Language/Portuguese/Grammar/Articles
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Articles in Porgutuese
In Portuguese, there are two kinds of articles:
- Definite articles
- indefinite article
Articles: Definition
Articles are small words that precede the substantive (a noun). A definite article determines something that we have already seen, identified (Ex: the beach). An indefinite article accompanies a noun without adding precision (a castle).
Definite article: used to indicate that a thing is unique in some way
Example:
- O carro – The car (O / the – refer to a specific car and not to any car)
Indefinite article: used to indicate that a thing is not identified as unique
Example:
- Um carro – A car (Um/ A – refer to any car)
Agreement
In Portuguese the article must agree in gender and number with the noun, which means that the definite article o, for example, should precede a singular and masculine (as you could see in the first example – “o carro”).
Observe the chart below:
| Articles | Definite – singular /plural | The Indefinite – singular / pluralA / Some |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | O / Os | Um / Uns |
| Feminine | A / As | Uma / Umas |
Examples:
- o livro – the book / os livros – the books
- um carro – a car / uns carros – some cars
- a casa – the house / as casas – the houses
- uma menina – a girl / umas meninas – some girls
Examples
Definite articles
- O: Masculine singular/ A: Feminine singular
- Os: Masculine plural/ As: Feminine plural
- O banco: The bank
- Os bancos: Banks
- O amigo: The friend
- Os amigos: Friends
- O dia: The day
- Os dias: Days
- O artigo: The article
- Os artigos: The articles
- O carro: The car
- Os carros: Cars
- O livro: The book
- Os livros: Books
- A empresa: The firm
- As empresas: Firms
- A Praia: The beach
- As praias: Beaches
- A caneta: The pen
- As canetas: Pens
- A cidade: The city
- As cidades: Cities
- A casa: The house
- As casas: Houses
- A familia: The family
- As familias: Families
indefinite article
- Um: Masculine singular/ Uns: Masculine Plural
- Uma: Feminine singular/ Umas: Feminine plural
- Um banco: A bank
- Uns bancos: Banks
- Um amigo: A friend
- Uns amigos: Friends
- Um dia: A day
- Uns dias: Days
- Um artigo: An article
- Uns artigos: Articles
- Um carro: A car
- Uns carros: Cars
- Um livro: A book
- Uns livros: Books
- Uma empresa: A firm
- Umas empresas: Firms
- Uma praia: A beach
- Umas praias: Beaches
- Uma caneta: A pen
- Umas canetas: Pens
- Uma cidade: A city
- Umas cidades: Cities
- Uma casa: A house
- Umas casas: Houses
- Uma familia: A family
- Umas familias: Families
Note
In Portuguese, every word has a gender (masculine or feminine) and a number (singular or plural), and has to agree with the article which is used with.