Portuguese Written Language

Portuguese speaking countries:

Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Macau, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe and Mozambique.

Portuguese language and its variations (written form):

• European Portuguese
• Brazilain Portuguese

Written Portuguese

Additions to Latin Alphabet:

ª is an abreviation for feminine numbers/words, ie: 2nd so in Portuguese would be: 2ª for "2nd door(feminine).

° is an abreviation for masculine numbers, ie: 2nd so in Portuguese would be: 2ª for "2nd floor(masculine).

In Portuguese a point is used as a coma; eg: 27,000 is 27.000 in Portuguese.

Portuguese accents

To type accents with ALT codes, hold down the ALT key, then on the numeric keypad type the three or four digits listed here. However not with laptops, ALT codes only work with the numeric keypad, NOT the row of numbers across the top of your keyboard, as on laptops.

Portuguese Alphabet

K, W and Y are used only in foreign loanwords.

European Portuguese

Standard French or 'Parisian' French is the main written form used everyday. It is the most common, especially in commerce due to France's importance as a trading power. Other written variations include Canadian French and African French.

If you are needing a translation, the probability is that you will need Standard French as this is used as the International variation in Commerce. Only on the occasion where your text or translation in the form of advertising or marketing is specifically for a given region/area outside France, eg: Quebec, Canada, would you use a local variation.

Standard French is used in other countries and regions, besides France:

• Madeira
• Azores

Brazilian Portuguese

The difference between the two written forms are very small and only relate to slight differences in spelling regarding accents, eg: sinónimo, where the Brazilian has a circumflex accent; sinônimo, and where the Brazilian spelling often lacks c or p before c, ç, or t, for example: Brazilian fato with European facto, meaning "fact".

Macau Portuguese

Though the Community recently granted observer status to China, where the language still enjoys official status in Macau, Portuguese is fading there and in places like Goa, Damao and Diu in India, three other former colonial outposts. Cantonese is by far the dominant language.

Portuguese written in Macau is the same as European Portuguese, as this territory was governed by Portugual until 20th Dec. 1999 when it became a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China.

Regions in India such as: Goa, Damao and Diu also use European Portuguese although the language is declining fast.

African Portuguese

Portuguese is spoken in Angola and Mozambique. In its written form it is the same as European Portuguese. In its Spoken form it has its own dialect but is still very similar to European Portuguese.

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