Language/Portuguese/Grammar/Articles

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Articles in Porgutuese
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In Portuguese, there are two kinds of articles:

  1. Definite articles
  2. indefinite article

Definite & Indefinite Articles[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

Example:

  • Um carro – A car (Um/ A – refer to any car)

Agreement[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

Definite articles[edit | edit source]

  • 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[edit | edit source]

  • 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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

All about THE! Definite articles in Portuguese[edit | edit source]

Definite and indefinite articles in Portuguese[edit | edit source]

Articles and Gender in Portuguese[edit | edit source]

Other Lessons[edit | edit source]

Contributors

Vincent, Maintenance script and Mayank96Q


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