The words in Portuguese are capitalized in cases almost identical to those in English, with a few notable exceptions which are not capitalized in Portuguese, mainly:
- Adjectives of nationality and languages, e.g., “italiano” (Italian), “canadense” (Canadian), “espanhol” (Spanish), etc.
- Days and months, e.g., “terça-feira” (Tuesday), “janeiro” (January), “julho” (July).
It is also worth noting that all letters of the alphabet are masculine in Portuguese. For example, when referring to a letter in Portuguese, one may say: o “n” em “animal”(the “n” in “animal”), referring to the letter “n” using the masculine article “o.” The word “letra” (letter) itself, however, is feminine; thus, we could also say: a letra “n” em “animal”(the letter “n” in “animal”). We will learn more about masculine and feminine nouns and adjectives in the next lesson.
Other lessons in Level I:
Level I – Basic
2. Similarities to English & Particularities of The Portuguese Language
2.3. Punctuation & Written Accents
