Language/Portuguese/Grammar/Nouns

Nouns refer to people, places, things, animals or concepts. In grammar, a noun can be the subject of a clause, the object of a verb or a preposition.

Here are some truths about common nouns in Portuguese and how to use them.

Gender of Nouns in Portuguese

You should know that the vast majority of nouns ending in -o are masculine nouns just as the majority of nouns ending in -a are feminine. A rule that is also often applied in Spanish.

Examples of Portuguese words:

• O passaro: the bird,
• O livro: the book,
• O cachorro: the dog,
• A casa: the house,
• A lareira: the fireplace,
• A garrafa: the bottle,
• A mesa: the table.

In a slightly less instinctive way, you should know that nouns ending in -gem, -dade or -ção are often feminine, even if the French translation is not feminine.

So we can find:

• A viagem: the trip,
• A lição: the lesson,
• A cidade: the city,
• A estação: the train station.

Portuguese Nouns Agreement

Portuguese nouns agree in gender.

For example, to talk about a friend we will say "amigo" while to talk about a friend we will say "amiga".

Nouns ending in -ês become -esa in the feminine.

An agreement that is also made with adjectives.

Indeed, the latter agree, as in French, in gender and number with the noun.

But there are some exceptions with masculine adjectives that end in -a, -ar, -e, -l, -m, -s or even -z. The latter do not change in the feminine.

With regard to the place of Portuguese adjectives, with some exceptions, they are positioned after the noun, as in French.

For example we will say:

A big hat: um big hat,

A yellow house: uma casa amarela.

Portuguese Nouns Plural

The plural of adjectives and nouns also has rules according to the word ending:

• Words ending in a vowel (except -ão): plural by adding an -s,
• Words ending in -l: plural by changing -l to -is,
• Words ending in -n, -r, -s, -z: plural by adding -es,
• Words ending in -m: plural by changing -m to -ns,
• Words ending in -il: plural by changing -il to -eis.
• Words ending in -ão offer several possibilities in the plural: add an -s, change -ão to -ões, change -ão to -ães.

Common Portuguese Nouns

Noun	Translation	Sound
A Ajuda	The Help	[ah ah-joo-dah]
A Água	The Water	[ah ah-goo-ah]
O Apelido	The Surname	[oo ah-peh-lee-doo]
Os Anos	The Years	[oosh ah-noosh]
O Autocarro	The Bus (in EU Portuguese)	[oo aoo-toh-car-roo]
(O) Azar	(The) Bad luck Tough	[oo ah-zahr]
O Balcão	The Balcony The Counter	[oo bahl-kaong]
O Banho	The Bath	[oo bah-nyioo]
O Bilhete	The Ticket	[oo bee-lyieh-teh]
O Cartão	The Card	[oo cahr-taong]
A Casa	The House The Home	[ah kah-sah]
A Chegada	The Arrival	[ah shay-gah-dah]
O Casal	The Couple	[oo kah-zahl] in EU [oo kah-zahoo] in BR
A Coisa	The Thing	[Ah koee-zah]
A Conta	The Bill	[ah-kong-tah]
O Copo	The Glass	[oo koh-poo]
O Cuidado	Careful The carefulness	[oo-koo-ee-dah-doo]
A Desculpa	The Excuse	[ah dsh-cool-pah]
O Dia	The Day	[oo deer]
O Dinheiro	The Money The Cash	[oo dee-nyieh-ee-roh]
A Direita	The Right hand side	[ah dee-ray-ee-tah]
O Direito	The (legal) Right	[oo dee-ray-ee-too]
A Era	The Era	[ah air-rah]
O Esquerdo/A Esquerda	The Left hand side	[ah eesh-kayr-dah] [oo eesh-kayr-doo]
A Esquina	The Corner	[ah sh-keen-ah]
O Estudo	The Study	[oo sh-too-doo]
O Favor	The Favour	[oo fah-vohr]
O Fim	The End	[oo feeng]
A Frente	The front	[ah-frayn-tt] in EU [ah-frayn-tchee] in BR
O Frio	The cold	[oo free-oo]
A Gente	One (The people) We	[ah jayn-tt] in EU and [ah jayn-tt] in BR
O Homem	The Man	[oo oh-mayeen]
* A Hora (also compare with Tempo and Vez)	The Time The Hour	[ah oh-rah]
O Horário	The Timetable	[oo oh-ráh-ree-oo]
A Ida	The Go	[ah ee-dah]
O Lado	The Side	[oo lah-doo]
A Licença	The Permission The Licence	[ah lee-sayn-sah]
A Maioria (de)	Most (of) The majority (of)	[ah may-oo-ree-ah]
O Mal	The Bad thing	[oo mahll]
O MêsOs Meses	The month/The months	[oo may-sh] [oosh may-say-sh]
O Minuto	The minute	[oo mee-noo-too]
A Mulher	The Woman The Wife	[ah moo-lyier]
A Noite	The Night	[ah noh-ee-teh]
O Nome	The Name	[oo noh-meh]
As Novidades	The News (in terms of what is new)	[ash noo-vee-dah-desh]
O Número	The Number	[oo noo-may-roh]
O Ônibus	The Bus (Brazilian Portuguese	[oo oh-nee-booss]
A Palavra	The Word	[ah pah-lah-vrah]
(Os) Parabéns	(The) Congratulations	[(oosh) pah-rah-baingsh]
O Pé	The Foot	[oo peh]
As Pessoas	The People	[ash peh-soh-ash]
A Porta	The Door	[ah pohr-tah]
O Português	The Portuguese	[oo poor-too-gay-sh]
O Prato	The Plate The dish	[oo prah-too]
A Pressa	The hurry The Rush	[ah pray-sah]
O Primeiro	The first	[oo pree-mahee-roh]
O Princípio	The Beginning	[oo preen-cee-peeoh]
O Problema	The Problem	[oh proh-blay-mah]
O Próximo	The Next The following	[oo pro-see-moo]
O Quarto	The Fourth The Bedroom	[oo kwar-too]
O Recado	The Message	[oo ray-kah-doo]
A Rua	The road The street	[ah roo-ah]
O Semáforo	The Traffic lights	[oo say-mah-foo-roh]
A Semana	The Week	[ah say-mah-nah]
A Sorte	The Luck	[ah sohr-tt] in EU or [ah sohr-tchee] in BR
(A) Tarde	Late (The) Afternoon	[(ah) tar-deh] in EU or [(ah) tar-tchee] in BR
* O Tempo (also compare with Horas and Vez)	The Time (as The Weather	[oo taym-poo]
O Trabalho	The Work The Assignment	[oo trah-bah-lyioo]
O Troco	The Change	[oo troh-koo]
O Último	The Last (one)	[oo ool-tee-moo] in EU and [oo ool-tchee-moo] in BR
* A Vez (also compare with Tempo and Horas)	The turn The time	[ah vaysh]
A Viagem	The journey The Trip	[ah vee-ah-jaying]
A Volta	The Return The Going back	[ah vohl-tah]
O Vôo	The Flight	[oo voh-oo]