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Articles in Porgutuese
In Portuguese, there are two kinds of articles:
- Definite articles
- indefinite article
Definite & Indefinite Articles
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.
Videos
All about THE! Definite articles in Portuguese
Definite and indefinite articles in Portuguese
Articles and Gender in Portuguese
Other Lessons