Portuguese Year 5: Punctuation, spelling and revision: from draft to final text
Portuguese, Year 5 (Portugal): Punctuate to guide the reader, avoid look-alike words, and revise your text in rounds until it is ready.
Punctuating and spelling with care
Punctuation tells the reader how to read. A full stop closes an idea. A comma separates the items of a list («livros, cadernos e um estojo») and sets off the person you call («Ana, vem cá!»). A colon announces a list or a line of speech; a dash opens a character's line in a dialogue; ? and ! mark a question and an exclamation. In spelling, some pairs get mixed up: «há» (verb haver: «há dois dias», two days ago) versus «a» or «à»; «tem» (he has) versus «têm» (they have).
Revising is a stage, not a punishment
Nobody writes well at the first go. A text is revised in rounds, each with one question. Round 1, content: does it answer the purpose, is an idea missing? Round 2, organisation: are the paragraphs and the order right? Round 3, sentences: any repeated or vague words? Round 4, punctuation and spelling. Reading aloud helps you hear where a pause or a comma is missing, and asking a classmate to read shows what you can no longer see.
From a rough draft to the final text
Draft: «ontem fui ao parque com o meu irmão A Ana já lá estava á uma hora. Os dois tem uma bola nova.» (Yesterday I went to the park with my brother. Ana had been there for an hour. The two have a new ball.) Step 1, punctuation: capital letter on «Ontem» and a full stop after «irmão». Step 2, spelling: «á» becomes «há» (you can swap it for «faz»: «faz uma hora») and «tem» becomes «têm» (the two = they). Step 3, sentences: if you find «e depois, e depois, e depois», use «depois» and «por fim». Step 4: read it aloud.
The spell checker does not review for you
A phone's spell checker underlines words that do not exist («á»), but it does not know what you meant. «Tem» and «têm», «há» and «a» are all valid words, so they stay unmarked even when they are in the wrong place. The checker helps, but it does not revise for you: you do that, round by round, and by reading aloud.
A comma can change the meaning
In messages, e-mails, projects and exam answers, punctuation changes meaning. «Vamos comer, Ana!» calls Ana to lunch; «Vamos comer Ana!» says that Ana is the meal. Revising is what makes a text ready to be read by someone else: a teacher, a friend, or a stranger who reads your application.
Test what you learned
Which sentence is correctly punctuated?
- a) «Na mochila levo, livros cadernos e um estojo.»
- b) «Na mochila levo livros, cadernos e um estojo.»
- c) «Na mochila levo livros cadernos, e um estojo.»
Correct answer: b) «Na mochila levo livros, cadernos e um estojo.» — Yes: commas separate the items of the list, and «e» links the last two.
Which is the correct final version of «os meus primos tem uma casa na praia»?
- a) «Os meus primos têm uma casa na praia.»
- b) «Os meus primos tem uma casa na praia.»
- c) «Os meus primos têm uma casa na praia»
Correct answer: a) «Os meus primos têm uma casa na praia.» — Yes: capital letter, «têm» for a plural subject, and a full stop.
The spell checker marked nothing in «Não o vejo a dois dias.» Does that mean it is correct?
- a) Yes: with no underline, a sentence is always correct
- b) No: «a» is a valid word, but here it should be «há»
- c) No: it only needs a comma
Correct answer: b) No: «a» is a valid word, but here it should be «há» — Yes: «há dois dias» (two days ago) uses the verb haver. Try swapping it for «faz».
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