In Portuguese, there is not always a correspondence between letter (graphical representation) and phoneme (sound representation), so written words with s, like casa, cesium and so on, they are sometimes written with z, because there is sound correspondence between the letters s and z, when the s is between vowels. This feature is not restricted to these letters, there are others like x, c, ch, g, j, which also cause doubts.
To make it even more difficult for the speaker, there are different letters that represent the same phoneme, such as u and l when they appear at the end of words, as in g, sal and orangery. Therefore, in speech, these words are reproduced as: “I am”, “sau” and “orangeu”. And at the time of writing, how can you not make a mistake? How do you know if the word ends with u or l?
To solve the problems with the spelling of these words, it is necessary to understand that:
- It is important to think about the grammar class of the word., because if it is a verb and is in the 3rd person of the perfect tense, such as: sang, spoke, bought and decided, it will be written with u, as this is the ending (ending) of the verbs for that tense, mood and person.
- Generally, when it is a noun or adjective, the spelling will be with l, let's go to the examples? Christmas, lighthouse, candlestick, apron, legal, faithful, Spanish etc. However, this is not a rule, as there may be nouns that are written with u at the end, however, these are specific cases. For example, the suffix used to indicate provenance – i – is written with u: European, Philistine, Hebrew. Therefore, the words in which this suffix appears must be written with a u at the end.
Tips for not making mistakes when writing words ending in u or in there.
- THEsome collective nouns are formed from the suffix - tol: banana grove, orange grove, areal;
- Adjectives that are formed from nouns or other adjectives, such as causal, dorsal and personal, receive the suffix – al, in this case, indicate relationship or belonging;
- The adjectives that represent reference or similarity are written with the suffix –il: infantile, puerile, febrile, Senhoril;
- Adjectives formed from verbs that indicate the possibility of practicing or suffering something are written with the suffix – vel: desirable, removable, correctable, etc.
- When the noun is in the augmentative, one of the possibilities is to use the suffix – aréu: fire, mundaréu, etc.
Now, whenever you write a word that ends with a u or an l, remember the tips for not making mistakes.
By Mayra Pavan
Graduated in Letters
