Summary p228

CONYERSATIONAL PORTUGUESE

228

3. STRESS

1* Words ending in a, e, or o (or in one of these vowel$ and s, m, or ns) are stressed on the next to the last syllable:

casa    house

2. Words ending in any letter, in a nasal vowel or diphthong (two vowels pronounced in union) are stressed on the last syllable:

papeł    paper

manila,    moming

descansei    I rested

3. Words not following the above rules have a written accent mark which indicates the stressed syllable:

cafe    coffee

4. PUNCTUATION

In generał, Portuguese punctuation is similar to English. Some differences are:

ł. The dash is used in diałogues to indicate the words of the speakers:

—Como vai o senhor?

—Muito bem, obrigado. ¹

£les^{2 3} sdo russos.

Ela chegara na ąuinta.

Comprei o tapete¹ em setembro (Setembro CP)).

They are Russians. She will arrive on Thursday.

I bought the carpet in September.

3. Suspension points (...) are used morę freąuently than in English to indicate interruption, etc.

4. Notice the variance from English in the use of the decimal point:

3.000.000 de habitantes 5.289 metros Cr$ 8.300,00 l.800$00

3,000,000 inhabitants 5,289 meters 8,300 cruzeiros 1,800 escudos (Portugal)

5. SOME ORTHOGRAPHIC SIGNS

1.    The tilde (til) (“) over a vowel indicates a nasal sound:

posięao    position

2.    The dieresis {trema) (") is used in Brazil but not in Portugal in modem spelling over the letter u when it occurs after q or g and before e or i and is pronounced:

ełoąuenie    eloquent

(eloąuente (P)J

1

Capitals are not used as frequently as in English. They are not used with adjectives of nationality, the days of the week and the months (except that in Portugal the months and the seasons are capitalized), nor is the pronoun eu (“I”) capitalized:

2

   ełes, ele (§).

3

   tapete (P).