How to Say A, An, & Some In Portuguese
We just learned how to say “the car” using definite articles, but what if you want to talk about “a car” in general? This is called an artigo indefinidoindefinite article , because we’re talking about an undefined car, rather than a specific instance of a car.
In English, we use words such as a, an, some, or a few.
In Portuguese, there are 4 indefinite articles: uma umaa unssome, a few umassome, a few
Once again, the specific form used depends on the gender and number of the noun:
- masculine, singular: um carroa car
- feminine, singular: uma mesaa table
- masculine, plural: uns carrossome cars
- feminine, plural: umas mesassome tables
When to use Indefinite Articles
We use indefinite articles when we want to talk about a subject or an object without specifying a particular one. For example:
um homema man
Ela lê um livroShe reads a book
uma canetaa pen
Queres uns rissóis de carne?Do you want some meat rissoles?
Uns anos mais tardeA few years later
uns livrossome books
Umas vezesA few times
Another example of how you might use uns / umas is to indicate an approximate numerical value:
Lisboa fica a uns 300km do PortoLisboa is about 300km away from Porto
“A” Tricky Trap (for English Speakers)
For English speakers, keep in mind that a mesa means the table, not a table. Similarly:
a casathe house
uma casaa house
So very happy to find a source for Euro Portuguese. Now I understand why I hear so much of the ‘shh’ sound in Portugal. My previous app was Brazilian Portuguese.
When should we differentiate between using “em” or “no/na”?
One situation where you need to use “no/na” is when there is a definite article in front of “em”. If you think in English, it’s whenever you have “on the”, “at the” or “in the”, for example. Then, you choose between “no” and “na” based on the gender of the noun that it refers to. If the noun is plural, you also need to pluralize the contraction, to “nos” and “nas”. Here are some examples:
The keys are on the table. = As chaves estão na mesa. (“mesa” is feminine and singular)
The names are on the tickets. = Os nomes estão nos bilhetes. (“bilhetes” is masculine and plural)
On the other hand, if no definite article is necessary, you’ll just use “em”:
I’m at home. = Eu estou em casa. (no definite article needed in this context)
You’re in Portugal. = Tu estás em Portugal.
There’s more to be said, but this should be a good starting point!
great explanation!
After Brazilian Babbel I need to start all over again:-((
I welcome this site!
haha and we welcome you with open arms to the enlightened land of European Portuguese! Thanks for your support, and please reach out any time you need us 🙂
😅
I know you situation. I had that with Duolingo and also w Babbel. Now I’m using this and I spent three months on vocabulary with Drops (2000 terms is a good start).
I plan to go to Brazil maybe in a year and I’ll use Babbel for a month or so before I go.
Dumb question: Can Iput my account on my ipad, MacBook Pro and iphone as well (where it already is.
Absolutely, you should be able to log in on any modern device you have, as we don’t place any limits on users logging in with multiple devices 🙂
—um Picasso em minha casa? nao seria—- na minha casa?. Obrigada pela resposta
As duas formas, “em minha casa” e “na minha casa” são usadas com frequência. O artigo definido “a” (que forma a palavra “na” -> em + a) não é obrigatório aqui 🙂
Quando diz aqui refere-se: O artigo a não é usado nesta frase?. Obrigada
Sim, aqui = nesta frase. Nesta frase, o artigo “a” não é obrigatório.
After a month of Duolingo (which was a good learning experience) I feel fortunate to have found this European PT version. Obrigado
Same. I wish I had found this site first since I really want to Euro. Portuguese. Also, the sound recordings here are much clearer. On Duolingo, I was always fighting to understand them as they seemed to mumble. (And yes, I spent 30 days there too.)
I had started learning on another site that was European Portugal and I was having difficulties understanding verbs and articles. I think I am starting to understand it better, thank you for that. Do you have any recommendations on how the handle (teach your tongue) the rolling of the “r” in the middle or towards the end of a word? I think I do a fairly decent job with the “r” at the beginning. But I have problems with words like Porto, carro, and livro.
So far so good, thanks!
So happy to find this!
Really helpful, the comments and suggestions are very useful too.
I already miss the speaker button at “some other specific cases ”
What took me so long to find you?? I knew Babbel and Duolingo were Brazilian based. I won’t be using them again. Thank you.
Yeah, what took you so long? We’ve been right here waiting for you all this time! Thank you too for your message 🙂
My daughter and I spent a month cramming on Duolingo before our first holiday in the Algarve and no one understood us, least of all the “cachorros”! 🙂 Hoping for better results this time, and enjoying it so far!
One question: the pronunciation of “a” in “a menina” sounds to me like “eh” – is that right?
Oh, I also hope you have better luck next time, haha 🙂 Thank you for your comment!
The “a” in “a menina” is the exact same one as the “a” of “a casa” (one of the examples shown in this Learning Note). It sounds the same in any context.
Really enjoying this so far, Obrigado!
This app is motivating. The immediate attention to pronunciation is going to make a huge difference to my progress.
Very early days but so far so good!
So far, so good!! It appears you CAN teach an old dog new tricks (or a 58 year old woman a new language)!
Right on! You got this!
Great explanations. Especially like to hear the sentences for pronunciation . Would it ever be possible to listen one word at a time in the sentences.
Sometimes I need to hear just one particular word over and over without all the others. Just a thought. Obrigada, Georgia
De nada, Georgia! And thanks for the feedback – I like the idea! We would have to figure out how to make it work without making the sentences look too messy. The individual words for um, uma, uns, and umas are in the very beginning of this note, if that helps, but I’m guessing it was a different word you wanted to replay.
Yes, I was thinking of words that might be somewhere in the sentence, and when the mouse runs over them, one can tell that if they click on it, a voice will pronounce it. Usually, simple words, or articles don’t require this. Just a thought, don’t want to complicate anything. Thank you for the response. Liking the program thus far. Sincerely, Georgia
Firstly, thank you for this comprehensive tutorial. I have confusion with the example “Lisboa fica a uns…” what is the meaning of “a” in this sentence?
Hi, Batul 🙂 “A” is used as a preposition here that doesn’t really add anything; more of a connecting word. Not so easy to understand if you’re thinking from English, but would seem pretty normal if you were thinking from French, Spanish or Italian, for example. It’s comparable to the preposition “at” if we translated that line to “Lisbon is at [a distance of] about 300km…”. Hope this helps!
So hard, but in it for the long haul! Thank you for being such great instructors!
Hang in there, Lisa! Thank you for your comment 🙂
In your response to Nadia – I was confused by the translations of the sentences and the use of em, no, na (in, on, at) specifically the way they translate to the English word “on”. I looked up the words in google translate and saw they all seem have a lot of transferable translations along with sobre – which also means “on”. Is that correct? How do you know when to use each one?
Em, no and na are really all the same thing, in a way. Em is the base preposition; no is the contraction of em + o (masculine singular definite article); na is the contraction of em + a (feminine singular definite article). So these are not three different prepositions, but the exact same preposition with an added definite article whenever necessary. This one preposition does have a range of possible translations, depending on context.
Usually, in sentences where you’d use the definite article (the) in English, you’d also use it in Portuguese:
– On the table = em + a mesa = na mesa
– In the bag = em + o saco = no saco
– At the store = em + a loja = na loja
In other cases, it depends, so it’s best to pay close attention to all the patterns you’ll encounter. Here’s a Learning Note that might be useful for you: The Preposition “Em”
good so far
I love the “turtle” slow pronunciation. For the first time I can understand the mouth positions for each word. I have both taken lessons and used numerous courses and my wife is brasileiro but i have never been able to hear the subtilies in pronunciation. I have even spent months in Portugal. You turtle speed is amazing, i wish that I could have turtle slow speed on podcasts, on everything. I am trying to move from eating comprehension to speaking compreshension, and i cannot hear enough subtle sounds to learn or recognize. Slow pronunciation is wonderful. Other services offer much much intferior version. I hope it extends throughout the course. I am starting over just so I can learn pronunciation and comprehension.
So glad you’re enjoying the turtle speed! For the podcasts, you can adjust the speed in the top right of the player where it says 1x. Just keep clicking the number until it’s at the speed you want. If you go too slow, it starts to sound distorted, but usually 0.8x – 0.9x is helpful! Also, here is a list of some of our pronunciation focused content: Improving Pronunciation Skills
Erro autocorreto, obviamente a minha mulher é brasileira e não brasileira
Need new autocorrect, it keeps interchanging brasileiro and brasileira, does anyone have a way to make Mac autocorrect more accurate?
VERY glad I’ve found this site, obrigado. Regarding the plural indefinites, how would it work if you’re referring to a part of an object, rather than multiples? For instance, if I wanted to say “I have some bread” would that be “Eu tenho uns pão”, or something else?
Thanks, Luke! 😀 I’d say “Eu tenho algum pão” (I have some bread) or “Eu tenho um bocado de pão” (“I have a piece/bit of bread”). Algum and its derivatives would be suitable options in those cases where you can’t really quantify how much of something you have.
Thank you for putting this site together. I’m totally new to Portuguese. Not much training in other languages beforehand. I listen to the pronunciation, especially of phrases, over and over again. I hope my ears learn . . . 🙂
I had exactly the same experience with Duolingo – and spotted the dog example straight away.
And as a beginner I also note that the “a” definitive article does sound like “eh” in the recording.
Loving the courses. The two audio speeds are very useful. Also love being able to record my pronunciation and get it checked.
We are super excited about this tool and started practicing immediately! Quality counts and you have clearly invested considerable time and energy into this project. We will practice 30 mins a day. LOVE your fun videos, too, by the way :). Janice & Sandy (who are moving to Portugal THIS YEAR!!)
Thanks Janice and Sandy! Happy to have you both learning with us. 🙂
Gostava de ter um Picasso em minha casa….
Why not: Gosto de ter um P em mina C ?
same translation for both: I’d like to have a Picasso at my place.?
They’re not the same, since one is in the imperfect, working as a de facto conditional (Gostava…), and the other in the present tense (Gosto…). So, the translations would be:
– Gostava de ter um Picasso em minha casa -> I’d like to have a Picasso at home
– Gosto de ter um Picasso em minha casa -> I like to have a Picasso at home
Hi….I’m struggling with when to use, for example ; umas or algumas Both mean “some”….I’ve looked at the Learning notes, perhaps I’ve missed it. Can you point me in the right direction ? Thanks.
Olá, Steve. They’re often used in the same contexts, but there are some differences between them, which are actually hard to flesh out – I’ve come across a long dissertation trying to tackle this!
They’re often interchangeable, even if there can be a very slight nuance of meaning between the two, with uns feeling more… abstract, perhaps, than alguns. Now, some examples of situations where they’re not interchangeable:
– Ele é um génio. (He’s a genius) | Eles são uns génios. (They’re geniuses) -> Uns is not used as a quantifier here; it’s still just acting as a simple indefinite article, like in the singular sentence. Alguns is not acceptable here. Tip: If you see the word uns/umas in a Portuguese sentence, but no corresponding quantifier in the English sentence, it’s probably a case like this.
– Eles falaram uns com os outros. (They spoke with each other) | Nem uns nem outros estão certos. (Neither of them are right) -> In these kinds of structures, where you have this reciprocity between uns and outros, alguns is not usable. Maybe because the sum of uns + outros is todos (all), and this overall wholeness doesn’t fit with the incompleteness that alguns represents.
– Eu tenho uns quantos amigos (I have a few/many friends) | “Ela cometeu uns poucos erros” (She made a few mistakes) -> In sentences where the quantifying bit is somehow compounded, alguns can’t be interchanged with uns alone, i.e. you can’t say both “uns poucos” and “alguns poucos“. But you can replace the whole group -> “uns poucos” with “alguns“.
– Estes são alguns dos meus projetos. (These are some of my projects) | Elas são algumas de várias colegas que tenho. (They’re some of many colleagues I have) -> In plural sentences like this, where you’re isolating a part of a whole, assisted by the preposition de, the word uns/umas shouldn’t be used to replace alguns/algumas.
Hope this helps!
Hi Joseph,
I was wondering about the use of ‘uns’ in this sentence: Queres uns rissois de carne?, when I came across your answer above. ( Estes são alguns dos meus projetos. (These are some of my projects) | Elas são algumas de várias colegas que tenho. (They’re some of many colleagues I have) -> In plural sentences like this, where you’re isolating a part of a whole, assisted by the preposition de, the word uns/umas shouldn’t be used to replace alguns/algumas.)
So would the question ‘Queres uns rissois de carne?’ be an exception to that?
Thanks for your time.
Olá, Pinnih. That question isn’t one of those cases described in my previous answer. It could be if it said, for example, “Queres uns dos meus rissóis…?”, but it just says “Queres uns rissóis de carne?”. The preposition “de” here is unrelated to “uns”; it’s just part of the food’s name/description 🙂
Hi, could anyone explain the difference between, umas and algumas?
Olá! Yes, that’s a tricky one 🙂 I wrote a comment with some pointers also on this Learning Note – you can find it not far above yours, in response to a comment from Steve in Jan 2021.
Thanks Joseph. Brilliant!
Good lesson
What is a rissois? Never heard of meat rissoles. Maybe a Canadian meal?
Olá! A rissole is like a soft, breaded meat patty. The word derives from French and I think it’s used in English-speaking countries in general, but it’s probably rather specific. I would search for images of it, because nothing better than visualizing it to really understand what it is 🙂
I can pronounce ‘o homem’ fine, and I can make the nasal ‘um’ (one) sound on its own, but I’m struggling with to follow on from ‘um’ to ‘homem’ when saying ‘un homem’.
If I try to nasalise the end of ‘um’ and follow on it sounds wrong, or I end up reducing it to the ‘o’ sound, in which case a I would be saying the ‘the man’ instead of ‘a man’.
Any tips to pronounce it right?
It’s difficult to give tips in written form, so bear with me!
They are both pronounced the same except for the very first sound.
If I tried to write it out in an “Englishcized” way, it would be something like:
o homem: oo-aw-mayng
um homem: oong-aw-mayng
This is a very rough way of thinking of it, so don’t really make “g” sounds at the end. This is just to give the idea of nasalization because it’s similar to the ending of words that end in -ng in English.
If you have the words down individually, keep saying it over and over, stopping completely after the first word: “um……..homem”. Once that feels comfortable, try to keep saying it out loud, a bit faster each time, until it sounds more natural.
Or you could practice going between the oong – aw sounds alone first. Oong-aw, oong-aw, oong-aw,… before putting it all together.
Keep playing the example audio from this Learning Note to try to mimic it, both slow and regular speed versions.
I hope that helps a bit! It might just feel strange at first because we don’t have this sound combination in English.
Hi Molly,
Thank you for taking the time to reply. Believe it or not the explanation in words makes total sense to me and now I understand the sound I am trying to make! Thank you! ☺️ Now just to practice it to normalise the sound.
I, too, really appreciate the turtle/slow pronunciation. And love this entire app, but the way. Thank you!
I found there is not a turtle speed for all words and sentences. There is not one for the sentence “uns anos maís tarde.” As someone with a background in spanish, I had difficulty hearing that sentence pronunciation regular speed. How do I pronounce anos? With a sibilant s at the end or zh?
Here are two things with regard to pronunciation I need help with (so far):
1) the rolled double r’s. I went to the pronunciation help page and it didn’t really help for me to picture my tongue pushing back toward my uvula. It seems my tongue is stuck on rolling r’s as in Spanish with the front of my tongue pushing against my teeth. Can you suggest another image or sound you could recommend for practice to help me get unstuck?
2) words that have a s then zh sound in the next syllable. For example, vezes. Having those in turtle mode would really help.
Thank you!
First of all, thank YOU!
Second of all, just want to let you know that we’re working on adding more slow audios!
So: anos – “zh” in that context (before a voiced consonant), “z” before a vowel, “sh” by itself.
double r – Another tip I could give you to master this sound is not a very polite one. You know that disgusting sound when trying to scratch your throat on the inside, or simply trying to pull spit from your throat…? That’s right!
vezes – z sound in the middle (not s).
This learning note might be helpful too: https://www.practiceportuguese.com/learning-notes/how-to-pronounce-s-in-portuguese/
🙂
Muito Obrigada, Relogio! (sorry for the lack of accent on the o. I can’t seem to do it from my keyboard in this platform). That image of trying to pull spit from the back of my throat for the double r’s was EXACTLY what I needed! Now I will practice and try to get it in a way where it doesn’t frighten anyone that pulling spit is something I might actually do. 😉 Best wishes for a great week!
dina
AHAH 😀 I’m glad I could help!
I wish you an amazing week as well and good luck on mastering those R’s!
I just tried your trick for pronouncing the double r’s, and my dog went absolutely crazy!!
😉
Olá
I would like to know where I can watch European portugese Movies and TV shows in Canada. The ones here are Brazilian.
Obrigada!
Olá! Many users have shared suggestions and tips on our forum, which might help you too. Here are two useful topics:
– Portuguese TV programs | Practice Portuguese Forum
– How to watch Portuguese TV outside Portugal | Practice Portuguese
Why is the uns in “uns anos mais tarde” is pronounced as an “s” but the uns in “uns livros” is pronounced as an “sh”?
How do we know when to follow which pronounciation?
Thank you for the great content!
Great question! The pronunciation of S can change depending on the sounds around it. I think this Learning Note will help explain in more detail.