A1 · The article
o, a, os, as
Four forms, and nothing about the next word decides which — only the noun's own gender.
O before a masculine singular, a before a feminine one, os and as in the plural. Unlike several of its neighbours, Portuguese never lets the sound of the following word have a say.
Nothing is shortened before a vowel either: o amigo, a amiga — no apostrophe, no elision. English does something comparable with « a » and « an » and would expect a rule here; there is none.
The gender is usually written in the ending: -o masculine, -a feminine. The exceptions are few and extremely common — o dia, o mapa, o problema, a mão.
Which is why a noun is learnt with its article rather than on its own. English gives you no reason to do that and nothing to hang it on, so it has to be a deliberate habit from the first word: not « book » but o livro.
Die Form
| the book | o livro |
| the house | a casa |
| the books | os livros |
| the houses | as casas |
| the friend, a man | o amigo |
| the friend, a woman | a amiga |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
The article follows gender and number, not the sound that comes next.
O amigo e a amiga chegaram.The two friends have arrived.
Nothing is shortened before a vowel.
A água está fria.The water is cold.
The ending usually gives the gender away.
O carro é novo.The car is new.
The common exceptions are learnt one by one.
O problema é o mapa.The problem is the map.
Woran man es erkennt
- o
- a
- os
- as
Beispielsätze
O comboio das oito está atrasado.The eight o'clock train is late.
As chaves estão na mesa.The keys are on the table.
A mão direita dói.My right hand hurts.
Os problemas são dois.There are two problems.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
The Greek words in -ma are masculine although they end in -a: o problema, o programa, o sistema, o tema. Add o dia and o mapa. It is a short list of very frequent words, which is the worst combination an exception can have — you meet them before you have learnt the rule they break, and every one of them looks feminine.
A noun is learnt together with its article.
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