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, 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 |
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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