õ |
| õ | Lowercase o with tilde | Nasal vowels | U+00F5 | Alt+0245 | õ | õ |
| Ú | Capital U with acute | Acute vowels | U+00DA | Alt+0218 | Ú | Ú |
| ú | Lowercase u with acute | Acute vowels | U+00FA | Alt+0250 | ú | ú |
| Ç | Capital C with cedilla | Cedilla | U+00C7 | Alt+0199 | Ç | Ç |
| ç | Lowercase c with cedilla | Cedilla | U+00E7 | Alt+0231 | ç | ç |
For ordinary writing, copy and paste the character itself. Use an HTML entity only in HTML source. A listed Windows Alt code requires a numeric keypad and may depend on the active character set.
USAGE GUIDE
Which accented characters does Portuguese use?
Modern Portuguese uses acute accents on all five vowels, circumflex accents on A, E, and O, tildes on A and O, a grave accent on A, and the cedilla on C. Uppercase forms retain the mark.
The marked forms are not normally counted as additional alphabet letters. The mark is still part of the correct spelling and can signal stress, vowel quality, nasalization, or a grammatical contraction.
Portuguese spelling and pronunciation vary between Brazil, Portugal, and other regions. Copying the original spelling is safer than choosing a mark from pronunciation alone.
Portuguese ã and Spanish ñ use the tilde differently
Portuguese places the tilde on A or O to mark a nasal vowel. Spanish ñ is a separate consonant letter. The shared tilde shape does not give the characters the same function.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Questions about Portuguese accented letters
What accented letters are used in Portuguese?
The practical set is á, à, â, ã, é, ê, í, ó, ô, õ, ú, and ç, with corresponding uppercase forms.
Does Portuguese use ü?
Modern Portuguese orthography generally does not use the diaeresis in ordinary native words. It can still appear in foreign names and quoted material.
Is ç a separate letter of the Portuguese alphabet?
Portuguese uses ç in spelling, but the alphabet is based on the 26 basic Latin letters. Ç is treated as C with cedilla rather than an additional alphabet position.
What is the best keyboard for frequent Portuguese writing?
Use the Portuguese input layout appropriate to your region. It provides the dead keys and character positions expected for regular Portuguese text.
Why is à different from á?
À has a grave accent and commonly represents a contraction involving the preposition a. Á has an acute accent. They are different characters with different spelling roles.
Related character pages
References: Portuguese Orthographic Agreement, Ministry of Education, Unicode character charts, Apple accent entry guidance, Microsoft character code guidance.