Se a palavra tiver acento, escreve-a com calma para não esqueceres nenhuma letra.

If the word has an accent, write it calmly so you don’t forget any letter.

Breakdown of Se a palavra tiver acento, escreve-a com calma para não esqueceres nenhuma letra.

• ter: to have
• escrever: to write
• não: not
• a palavra: the word
• se: if
• para: so as to
• esquecer: to forget
• a: it
• com calma: calmly
• o acento: the accent
• nenhuma: any
• a letra: the letter

Questions & Answers about Se a palavra tiver acento, escreve-a com calma para não esqueceres nenhuma letra.

Why is it tiver after se, not tem or tenha?

Because se often triggers the future subjunctive in Portuguese when you are talking about a possible situation in the future.

So:

• Se a palavra tiver acento... = if the word has an accent...
• tiver is the future subjunctive of ter

This is very common in Portuguese after words like se, quando, logo que, and assim que when the action is still uncertain or future.

For an English speaker, this feels unusual because English normally just uses the present after if:

• If the word has an accent...

Portuguese does not use the same pattern here.

What does acento mean here?

Here, acento means a written accent mark on a word, such as:

• á
• é
• ô

In other contexts, acento can also mean stress or even a spoken accent, but in this sentence the context is spelling and writing, so it means an orthographic accent.

Is escreve a command here? Where is tu?

Yes. Escreve is a command here, addressed to tu.

Portuguese often leaves subject pronouns out when they are understood from the verb form or the context. So the sentence really means something like:

• Tu, escreve-a com calma...

but native speakers normally just say:

• Escreve-a com calma...

So the sentence is giving an instruction to you in the informal singular.

Why is it escreve-a with a hyphen?

Because -a is a direct object pronoun attached to the verb, and in standard European Portuguese this is normal after an affirmative command.

So:

• escreve = write
• a = it
• escreve-a = write it

The hyphen shows that the pronoun is attached to the end of the verb. This is called enclisis.

In this sentence, the pronoun refers back to a palavra.

Why does -a mean it here, not her?

Because the pronoun agrees with the grammatical gender of palavra, which is feminine.

• a palavra = the word
• direct object pronoun for a feminine singular noun = a

Even though a can mean her in some contexts, here it refers to a thing, not a person, so in English we translate it as it.

This is a very common point for English speakers: Portuguese pronouns follow grammatical gender, while English usually does not for objects.

What does com calma mean?

Literally, it means with calm, but in natural English it means something like:

• calmly
• carefully
• slowly
• without rushing

So escreve-a com calma means you should write it in a careful, unhurried way.

Why is it para não esqueceres instead of para não esquecer?

Because Portuguese can use the personal infinitive, which changes form depending on the subject.

Here, esqueceres is the personal infinitive for tu.

So:

• para não esquecer = so as not to forget
• para não esqueceres = so that you do not forget

Both are understandable, but esqueceres makes the subject clearer and matches the informal tu used in escreve.

This is something English does not have, so it often feels strange at first.

Why is there no te or se with esqueceres?

Because here esquecer is being used as a normal transitive verb:

• esquecer alguma coisa = to forget something

And the thing being forgotten is:

• nenhuma letra = not a single letter / any letter

So the structure is:

• não esqueceres nenhuma letra

Portuguese also has the pronominal pattern esquecer-se de, for example:

• não te esqueceres de nenhuma letra

That is also possible in many contexts, but this sentence uses the non-pronominal structure esquecer alguma coisa.

What does nenhuma letra mean exactly?

Nenhuma letra means not a single letter or no letter / any letter, depending on how you translate it.

In this sentence:

• não esqueceres nenhuma letra

the combination of não + nenhuma is standard Portuguese negative wording. It means you should not leave out even one letter.

So the idea is:

• be careful so you do not forget any letters
• be careful so you miss no letters
• be careful so you forget not a single letter

Could the sentence say Se a palavra tem acento instead?

Not as naturally in this context.

Se a palavra tiver acento is the standard choice for a condition linked to a future action or instruction.

• Se a palavra tiver acento, escreve-a... = If the word has an accent, write it...

Using tem here would sound less natural for this kind of general instruction. It does exist in other contexts, but in standard Portuguese, for a condition like this, se + future subjunctive is what learners should expect.

How would this change if the sentence were formal, using você?

The main change would be the command form:

• Se a palavra tiver acento, escreva-a com calma para não esquecer nenhuma letra.

Here:

• escreve becomes escreva
• esquecer can stay esquecer, because for você the personal infinitive looks the same as the basic infinitive

So the original sentence is informal tu, while escreva-a would be the more formal você version.