A1Lesson 1: Gender, Number & Articles
Definite articles are tiny words that mean "the" and must match the gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) of the noun they accompany.
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Portuguese has four definite articles that all mean "the," but each has a specific job based on gender and number:
| Article | Type | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| o | masculine singular | o carro | the car |
| a | feminine singular | a casa | the house |
| os | masculine plural | os carros | the cars |
| as | feminine plural | as casas | the houses |
Articles must match their noun in both gender AND number. No exceptions. Ever.
1. Before people's names (super important!)
Portuguese loves to smoosh prepositions and articles together:
| Preposition | + o | + a | + os | + as |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| de (of/from) | do | da | dos | das |
| em (in/on) | no | na | nos | nas |
| por (by/through) | pelo | pela | pelos | pelas |
| a (to) | ao | à | aos | às |
Sometimes the article changes everything:
