def minimalOperations(words):
    result = []
    for word in words:
        count = 0
        i = 0
        while i < len(word) - 1:
            if word[i] == word[i+1]:
                count += 1
                i += 2  # Skip the next character to avoid overlapping
            else:
                i += 1
        result.append(count)
    return result