O, a, um, uma: the articles

Portuguese articles change their ending to agree with the noun, the way an adjective does, and they vanish in places where English insists on a. This page covers both: the eight forms, the contractions, and the five places um and uma disappear.

The definite articles: o, a, os, as

The definite article, English the, has four forms, one for each gender and number. It agrees with the noun:

The article agrees with the noun, never with the speaker or the owner. A man talking about his own house still says a casa, because casa is feminine:

• A casa do Pedro é nova. - Pedro's house is new.

The ending usually tells you the gender (-o masculine, -a feminine), with a few famous exceptions:

• o dia - the day (masculine, despite the -a)
• a mão - the hand (feminine, despite the -o)

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1. 1o pão
2. 2o queijo
3. 3a água
4. 4o suco
5. 5as frutas
6. 6o bolo

Every noun brings its own the: o pão, o suco and o bolo are masculine, a água is feminine, as frutas are plural. (EP says o sumo for juice.)

Portuguese noun gender and plurals has the full set of clues.

The indefinite articles: um, uma, uns, umas

The indefinite article, a or an, also has four forms, because Portuguese gives it a plural English does not have:

Uns and umas mean some or a few. English says plain friends came; Portuguese can mark the plural with the article:

• Uns amigos vieram. - Some friends came.