Noun Classification

Dialog — Meeting an American

Sandra introduces her friend Bill to Yara. Bill reveals he’s an American from New York State. This unit covers the t/ch and d/dg pronunciation contrasts, noun gender classification, and definite/indefinite articles.

Portuguese	English
Sandra
Yara, este é o meu amigo Bill.	Yara, this is my friend Bill.
Yara
Muito prazer.	Glad to meet you.
Bill
Igualmente.	Likewise.
Sandra
O senhor é americano?	Are you American?
Bill
Sou, sim.	Yes, I am.
Sandra
De onde o senhor é?	Where are you from?
Bill
Sou de Nova Iorque.	I’m from New York.
Sandra
Da cidade?	From the city?
Bill
Não, do estado.	No, from the state.

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Notes on Grammar

Pronunciation: t/ch and d/dg Contrasts

In Brazilian Portuguese, the letter t before an i sound (including reduced final e) is often pronounced like English ch in “cheese.” Similarly, d before i sounds like the j in “jeep” or dg in “fudge.” Both pronunciations are standard in Brazilian speech — some speakers use them consistently, others use plain t and d.

Word	With ch/dg	English
noite	”noy-chee”	night
sete	”se-chee”	seven
este	”es-chee”	this
dia	”jee-a”	day
onde	”on-jee”	where
cidade	”see-da-jee”	city
pode	”po-jee”	can

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Classification of Nouns: Gender

All Portuguese nouns are classified as either masculine or feminine. This is grammatical gender — for most nouns, it has nothing to do with natural gender. However, nouns referring to people generally match the sex of the person.

Key pattern: Most nouns ending in an unstressed -a sound are feminine. Most nouns ending in an unstressed -o sound are masculine.

Feminine (ending in -a)	Masculine (ending in -o)
casa (house)	carro (car)
festa (party)	parque (park)
moça (girl)	amigo (friend)
filha (daughter)	filho (son)
sala (room)	estado (state)
comida (food)	telefonema (phone call)
cidade (city)	consulado (consulate)

About 80% of all Portuguese nouns end in either an unstressed -a or an unstressed -o, so this pattern covers most cases.

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Definite Articles

The definite article (“the”) must agree in gender with its noun:

	Singular
Masculine	o
Feminine	a

Portuguese	English
o carro	the car
a casa	the house
o amigo	the friend (male)
a amiga	the friend (female)

Portuguese frequently uses the definite article before proper names: o Paulo, a Maria.

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Indefinite Articles

The indefinite article (“a/an”) also agrees in gender:

	Singular
Masculine	um
Feminine	uma

The masculine um is a nasalized version of o. The feminine uma is a nasalized version of a plus a final syllable.

Portuguese	English
um carro	a car
uma casa	a house
um amigo	a friend (male)
uma amiga	a friend (female)

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Practice Drills (Selected)

Gender Identification

Listen for the final vowel sound to determine gender:

Noun	Gender	”The…“
casa	feminine	a casa
carro	masculine	o carro
festa	feminine	a festa
parque	masculine	o parque
cidade	feminine	a cidade
estado	masculine	o estado
comida	feminine	a comida
telefonema	masculine	o telefonema

Definite vs. Indefinite

Portuguese	English
o carro / um carro	the car / a car
a casa / uma casa	the house / a house
Ele quer o carro.	He wants the car.
Ele quer um carro.	He wants a car.

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Comprehension

1. Where is Bill from? — He’s from New York State.
2. Is he from the city? — No, from the state.
3. Is he American? — Yes, he is.

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Key Vocabulary Summary

Portuguese	English
este	this (masculine)
o prazer	the pleasure
muito prazer	glad to meet you
igualmente	likewise
americano	American
sou	I am (I-form of ser)
de	of, from
de onde	from where
da (de + a)	from the (feminine)
do (de + o)	from the (masculine)
a cidade	the city
o estado	the state
o / a	the (m/f)
um / uma	a, an (m/f)