Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of abbreviations
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Written expression
- 3 Vocabulary
- 4 Nouns and adjectives
- 5 Verbs
- 6 Reported speech
- 7 Pronouns and articles
- 8 Adverbs
- 9 Comparatives and superlatives
- 10 Interrogatives
- 11 Fields of meaning – vocabulary extension
- 12 Portuguese for Spanish speakers
- Index of Portuguese words
2 - Written expression
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of abbreviations
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Written expression
- 3 Vocabulary
- 4 Nouns and adjectives
- 5 Verbs
- 6 Reported speech
- 7 Pronouns and articles
- 8 Adverbs
- 9 Comparatives and superlatives
- 10 Interrogatives
- 11 Fields of meaning – vocabulary extension
- 12 Portuguese for Spanish speakers
- Index of Portuguese words
Summary
This section covers general rules for the written variant of the Portuguese language.
Note: a minor orthographic difference between European and Brazilian Portuguese is that the former writes a single ç where the latter would use a cç thus infração/infracção. This alternative spelling is rendered thus: infra(c)ção.
Accentuation
Diacritical marks
There are four diacritical marks in Portuguese from Portugal and five in Brazilian Portuguese.
1. The tilde (~) is used to indicate a nazalized vowel or group of vowels.
Examples:
João (John)
corações (hearts)
maçã (apple)
2. The circumflex accent (^) is used to indicate the pronunciation of a semi-closed a, e, o. This vowel is always stressed.
Examples:
português (Portuguese)
avô (grandfather)
Antônio (Br) (Anthony)
ignorância (ignorance)
The circumflex is also used to indicate double vowels pronounced separately:
lêem (they read)
perdôo (I forgive)
In Brazil, the circumflex is also used in the following word:
vôo (I fly, the flight)
3. The “grave” accent (ˋ) is used to indicate the contraction of the preposition a (to) with the feminine definite article a (the) or the following demonstrative adjectives and pronouns (that/those): aquilo, aquele, aquela and their plural forms.
Examples:
Vou à praia (I am going to the beach)
Mostrei o apartamento àquele homem (I showed the apartment to that man)
4. The “agudo” accent (ʹ) is used to indicate stress in the following cases:
(a) Words ending in a consonant plus a, e, or o or in their plural forms, which are not stressed on the penultimate syllable.
Examples:
metáfora (metaphor)
diérese (dierisis)
avó (grandmother)
(b) Words ending in-m, -l, or -z or their plural forms, when the last syllable is not stressed.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Using PortugueseA Guide to Contemporary Usage, pp. 35 - 42Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004