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Portuguese Nouns, Gender and Articles
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Two genders, four definite articles, and the -o/-a patterns that let you guess right most of the time.
Two genders, clearly marked
Every Portuguese noun is masculine or feminine, and the endings usually tell you which: most words ending in -o are masculine (o livro, the book) and most ending in -a are feminine (a casa, the house). The definite articles are o / a (singular) and os / as (plural): o menino, a menina, os meninos, as meninas. Learn each noun with its article and gender stops being a guessing game.
The exceptions worth knowing early
Some common words break the -o/-a pattern: o dia (the day) is masculine despite ending in -a, while a mão (the hand) and a foto (the photo, short for fotografia) are feminine. Words ending in -ema, -oma from Greek are usually masculine: o problema, o idioma. Nouns ending in -ão can be either — o coração (heart) but a mão's cousins like a razão (reason).
Indefinite articles and plurals
The indefinite articles (a, an) are um / uma: um café (a coffee), uma cerveja (a beer). Plurals mostly add -s: livros, casas. Words ending in -r, -s, -z add -es (mulher → mulheres), words ending in -m change to -ns (homem → homens), and -ão usually becomes -ões (coração → corações) — with famous rebels like mão → mãos and pão → pães.
Articles before names and places
Portuguese puts definite articles where English never would. In Portugal, people's names take them: o João, a Maria. Most country names take them too: o Brasil, a Índia, os Estados Unidos — but Portugal itself proudly takes none: just Portugal. Cities usually go bare (Lisboa, São Paulo), except famous exceptions like o Rio de Janeiro and o Porto.
| Article | Use |
|---|---|
| o / os | the — masculine singular / plural |
| a / as | the — feminine singular / plural |
| um / uns | a / some — masculine |
| uma / umas | a / some — feminine |
| do / da | of the — de + o / de + a (contraction) |
| no / na | in the — em + o / em + a (contraction) |