In this lesson we will talk about the articles in Portuguese; definite and indefinite. with brief explanation.

Definite Articles in Portuguese
When to use the definite article
There are four definite articles in Portuguese: o, a, os, as and they are the equivalent of the English “the“, they are used to designate a specific noun (that we know or heard about before), and they must agree in gender and number.
Masculine | Feminine | |
Singular | o | a |
Plural | os | as |
Example
The book – o livro
The books – os livros
The flower – a flor
The flowers – as flores
Contractions of the definite articles
This list provides the contractions between the definite articles and the prepositions (em, de, a , por):
o | a | os | as | |
em | no | na | nos | nas |
de | do | da | dos | das |
a | ao | à | aos | às |
por | pelo | pela | pelos | pelas |
Note: you can practice what you’ve learned here, and learn how to pronounce each of the words in our Memrise course here, don’t know how to use the platform or sign up? we’ve got you covered in this easy-to-follow tutorial here.
Indefinite Articles in Portuguese
When to use the indefinite article
There are four indefinite articles in Portuguese: um, uns, uma, umas and they are the equivalent of the English “a, an, some“, they are used to designate a non-specific noun, and they must agree in gender and number.
Masculine | Feminine | |
Singular | um | uma |
Plural | uns | umas |
Contractions of the definite articles
This list provides the contractions between the definite articles and the prepositions (em, de):
um | uma | uns | umas | |
em | num | numa | nuns | numas |
de | dum | duma | duns | dumas |

Happy learning!
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