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.