SPELLING AND PUNCTUATION

Questions about Spelling

Q: Why is it Não gosto de mim and NOT Não gosto de mi?
The form mim is used after prepositions:

• de mim, para mim, com mim

👉 Contrast:

• mim = “me” (after prepositions)

• meu/minha = “my” (before a noun)

• o meu livro

👉 Special case:

• comigo (not com mim)

Q: Why is it o cão agressivo and NOT aggressivo?
Although this is a cognate with English, spelling differs:

• Portuguese does not double consonants like English

• agressivo (not aggressivo)

👉 Many cognates follow this pattern:

• interessante (not interesting)

• profissional (double s, but not double g, etc.)

Q: Why is it chama-se Jorge and NOT llama-se Jorge?
Portuguese uses specific digraphs:

• ch → “sh” sound

• lh → like Spanish ll

• nh → like Spanish ñ

👉 So:

• chamar → chama-se Jorge

🔑 Key points

• mim after prepositions (but comigo special form)

• Fewer double consonants than English

• Portuguese uses digraphs (ch, lh, nh) instead of Spanish patterns