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NEW ORDERING • b1+ Que despesas são essas, Ricardo? NEW LISTEN • a2+ O que é que queres ver? NEW FILL-IN • b1 Há mais marés que marinheiros NEW COMPLETION • b1 Cometer erros faz parte do processo NEW FILL-IN • a2+ Ando a decorar a sala NEW LISTEN • b1 Há mais marés que marinheiros NEW CHOICE • a1-a2 Há um quadro na parede NEW MATCH • b1 Toma decisões com confiança NEW LISTEN • a2+ Ando a decorar a sala NEW ORDERING • b1 Precisa de perder pelo menos oito quilos NEW CHOICE • b1+ Pregar uma rasteira NEW FILL-IN • a2+ Estou a pensar aprender um instrumento NEW ORDERING • b1 Onde é que estiveste este tempo todo? NEW IDIOM • b1+ Tirar o cavalinho da chuva NEW LISTEN • a2+ Estou a pensar aprender um instrumento NEW COMPLETION • a1-a2 Ela usa sempre fio dentário
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Portuguese Word Gender and Agreement
In Portuguese, as in other Romance languages, nouns are classified by gender—either masculine or feminine. However, this gender classification extends beyond nouns to adjectives, pronouns, and articles, which change form depending on the gender of the noun they refer to.
Take the following sentences:
(1) O meu primo comprou o seu primeiro carro.
My cousin bought his first car.
(2) A minha prima comprou a sua primeira mota.
My cousin bought her first motorcycle.
In the examples above, the red words are nouns, either masculine (primo, carro) or feminine (prima, mota). The blue words, in contrast, change to match the gender of the nouns they refer to.
As you can see, changing the gender of the red words, like in the shift from sentence 1 to sentence 2, also changes the gender of all the surrounding blue words.
This gender agreement is essential in Portuguese and can be tricky for learners. When you confuse the gender of a noun, you can make mistakes with the articles, adjectives, and pronouns around it.
But worry not! In this article, I’ll guide you through the spelling patterns of gender for Portuguese nouns and provide helpful tips for converting masculine nouns to feminine and vice versa. Read on.
Nouns
Masculine or Feminine?
In Portuguese, nouns are either masculine or feminine. But how do you know which is which?
Native speakers like me know it by heart, of course. But for those learning Portuguese as a second language, wrapping your head around noun gender can be a long and often frustrating process. Fortunately, some spelling patterns can help. Let’s look at a few of them.
The -o/-a pattern
The -o/-a pattern is one of the most common in Portuguese. Many masculine and feminine nouns end in -o and -a, respectively. This alone will help you guess the gender of a large number of words:
| MASCULINE | FEMININE |
| o vaso (pot) | a mesa (table) |
| o livro (book) | a torneira (tap) |
| o carro (car) | a janela (window) |
| o copo (glass) | a casa (house) |
| o garfo (fork) | a persiana (blind) |
| o correio (post) | a faca (knife) |
| o prédio (building) | a cama (bed) |
| . . . |
While this pattern is helpful, be aware of exceptions like o dia (day – masculine) and a tribo (tribe – feminine).
To be 100% sure about a noun’s gender, look at the words that come before it—o, a, este, esta, etc. These are called determiners, and they reveal the noun’s gender.
Nouns ending in -grama, -ema, and -oma
Several masculine nouns ending in -a go against the usual pattern. Fortunately, their suffixes give us a clue. Accordingly, nouns ending in -grama, -ema, and -oma are usually masculine:
| MASCULINE |
| o programa (program) |
| o telegrama (telegram) |
| o cinema (cinema) |
| o sistema (system) |
| o idioma (idiom) |
| o axioma (axiom) |
| . . . |
So far, we’ve looked at nouns ending with either -o or -a. Yet, there’s an abundance of nouns ending with other vowels or with consonants. In these cases, there are also spelling patterns to help us identify the gender. Let’s look at some of them.
Nouns ending in -l, -r, or -z
Most nouns ending in -l, -r, or -z are masculine:
| MASCULINE |
| o papel (paper) |
| o anel (ring) |
| o colar (collar) |
| o lugar (place) |
| o juíz (judge) |
| o arroz (rice) |
| . . . |
Nouns ending in -ão
When referring to tangible things – as opposed to abstract concepts – nouns ending in -ão tend to be masculine:
| MASCULINE |
| o pão (bread) |
| o limão (lemon) |
| o coração (heart) |
| o pião (spinning-top) |
| . . . |
Nouns ending in -ção ,-são, or -ssão
Words ending in -ção, -são, or -ssão – especially when referring to abstract concepts – are usually feminine:
| Feminine |
| a exceção (exception) |
| a resignação (resignation) |
| a dimensão (dimension) |
| a divisão (division) |
| a compressão (compression) |
| a missão (mission) |
| . . . |
💡Notice how these words have English cognates? You may know more Portuguese than you think: English-Portuguese Cognates – The Words You Already Know (Without Knowing It).
Nouns ending in -gem
Nouns ending in –gem are also feminine:
| FEMININE |
| a coragem (courage) |
| a origem (origin) |
| a imagem (image) |
| a vantagem (advantage) |
| a paisagem (landscape) |
| a viagem (travel) |
| . . . |
Nouns ending in -dade
Words ending in -dade are usually feminine:
| FEMININE |
| a cidade (city) |
| a necessidade (necessity) |
| a integridade (integrity) |
| a qualidade (quality) |
| a possibilidade (possibility) |
| a mobilidade (mobility) |
| . . . |
Two Genders, Two Forms
Unlike the nouns we’ve covered so far, these have two distinct forms: masculine and feminine. They typically refer to humans and express things like kinship, profession, or nationality.
Since all nouns in this category come in both masculine and feminine forms, we’ll now look at some common masculine-to-feminine conversion patterns.
The good old -o/-a pattern
As mentioned earlier, the -o/-a pattern is widespread across the language, and many words with both masculine and feminine forms follow it.
Masculine words ending in -o form the feminine by replacing -o with -a:
| MASCULINE | FEMININE |
| o tio (uncle) | a tia (aunt) |
| o primo (cousin, he) | a prima (cousin, she) |
| o médico (doctor, he) | a médica (doctor, she) |
| o arquiteto (architect, he) | a arquiteta (architect, she) |
| o gato (male cat) | a gata (female cat) |
| o sueco (Swedish man) | a sueca (Swedish woman) |
| . . . |
Masculine nouns ending in -or
For masculine nouns ending in -or, the feminine form is typically created by adding -a. This is common with professions and crafts:
| MASCULINE | FEMININE |
| o pintor (painter, he) | a pintora (painter, she) |
| o cantor (singer, he) | a cantora (singer, she) |
| o professor (teacher, he) | a professora (teacher, she) |
| o mentor (mentor, he) | a mentora (mentor, she) |
| . . . |
A few words ending in -or, however, form their feminine with -triz:
| MASCULINE | FEMININE |
| o ator (actor) | a atriz (actress) |
| o embaixador (ambassador, he) | a embaixatriz (ambassador, she) |
| o imperador (emperor) | a emperatriz (empress) |
| . . . |
Masculine nouns ending in -ês
For masculine nouns ending in -ês, we typically form the feminine by adding -a. These are often nationalities:
| MASCULINE | FEMININE |
| o francês (French man) | a francesa (French woman) |
| o japonês (Japanese man) | a japonesa (Japanese woman) |
| o inglês (English man) | a inglesa (English woman) |
| o dinamarquês (Danish man) | a dinamarquesa (Danish woman) |
| . . . |
💡By the way, the name of a language always corresponds to the masculine form of the respective nationality. So we say francês, japonês, inglês, and dinamarquês when referring to the languages.
Masculine nouns ending in -ão
Masculine nouns ending in -ão often form the feminine by replacing -ão with -ã:
| MASCULINE | FEMININE |
| o ancião (old man) | a anciã (old woman) |
| o alemão (German man) | a alemã (German woman) |
| o irmão (brother) | a irmã (sister) |
| o aldeão (villager, he) | a aldeã (villager, she) |
| . . . |
In some cases, though, the -ão ending is replaced with -oa or -ona:
| MASCULINE | FEMININE |
| o melão (melon) | a meloa (small melon) |
| o leão (lion) | a leoa (lioness) |
| o chorão (crybaby, he) | a chorona (crybaby, she) |
| solteirão (bachelor) | solteirona (spinster) |
| . . . |
Noble titles ending in -e
Noble titles that end in -e tend to form the feminine by taking either -esa or -essa:
| MASCULINE | FEMININE |
| o conde (count) | a condessa (countess) |
| o duque (duke) | a duquesa (duchess) |
| o príncipe (prince) | a princesa (princess) |
| o abade (abbot) | a abadessa (abbess) |
| . . . |
Anomalous cases
Some commonly used words don’t follow any clear conversion pattern. These simply need to be memorised:
| MASCULINE | FEMININE |
| o homem (man) | a mulher (woman) |
| o pai (father) | a mãe (mother) |
| o rapaz (boy) | a rapariga (girl) |
| o rei (king) | a rainha (queen) |
| o frade (friar) | a freira (nun) |
| . . . |
Two Genders, One Form (Unisex)
Nouns ending with either -e or -a
Many nouns, especially those related to professions and roles, are unisex. They typically end in -e or -a and don’t change based on gender. Instead, it’s the article (or another determiner) that marks the gender:
| MASCULINE/FEMININE |
| o/a gerente (manager) |
| o/a assistente (assistant) |
| o/a dentista (dentist) |
| o/a artista (artist) |
| . . . |
Adjectives
Adjectives in Portuguese always agree with the noun they describe in both gender and number. Many follow the same masculine-to-feminine conversion patterns we’ve seen with nouns.
Two Genders, Two Forms
Endings in -o
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | ||
| old | velho | velha | -o → -a |
| mad | louco | louca | -o → -a |
| legitimate | legítimo | legítima | -o → -a |
Endings in -ês
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | ||
| Portuguese | português | portuguesa | -ês → -esa |
| Chinese | chinês | chinesa | -ês → -esa |
Endings in -or
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | ||
| hard-working | trabalhador | trabalhadora | -or → -ora |
| agitator | agitador | agitadora | -or → -ora |
Two Genders, One Form
Endings in -a or -e
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | |
| dentist | dentista | dentista |
| idiot | idiota | idiota |
| enormous | enorme | enorme |
| strong | forte | forte |
Endings in -l, -s, -ar, or -z
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | |
| possible | possível | possível |
| easy | fácil | fácil |
| blue | azul | azul |
| simple | simples | simples |
| polite | cortês | cortês |
| lilac | lilás | lilás |
| particular | particular | particular |
| familiar | familiar | familiar |
| similar | similar | similar |
| capable | capaz | capaz |
| happy | feliz | feliz |
| sagacious | sagaz | sagaz |
| . . . |
A couple of exceptions
Here are two high-frequency adjectives with irregular forms:
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | |
| good | bom | boa |
| bad | mau | má |
Determiners
Simply put, determiners are words that introduce a noun — they typically come before it. For example, in the boy and my uncle, the words the and my are determiners.
In Portuguese, determiners must also agree with the gender (and number) of the noun they refer to. Let’s look at a few important types.
Articles
Portuguese has both definite and indefinite articles, just like English. These articles change based on the gender of the noun.
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | |
| Definite articles | o o carro (the car) | a a casa (the house) |
| Indefinite articles | um um prato (a plate) | uma uma mesa (a table) |
Demonstratives
Demonstrative determiners are used to point out specific things or people.
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | |
| this | este este copo (this glass) | esta esta porta (this door) |
| that | esse esse casaco (that jacket) | essa essa camisa (that shirt) |
| that (over there) | aquele aquele café (that café over there) | aquela aquela igreja (that church over there) |
Possessives
Possessive determiners show ownership. In European Portuguese, it’s common to use the definite article before a possessive.
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | |
| my | meu o meu lápis (my pencil) | minha a minha caneta (my pen) |
| your | teu o teu computador (your computer) | tua a tua secretária (your desk) |
| his/her | seu (dele/dela) o seu carro (his/her car) | sua (dele/dela) a sua casa (his/her house) |
💡The determiners seu and sua agree with the noun they refer to (e.g. carro, casa), not with the person who owns it. So, in sentences like o seu carro or a sua casa, we can’t tell whether seu/sua means his or her.
We often use dele (of him) and dela (of her), which indicate the owner’s gender:
• o carro dele (his car)
• o carro dela (her car)
• a casa dele (his house)
• a casa dela (her house)
Learn more about Portuguese possessives: Portuguese Possessive Pronouns and Adjectives.
Numerals
In Portuguese, only one and two have gendered forms. All other cardinal numbers are the same regardless of gender:
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | |
| one | um um saco (one bag) | uma uma mochila (one backpack) |
| two | dois dois sacos (two bags) | duas duas mochilas (two backpacks) |
| three | três três sacos (three bags) | três três mochilas (three backpacks) |
| . . . |
Ordinal numbers, however, always change for gender:
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | |
| first | primeiro primeiro lugar (first place) | primeira primeira fila (first row) |
| second | segundo segundo lugar (second place) | segunda segunda fila (second row) |
| third | terceiro terceiro lugar (third place) | terceira terceira fila (third row) |
| . . . |
💡Learn more about numerals in Portuguese: Counting from 1 to infinity.
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