Blog Archives
Abbreviation and acronym: What's the difference?
Do you know the difference between abbreviation, abbreviation and acronym ? Click here to learn more.
Abbreviation, abbreviation and acronym are resources widely used in the Portuguese language, but their use can raise doubts.
They are used to make words or names smaller, but do you know the difference between them? With that in mind, we prepared this article to help you understand the differences and when to use each one.
Stay with us and learn once and for all what abbreviation, abbreviation and acronym are.
What is abbreviation
The abbreviation is a way to reduce some phrases, expressions or words. They have become popular over time, and have gained more and more strength due to the internet and instant messaging applications.
By abbreviating what you mean, it is possible to maintain a faster pace of communication, which is so important these days. Some are recognized by Portuguese grammar, while others are informal.
There are some rules for making the abbreviation. Generally speaking, you write the first syllable of the word and the first letter of the next syllable, and add a period. But there are some exceptions:
- When the second syllable has two consonants, then the two will make up the abbreviation: Person – pers. / secretary – secr.
- When the word is compound and there is an accent or hyphen separating them, both the accent and the hyphen must be kept: Século – séc. / financial administrative – adm.-financ.
- In some cases the abbreviation is formed by contraction of the word: Doutor – dr. / Bachelor – cel.
Examples
Here are some examples of abbreviations commonly used in Portuguese:
- September: Sept.
- December: ten.
- adverb: adv.
- Subject: dirty.
- Dictionary: dic.
- Colonel: Cel.
- Example: eg.
- Avenida: av.
- lady: mrs.
- You: you
- Why: why.
- Leaves: fs.
- Encyclopedia: encyclo.
What is abbreviation
The abbreviation is used as a resource to reduce the word as much as possible, but still maintaining the understanding of it.
Unlike what happens with abbreviations, there is no kind of rule for making abbreviations. Below are examples of abbreviation.
Examples
- Microcomputer: micro
- Photography: photo
- Pneumatic: tire
- motorcycle: motorcycle
- same: msm
- Communist: common
- Botequim: pub
- Vice Mayor, Vice President: Vice
- Ex-boyfriend, ex-husband: ex
- college: fau
What is acronym
The acronym is a way of reducing words, making both speech and writing faster. The acronyms are used to summarize names of institutions and events.
There are no rules for the formation of acronyms, but generally they are formed from the initials of the name to be reduced. Below are some examples of acronyms.
Examples
- Postal Code: CEP
- International Federation of Football Associations: FIFA
- National Institute of Social Security: INSS
- United Nations: UN
- Income Tax: IR
- Credit Protection Service: SPC
- Brazilian Institute of the Environment: IBAMA
- National Service for Commercial Apprenticeship: SENAC
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization: UNESCO
- Tax on Financial Transactions: IOF
