Nouns and articles

What you will practice

• Use o, a, os, and as with gender and number.
• Use um and uma for one non-specific thing.
• Remember problema, dia, and mão.

Explanation

Gender

Most nouns ending in -o are masculine and take o: o livro. Most nouns ending in -a are feminine and take a: a mesa. One non-specific thing uses um or uma: um livro, uma mesa. The article is not optional. In European Portuguese the definite article also appears with a person’s name more often than in English, but this lesson stays with common nouns.

Number

The plural article is os or as: os livros, as mesas. A noun ending in a vowel adds -s. The article and the noun change together. A mixed group of people is masculine plural: os estudantes. as estudantes is women only.

Endings that mislead

Three frequent nouns break the ending rule. o dia and o problema are masculine even though they end in -a. a mão is feminine even though it ends in -ão, not in the usual -a. Learn them as a set. a problema and o mão follow a guess and get the gender wrong.

Examples

1. o livroone masculine thing
2. a mesaone feminine thing
3. os livrosmasculine plural
4. o problemaa masculine exception
5. a mãoa feminine exception

Common mistakes

• o problema is masculine. The ending -ma does not make it feminine.
• a mão is feminine. Do not choose the article from a supposed -o.