Spelling: what is it, spelling rules and exercises

What is spelling?

THE Orthography studies the correct way of writing the words of a language. From the Greek "ortho", which means correct, and "fork", in turn, which means writing.

It is part of Phonology (the study of phonemes) and together with Morphology and Syntax are the parts that make up the grammar.

In addition to being influenced by the etymology and phonology of words, regarding spelling there are conventions between speakers of the same language that aim to unify their official spelling. These are spelling agreements.

The alphabet

Writing is possible thanks to ordered graphic signs that transcribe the sounds of language. In our culture, these signs are the letters, the set of which is called the alphabet.

The Portuguese language has 26 letters, three of which are used in special cases: K, W and Y.

Use of letters K, W and Y

• Acronyms and symbols: kg (kilogram), km (kilometer), K (potassium).
• Anthroponyms (and their derived words) originating in foreign languages: Kelly, Darwin, Darwinism.
• Toponyms (and their derived words) originating in foreign languages: Kosovo, Kuwait, Kuwaiti.
• Foreign words not adapted to Portuguese: feedback, hardware, hobby.

Learn more about origin of the alphabet.

Use of x and ch

O x is used in the following situations:

• Generally, after diphthongs: box, leaves, fish.
• After the syllable -me: stir, stir, mexican.
• Words with indigenous or African origin: namesake, Xavante, curse.
• After the initial syllable -en: sulfur, hoe, swarm.

Exceptions:

1. The word "mecha" (portion of hair) is written with tea.
2. The verb "to fill" is written with tea. The same happens with the words that derive from it: flood, soak, fill.

write with x	write with tea
bladder	cheek
witch	bowling
mumps	brooch
elixir	liquor
cleaning	chayote
grease	quilt
lizard	facade
gossip	schoolbag
sheriff	sausage
Cup	torch

Use of h

O H is used in the following situations:

• At the end of some interjections: Ah!, Oh!, Uh!
• By virtue of etymology: ability, today, man.
• In the digraphs ch, lh, nh: arrow, red, morning.
• In compound words: mini-hotel, superhuman, superman.

Exception: The word Bahia when referring to the state is an exception. The geographic accident "bay" is written without h.

Use of s and z

O s is used in the following situations:

• In adjectives ending with suffixes -bone / -ow that indicate large quantity, condition or circumstance: kind, ugly, oily.
• In the suffix -are you, -this, -isa that indicate origin, title or profession: marquis, French, poetess.
• After diphthongs: thing, cornice, blackboard.
• In the conjugation of the verbs to put and to want: put, wanted, wanted.

O z, in turn, is used in the following situations:

• In the suffixes -and z / -hey that form nouns from adjectives: thin - thin, beautiful - beauty, great - greatness.
• In the suffix - go, which verb form: update, baptize, hospitalize.

write with s	write with z
smooth	friendship
analyze	pleasant
back	bad luck
through	heartburn
Notice	contempt
gas	chalk
gooseberry	pleasure
instead	caster
justice	perhaps
use	varnish

We are sure these texts can help you even more:

• Use of s and z
• Back or Back: when to use?

Use of g and j

O g is used in the following situations:

• In words ending in -agio, -aegio, -igious, -goodwill, -luge: omen, regal, litigation, clock, refuge.
• Nouns ending in -gem: leverage, pod, trip.

O j, in turn, is used in the following situations:

• Words with indigenous origin: shaman, jerimum, hominy.
• Words with African origin: jabá, jiló, jagunço.

Comments:

1. The conjugation of the verb to travel in the Present Subjunctive is written with j: (That) they/they travel.
2. In verbs that, in the infinitive, contain g before and or i, O g is substituted for j before the The or from O, so that the same sound is maintained. Thus: afflict - afflict, afflict; elect - elect, elect; act - act, act.
3. The city of Mogi das Cruzes is written with g. The person who is born or who lives is called a "Mogiano". However, the word "mojiano" does exist and, according to the dictionary Michaelis means "Relative to or belonging to the region that was served by the former Mojiana Railroad (from São Paulo to Minas Gerais)."

Write with g	write with j
angelic	Angel
foreign	aubergine
ginger	scoundrel
contraption	tip
gin	way
slang	boa constrictor
light	Scarlet eggplant
sergeant	slab
tangerine	gutter
Bowl	costume

Paronyms and Homonyms

There are different forms of writing that exist, that is, they are accepted, but whose meaning is different.

So, we are facing words paronyms when the words are similar in spelling or pronunciation, but they have different meanings.

Examples:

rider (of horses)	gentleman (polite)
length (size)	compliance (to comply or greet)
description (describe)	discretion (discreet)
discriminate (absolve)	discriminate (distinguish)
emigrate (leave the country)	immigrate (enter the country)

On the other hand, we can be facing words namesakes when words have the same pronunciation, but different meanings.

Examples:

cell (small room)	saddle (horse)
check (means of payment)	check (from chess)
smart (insightful)	expert (experienced)
red (light brown)	russian (from russia)
tack (censor)	rate (set rate)

Words and expressions that offer difficulties

In addition to the situations mentioned above and the cases of accentuation and punctuation, there are a number of words and expressions that offer difficulties. Examples are: Down / Below, Where / Where, But / More, among many others.

1. Down / Down

Read more about this subject bellow. (in lower position)

looked at me from above bellow with a look of disapproval. (relation to the expression "from above" or "from above")

2. Where where

I do not know Where I left my books. (does not suggest movement)

To where will we leave the books? (suggests movement)

3. But more

I speak, but he never listens to me. (although)

this is what more I like to do! (increase in quantity)

To reduce difficulties with spelling, it is necessary to be aware and familiar with it. This is only possible through reading, practicing and consulting a good dictionary.

Do you want to be an expert in this matter? Be sure to read other texts related to this topic.:

• The biggest mistakes in Portuguese you have to stop making
• super difficult words and their meanings
• Use of Ç - Cedilha
• Graphic accentuation
• Hyphen Use
• Use of Why, Why, Why and Why
• Evil or Evil?

Spelling Exercises

question 1

(Fuvest) "The _____ of a nuclear war causes a great _____ in humanity and leaves it _____ as to the future." Check the option where all words are spelled correctly.

a) expectation - tension - exciting
b) expectation - tension - hesitant
c) expectation - tension - hesitant
e) expectation - tension - exciting

See Answer

Correct alternative c) expectation - tension - hesitant

• "expectation" is spelled that way because of its Latin origin - exspectatus.
• "tension" is spelled this way because of its Latin origin - tension.
• "hesitant" is spelled that way because of its Latin origin - haesitare.

question 2

(UFRJ) In the series below there is a spelling error in the use of "z". Tick ​​it:

a) executioner
b) brings (verb)
c) quite
d) anise
e) chalk

See Answer

Correct alternative: d) anise

The word "anise" is written with s because of its Latin origin - anisum.

question 3

(FMU) Check the option where all words are spelled correctly.

a) paralyze, search, mock, slide
b) highness, enterprise, French, smallness
c) cuscus, chimpanzee, soak, fill
d) incense, abscess, obsession, luchação
e) chinese, marquis, garrucha, whore

See Answer

Correct alternative a) paralyze, search, mock, slide

• The suffix -go write with z when forming verbs: irony - ironize, slide - slide.
• The letters that form "isar" exist in the verbs "paralyze" and "search" are not suffixes, as they are somehow part of the words in their primitive forms (paralisia - paralyze, searchisa - search), which is why they are written with s.

As for the remaining alternatives:

b) highness, enterprise, French, smallness

• "highness" is spelled with z because the suffix is ​​used -hey when the noun is formed from an adjective: high - highness.
• the correct one is "company" because of its Italian origin - printed.
• "French" is written with s because it is used s in the suffix -this which indicates origin.
• "of smallness" is spelled with z because the suffix is ​​used -hey when the noun is formed from an adjective: small - small.

c) cuscus, chimpanzee, soak, fill

• the correct one is "couscous". There is no specific spelling rule for this word.
• the correct one is "chimpanzee", which is spelled with z why use z in words with indigenous origin, as in this case.
• "encharcar" (to fill with something) derives from the verb "to fill", which is written, like its derivatives, with tea.
• "fill" is an exception to the rule that is used x after the initial syllable -en, such as "trousseau".

d) incense, abscess, obsession, luchação

• "incense" is spelled that way because of its Latin origin - incensum.
• "abscess" is an exception to the rule that is used s after the prefix -ab, such as "absolve". Also, the word is written with ss why use ss (with sound of s) between two vowels.
• "obsession" is spelled with s because after the prefix -ab use up s. O ss in the last syllable is justified by the fact that it uses ss (with sound of s) between two vowels.
• the correct one is "dislocation" because of its Latin origin - dislocation.

e) chinese, marquis, garrucha, whore

• the correct one is "Chinese", which is spelled with s why use s in the suffix -this which indicates origin.
• "marquis" is spelled with s, why use s in the suffix -ês which indicates title.
• "garrucha" is spelled that way because of its Spanish origin - garrucha.
• "whore" is spelled with z in the end because the letter z together with a vowel at the end of a word makes the last syllable stressed, as in this case whose word "whore" is oxytone.

question 4

“I asked him not to me__me in the fall__a that was fe__ada”.

The alternative that correctly fills in the blanks is

a) tea; x; x
b) x; tea; tea
c) x; x; x
d) tea, tea, tea
e) x, x, ch

See Answer

Correct alternative: e) x, x, ch

I asked him not toxer in the fallxthe one that was doneteaada

• mexer: after the syllable “me” the x is used.
• fallsxa: after diphthongs (vowel+semivowel) x is used.
• faithteaada: word derived from the verb close.

question 5

I. __ Times I didn't see Morgana so happy.
II. In two years __ I will go to Portugal.
III. We are now living in a house __ five minutes from the subway.

The alternative that correctly fills in the blanks is

a) to; The; The
b) There is; there is; there is
c) a; there is; The
d) there is; The; The
and the; there is; there is

See Answer

Correct alternative: d) there is; The; The

The "ha" is an impersonal form of the verb to have that indicates past tense, being used in the sense of existing: There is times I didn't see Morgana so happy

The "a" is a definite article used before nouns and that indicates future actions and distance:

• Hence The two years I will go to Portugal. (future action)
• We are now living in a house The five minutes from the subway. (distance)

question 6

“After being paralyzed, he was on rest all week.”

The alternative that correctly fills in the blanks is:

at; s
b) s; z
c) z; s
d) z; z
e) n.d.a

See Answer

Correct alternative: a) s; s

after being paralyzedsado, had a restso all week.

• stuck: written with -s, as it is a word derived from another word that is also written with -s, for example: hang
• rest: -s is used after diphthongs.

question 7

I. Hope they see__em more often.
II. Lost his watch in the pool.
III. That rice with __iló was delicious.

The alternative that correctly fills in the blanks is:

a) j; j; g
b) j; g; j
c) g; g; j
d) j; j; j
e) g; g; g

See Answer

Correct alternative: b) j; g; j

• We hope they sawjin more times. - when we use the verb to travel, we must always write with -j.
• lost the clockgI go in the pool. - words ending with -agio, -egio, -igio, -ogio, -ugio, are written with -g
• that rice with jilo was delicious. - many words of indigenous origin are written with -j.

question 8

The homonymous words are those that have the same pronunciation but different meanings. All highlighted words are spelled correctly, except

to the census demographic allows to know the number of inhabitants of a given place.
b) Thaddeus was one of the most smart from the team.
c) That afternoon, he took the television to the concert.
d) he paid for college with the check what his mother gave him.
e) In a short time, he ascended up the company director

See Answer

Correct alternative: c) That afternoon he took the television to the concert.

Fix and concert are homophone words, that is, they have the same pronunciation, but are written in different ways.

• Concerto, with c, represents a musical session, being synonymous with show.
• Fix, with s, means fixing something.

Therefore, in the sentence above, the correct one would be: That afternoon, he took the television to thesright.

question 9

Paronyms are words that are similar in spelling and pronunciation, however, they differ in meaning. The sentence below that correctly uses the highlighted term is

a) The subject was caught in fragrant.
b) Stored all supplies in the dismissal.
c) Yours discretion about the object was excellent.
d) The thief was learned that dawn.
e) Alexandre has always been a Knight.

See Answer

Correct alternative: e) Alexandre has always been a gentleman.

Gentleman was used correctly in the phrase as it means a kind man. The term rider, without the -lh, designates one who rides.

The other correct alternatives are:

a) The subject was caught in the act. - Flagrant (evident) and fragrant (fragrant)
b) he kept all the groceries in the pantry. - Pantry (place where food is stored) and pantry (dispensing)
c) Your description of the object was excellent. - Description (describing) and discretion (prudence)
d) The thief was apprehended that dawn. - Learn (gain knowledge) and apprehend (capture)

question 10

The alternative that contains a spelling error is

a) I don't know where I left my pens.
b) I no longer liked walking around the city.
c) I was feeling bad in the morning.
d) The next cinema session starts at 9 pm.
e) If I don't make it to chemistry class on time, I will miss the exam.

See Answer

Correct alternative: a) I don't know where I left my pens.

The terms "where" and "where" are used in different situations:

• Where: indicates place, always accompanied by verbs that express permanence.
• Where: indicates movement or approach.

So, the sentence above would be correct: I don't know Where I left my pens.

Learn more at:

• New Orthographic Agreement of the Portuguese Language
• Spelling Exercises