Língua da Gente — Como se escreve?

🎧 Listen to the podcast episode

First listen: Just listen and relax. What is the topic? Does anything sound familiar?

Língua da Gente · Episode 22

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💬 The Conversation

Listen again while reading. Notice how each person asks about and confirms spelling.

A

Você escreve atrasado com 's' ou com 'z'?

Do you write atrasado with an 's' or with a 'z'?

B

Atrasado, é com 's'.

Atrasado is with an 's'.

A

E piscina, é com 's' ou com 'c'?

And piscina, is it with an 's' or with a 'c'?

B

Piscina se escreve com os dois — P, I, S, C, I, N, A.

Piscina is written with both — P, I, S, C, I, N, A.

📖 Asking How to Spell Something

Just like English speakers sometimes wonder "is it c or k?", Brazilians have similar doubts in Portuguese — especially with s/z and s/c. Here are the key phrases from the episode:

Portuguese	English
Você escreve ___ com 's' ou com 'z'?	Do you write ___ with an 's' or a 'z'?
É com 's'.	It's with an 's'.
Se escreve com os dois.	It's written with both.
Como se escreve ___?	How do you spell ___?
Pode soletrar?	Can you spell that out?

🔤 Common words — 's' or 'z'?

These are some common words that catch people off guard. Study them — and notice the pattern!

Word	The question	The answer
atrasado (late)	s ou z?	com s — atrasado
feliz (happy)	s ou z?	com z — feliz
vez (time / instance)	s ou z?	com z — vez
fazer (to do / make)	s ou z?	com z — fazer
mesa (table)	s ou z?	com s — mesa
casa (house)	s ou z?	com s — casa
piscina (swimming pool)	s ou c?	com os dois — piscina

🔤 Spelling out loud — piscina

When B spells piscina in the dialogue, each letter is said individually. This is how you spell words aloud in Portuguese:

P — I — S — C — I — N — A

The letters highlighted in orange (P, S, C) are the ones that native speakers often double-check when writing this word.

🔊 Phonology Note — 'S' that sounds like 'Z' Here's a key insight: in Brazilian Portuguese, when s appears between two vowels, it is pronounced like the English z. So mesa sounds like "may-za", and casa sounds like "cah-za" — even though they are spelled with s. This is why spelling these words out loud can be confusing: the sound says 'z', but the letter is 's'!

1 S, Z, ou os dois? — Spelling Quiz

For each word below, choose whether it is spelled with s, z, or both (s and c / s and z). Click your answer — you'll see if you're right!

atrasado

✅ Correct! Atrasado — atrasado. The 's' between vowels sounds like 'z', but it's spelled with 's'.

feliz

✅ Correct! Feliz ends in z. When you feel happy — feliz!

piscina

✅ Correct! Piscina has both — piscina. That's why B spelled it out letter by letter!

fazer

✅ Correct! Fazer — fazer. To do or to make — with a z.

mesa

✅ Correct! Mesa — mesa. It sounds like 'z' but it's spelled with s.

vez

✅ Correct! Vez — vez. "Uma vez" (once), "às vezes" (sometimes).

2 Complete the Dialogue

Fill in the blanks to complete these spelling conversations. Type the missing word or letter from the word bank.
Word bank: escreve · 's' · com os dois · z · soletrar · com 'z'

— Você nariz com 's' ou com 'z'?

— Nariz, é .

— E piscina? Como se escreve?

— Piscina se escreve .

— Pode ?

— Claro: P, I, S, C, I, N, A.

3 Spell It Out — Match the word to its spelling

Each word below is spelled out letter by letter. Match each spelling to the correct word. Choose from the dropdown.

F — E — L — I — Z

M — E — S — A

N — A — R — I — Z

F — A — Z — E — R

4 Your Turn — Write a Spelling Dialogue

Answer in Portuguese.
Write your own answers. There are no right or wrong responses — this activity is about expressing your own ideas and experiences.