MEU or O MEU?

The purpose of this Learning Note is to address a common question we get from learners after they’ve finished our Unit about possessives in European Portuguese.
The question is about when to use definite articles before possessive determiners/pronouns, and when they can be dropped. In other words, what’s the difference between Eles são os meus filhos and Eles são meus filhos? Why do some sentences include a definite article (o, a, os, as) and some don’t?

A Simplified Overview:

• Possessive determiners usually require a definite article
• Possessive pronouns usually do not require a definite article (except when they start a sentence)
• You can use a definite article when you want to emphasize a specific thing out of a group of things (i.e. THIS one is my book, not that one). It’s almost as if you’re saying “this is the one that is mine” rather than just “this is mine”.
• You can drop the definite article if the emphasis is on the possession itself (i.e. This is MY book, not your book), or if there is no special emphasis. (This is quite common!)

Those guidelines will get you through most situations, but if you’d like to dive deeper into this concept, keep reading!

When You Should Use a Definite Article

• Possessive determiners in Portuguese generally precede the noun in a sentence, similar to the English words my, your, his, her, their, and our, as in o meu livro (my book), etc. They usually require a definite article, as in:
  • Perdi as minhas chaves.I lost my keys.Community Slow audio Play audio
• It’s important to use an article when the emphasis of the sentence is on distinguishing a specific item from a group of items:
  • Este é o seu livro. O meu livro ficou ali.This is your book. My book is over there.Community Slow audio Play audio

Of course there are exceptions, which we’ll cover in the next section…

When You Can Drop the Definite Articles

• Possessive pronouns in Portuguese replace a noun in a sentence, just like the words mine, yours, his, hers, theirs, and ours do in English, as in O livro é meu (The book is mine), etc. They usually do not require a definite article (o, a, os, as), except at the start of sentences, e.g. O meu é azul (Mine is blue).
• An article is not required when the emphasis of the sentence is on the possession itself.
  • Os sapatos são meusThe shoes are mineCommunity Slow audio Play audio – I simply want to express that the shoes belong to me. I don’t need to distinguish this particular pair of shoes from a group of shoes.
  • Aqueles casacos são teusThose coats are yoursCommunity Slow audio Play audio
• An article is not required when the possessive modifies “this” or a number. The meaning in these types of sentences is similar to “This thing of mine” or “Four things of mine”.
  • Esta minha casa é antigaThis house (of) mine is oldCommunity Slow audio Play audio
• An article is not required when a possessive determiner appears right after the noun. This is common in contexts that are more “undefined” (i.e. they are more general statements with no special emphasis):
  • Um amigo meu vai almoçar comigoA friend of mine is going to have lunch with meCommunity – The particular person is not identified/emphasized
  • Aguardo notícias tuasI await your(sing.,inf.) news, I look forward to hearing from you(sing.,inf.)Community – Not specifying any particular type of news, just that I am looking forward to hearing what’s new with you
• An article is not required if the phrase functions as an appositive. (An appositive is a word or phrase that renames or identifies the initial noun. You usually see it between two commas.)
  • Pedro, seu irmão, chamou-o.Pedro, his brother, called him.Community Slow audio Play audio
• Sometimes the article is omitted after the verb ser:
  • Eles são nossos vizinhosThey are our neighboursCommunity
  • As mentioned previously, here the determiner can appear either before or after the noun: Eles são vizinhos nossosThey are our neighbours, They are neighbours of oursCommunity (This is less common, though.)
• Omit the article if the phrase has a vocative function. (In other words, when you are using the possessive phrase to speak directly to someone.)
  • Meu amigo, é preciso calma!My friend, stay calm!Community Slow audio Play audio
• In contrast to European Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese often omits definite articles in other situations as well.

Examples

• Example Set 1

• • Eles são meus filhosThey are my childrenCommunity Slow audio Play audio
    • Use meus because filhos is masculine, plural.
    • No definite article because you’re simply stating that these people are children of yours, with no special emphasis. It’s possible that you have more children aside from the ones you’re talking about at the moment.

• • Eles são os meus filhosTHEY are my childrenCommunity
    • Include the definite article here because you’re stressing that these particular kids are your children. Maybe you’ve talked about them before and finally have a chance to introduce them, or maybe there are more children around and you want to clearly identify which ones are yours. With this wording, you may also be implying that these are all the children you have.

• Example Set 2
  • Fui almoçar com a minha famíliaI went to lunch with my familyCommunity
    • Use minha because família is feminine, singular
    • Include the definite article because you want to emphasize that it’s your immediate family, i.e. you’re referring to a specific set of people.
  • Fui almoçar com familiares meusI went to lunch with my relativesCommunity
    • Use meus because familiares is masculine, plural
    • No definite article because there’s no special emphasis. It’s just generally some relatives of mine, and could be anyone, not just a certain subset of family members.
• Example Set 3
  • Esta casa é minhaThis house is MINECommunity Slow audio Play audio
    • Use minha because casa is singular, feminine.
    • The focus is on the fact that I own the house, not you or somebody else. The definite article is not required here.
  • Esta casa é a minhaTHIS house is mineCommunity Slow audio Play audio
    • The focus here is on distinguishing a particular house from the others. The definite article helps emphasize that along this street of many houses, this particular one is the one that’s mine.