Portuguese Year 2: Writing a text that reads well: telling, informing, explaining
Portuguese, Year 2 (Portugal): Choose what your text is for, then link the sentences: same tense, no repeated names, and words for time and cause.
What is my text for?
Before writing, ask: what is my text for? To tell what happened (narrate): «Ontem fui ao parque.» (Yesterday I went to the park.) To say how things are (inform): «O gato tem quatro patas.» (The cat has four legs.) To say why or how (explain): «A planta murcha porque não tem água.» (The plant wilts because it has no water.) Then link the sentences: same verb tense, words that agree («as bolas pequenas» (the small balls)), no repeated names, and words like «depois» (then) and «porque» (because).
A text is like a train
A text is like a train: the sentences are the carriages and they have to be linked. If every sentence repeats the same name, changes tense or does not say why, the reader stumbles. When the sentences are linked well, the text makes sense (it is coherent) and reads smoothly (it is cohesive).
From a draft to a text that flows
A draft: «O Rui foi à praia. O Rui vê um cão. O cão tinha sede. O Rui deu água ao cão.» (Rui went to the beach. Rui sees a dog. The dog was thirsty. Rui gave water to the dog.) Step 1: «vê» (sees) is present and the rest is past: it becomes «viu» (saw). Step 2: to avoid repeating, «o Rui» disappears in the 2nd sentence, «o cão» becomes «o animal» (a synonym) and «ao cão» becomes «deu-lhe». Step 3: «depois» marks time and «por isso» links the cause to the result. Result: «O Rui foi à praia. Depois, viu um cão. O animal tinha sede, por isso o Rui deu-lhe água.» (Rui went to the beach. Then he saw a dog. The animal was thirsty, so Rui gave it water.)
«Porque» and «por isso» are not the same
«Porque» and «por isso» often get swapped. After «porque» comes the cause, the reason: «O Rui deu água ao cão porque o cão tinha sede.» (Rui gave water to the dog because the dog was thirsty.) After «por isso» comes the result, what happened because of it: «O cão tinha sede, por isso o Rui deu-lhe água.» (The dog was thirsty, so Rui gave it water.) Trick: ask «porquê?» (why?); the answer is the cause.
Where you write texts
You use this in a birthday card, a diary, an account of a school trip, a message or an explanation of a game. Before writing, decide what for; after writing, read quietly and look: did I repeat a name? Did I change tense? Did I forget a «depois» or a «porque»?
Test what you learned
Which sentence narrates, that is, tells what happened?
- a) «Ontem fomos ao parque e brincámos.» (Yesterday we went to the park and played.)
- b) «O parque tem muitas árvores.» (The park has many trees.)
- c) «As árvores precisam de água porque sem ela secam.» (Trees need water because without it they dry out.)
Correct answer: a) «Ontem fomos ao parque e brincámos.» (Yesterday we went to the park and played.) — Yes: it tells what happened yesterday, with verbs in the past.
Marta writes: «A Marta comprou um bolo. A Marta comeu o bolo com a mãe.» (Marta bought a cake. Marta ate the cake with her mum.) How can she avoid the repetition?
- a) Keep it as it is: repeating makes it clearer
- b) «A Marta comprou um bolo. Depois, comeu-o com a mãe.» (Marta bought a cake. Then she ate it with her mum.)
- c) «A Marta comprou um bolo. Depois, comer o bolo com a mãe.» (Marta bought a cake. Then, eat the cake with her mum.)
Correct answer: b) «A Marta comprou um bolo. Depois, comeu-o com a mãe.» (Marta bought a cake. Then she ate it with her mum.) — Yes: «comeu-o» replaces «o bolo», «Depois» links the events, and the verb stays in the past.
Which sentence uses «por isso» correctly?
- a) «Fui para casa, por isso estava a chover.» (I went home, so it was raining.)
- b) «Estava a chover, porque fui para casa.» (It was raining, because I went home.)
- c) «Estava a chover, por isso fui para casa.» (It was raining, so I went home.)
Correct answer: c) «Estava a chover, por isso fui para casa.» (It was raining, so I went home.) — Yes: the cause (rain) comes first and «por isso» introduces what happened because of it.
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