Portuguese Year 3: Writing correctly and revising your text
Portuguese, Year 3 (Portugal): Capital letters, punctuation, word division at line end, accents and layout; and how to reread, judge and improve your own text.
Five cares and a second look
Writing correctly has five cares. Capital letter at the start of a sentence and in proper names. Punctuation: full stop, comma, «?» and «!». Word division: when a word does not fit at the end of a line, you split it by syllables with a hyphen: ca-chor-ro («ch» stays together; «rr» is split). Marks on letters: accents, tilde and cedilla (á, â, ã, ç). Layout: title, paragraphs, margins and legible handwriting. Revising means rereading the text to improve it.
A comma can change the meaning
A well-written text is read without effort: punctuation says where to pause, the right letters show the word, and paragraphs organise the ideas. A mistake can change the meaning: «Vamos comer, o avô» (“Let's eat, grandpa”) is not the same as «Vamos comer o avô» (“Let's eat grandpa”). That is why, after writing, you must revise: first what you say, then how you write it.
Correcting a sentence
Sentence to revise: «o joão foi a escola mas nao viu o cachorro» (João went to school but did not see the puppy). Step 1: does it say what you want? Yes. Step 2: capital letters: «O João». Step 3: «foi à escola», with a grave accent (a + a = à). Step 4: a comma before «mas». Step 5: «não» needs the tilde. Step 6: a full stop at the end. Result: «O João foi à escola, mas não viu o cachorro.» If «cachorro» does not fit in the line, divide it: ca-chor-ro.
Rereading too fast
The mistake is to reread fast, only with your eyes, and think everything is fine: it is easy not to see the mistake. Rereading softly and slowly helps. Check one thing at a time. First the meaning (does it make sense? does it have an introduction, a development and a conclusion? are ideas missing?), then the punctuation, then the letters. At the end, copy it out neatly, in legible handwriting.
Where you revise
You revise when you write a birthday card, a message to your grandparents or a piece of schoolwork. You also see punctuation and accents in books, subtitles and posters, and word division at the end of the lines in a book. Authors read their texts again many times before they are printed.
Test what you learned
The word «cachorro» (puppy) does not fit at the end of the line. How do you divide it into syllables?
- a) cac-hor-ro
- b) ca-cho-rro
- c) ca-chor-ro
- d) c-a-chor-ro
Correct answer: c) ca-chor-ro — Yes: the «ch» stays together and the «rr» is split, in the right place.
Which is the correct sentence for «a mae da ana comprou pao e leite» (Ana's mother bought bread and milk)?
- a) A mae da Ana comprou pao e leite.
- b) A mãe da Ana comprou pão e leite.
- c) a mãe da ana comprou pão e leite
Correct answer: b) A mãe da Ana comprou pão e leite. — Yes: capital letters at the start and in the name Ana, tilde in «mãe» and «pão», and a full stop.
After writing your text, what is the best way to revise it?
- a) Read it fast once and hand it in
- b) Only check that the handwriting is pretty
- c) Read it slowly, in a low voice, checking one thing at a time: first the meaning, then punctuation and spelling
Correct answer: c) Read it slowly, in a low voice, checking one thing at a time: first the meaning, then punctuation and spelling — Yes: one thing at a time, slowly, lets you see what the eyes skip when they are in a hurry.
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