Portuguese Year 1: The voice and the marks: asking, telling and requesting
Portuguese, Year 1 (Portugal): Your voice changes when you ask, tell or request, and the marks . , ? ! show you how to read and write each sentence.
The voice changes
Your voice changes with what you want to do. When you tell something, «Está sol.» (It is sunny.), your voice goes down at the end. When you ask, «Está sol?» (Is it sunny?), it goes up. When you request something, «Empresta-me a borracha, por favor.» (Lend me the eraser, please.), it stays calm and friendly. In writing each sentence has its mark: full stop ( . ), question mark ( ? ), exclamation mark ( ! ). The comma ( , ) is a small pause.
The marks are your voice on paper
When you speak, your voice shows whether you are asking or telling. On paper there is no voice, so we use marks. «Vens?» (Are you coming?) and «Vens.» (You are coming.) have the same letters, but the reader knows at once which one is the question. Someone who pays attention to the marks reads like someone speaking: not too fast, and not word by word.
Reading a sentence with its marks
Let us read «Comprei maçãs, peras e uvas.» (I bought apples, pears and grapes.) Step 1: look at the mark at the end. It is a full stop: it is a statement, so your voice goes down. Step 2: the comma is a small pause, after «maçãs» and after «peras». Step 3: read in groups, without stopping at every word. Step 4: if the mark were «?», as in «Comprei maçãs?», your voice would go up. When you write the sentence, you put the mark at the end and the commas between the names.
Too fast, or word by word
There are two mistakes you see a lot. One is reading so fast that the marks disappear and the sentence makes no sense. The other is reading word by word, «Comprei… maçãs… peras…», as if it were a list of loose words. Instead, take in the whole sentence with your eyes, respect the marks and say it as if you were telling a friend.
Where the voice and the marks help
Reading a book aloud to a little brother or sister. Asking a friend a question. Asking for a favour with «por favor» (please). Reading a sign in the street. In a message, the «?» and the «!» show whether you are asking or feeling glad. The marks give a voice to the person who writes.
Test what you learned
You say «Queres brincar?» (Do you want to play?) to a friend. What does your voice do at the end?
- a) It goes down, as in a statement
- b) It stays exactly the same
- c) It goes up, because it is a question
Correct answer: c) It goes up, because it is a question — Yes: in «Queres brincar?» the voice goes up at the end, and the «?» shows it in writing.
How do you read «Comprei maçãs, peras e uvas.» (I bought apples, pears and grapes.)?
- a) Very fast, without a single pause
- b) With a small pause after «maçãs» and «peras», and the voice going down at the end
- c) With the voice going up at the end, like a question
- d) One word at a time, with a long pause after each
Correct answer: b) With a small pause after «maçãs» and «peras», and the voice going down at the end — Yes: the commas give small pauses and the full stop makes the voice go down.
A boy reads «Comprei… maçãs… peras… e… uvas.» with a pause after every word. What should he do instead?
- a) Read even more slowly
- b) Read only the words he already knows
- c) Change the full stop into a question mark
- d) Read in groups of words and pause only at the commas
Correct answer: d) Read in groups of words and pause only at the commas — Yes: that way the sentence keeps its rhythm and sounds like someone speaking.
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