English has two indefinite articles, a and an, and no plural form. Brazilian Portuguese has four: um, uma, uns, umas — agreeing in gender and number — and the plural ones do a job English handles with other words: some, a few, even about. Beyond the forms, the real learning is about omission: BR drops the indefinite article in several places where English firmly keeps it (most famously, professions). Knowing where not to say um/uma is what separates natural BR from translated English.
The four forms
| Masculine | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | um | uma |
| Plural | uns | umas |
Comprei um livro, uma revista e umas canetas.
I bought a book, a magazine, and some pens.
Tem uns documentos pra você assinar.
There are some documents for you to sign. (uns = some)
The plural: "some" / "a few" / "about"
This is the form with no clean English article equivalent. Singular um/uma = "a/an"; plural uns/umas means "some" or "a few" — a small, vague quantity.
Vou levar uns dias de férias.
I'm going to take a few days off. (uns dias = some/a few days)
Ela me mandou umas mensagens ontem à noite.
She sent me some messages last night.
Approximating numbers
Put uns/umas before a number and it means "about / around / roughly" — a use English expresses with a separate word.
Custa uns vinte reais, mais ou menos.
It costs about twenty reais, more or less. (uns + number = around)
Espera uns dez minutos que já tá pronto.
Wait about ten minutes and it'll be ready.
Tinha umas cinquenta pessoas na festa.
There were around fifty people at the party. (umas agrees with the implied fem. pessoas)
Informal contractions
Like the definite article, um/uma contracts with em and de — but in BR this is informal/spoken. Formal writing usually keeps them separate (em um, de uma), while speech and casual writing fuse them.
|
|
|
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| em | num | numa | nuns | numas |
| de | dum | duma | duns | dumas |
Moro num apartamento pequeno numa rua tranquila.
I live in a small apartment on a quiet street. (informal: em + um = num, em + uma = numa)
Ele saiu dum jeito estranho.
He left in a strange way. (informal: de + um = dum)
Omission: where BR drops "a" but English keeps it
Here is where English speakers reliably over-insert um/uma.
Professions, roles, religion, nationality
After ser (to be) or virar/ficar (to become), BR uses a bare noun for a profession, role, religion, or nationality. English requires "a": "She is a doctor." BR does not.
Ela é médica e o marido é professor.
She is a doctor and her husband is a teacher. (no article: é médica, é professor)
Depois que o filho nasceu, ele virou pai e mudou tudo.
After his son was born, he became a father and everything changed. (virou pai, no article)
Sou brasileiro e sou católico.
I'm Brazilian and I'm Catholic. (no article with nationality or religion)
The logic: in these sentences the noun is classifying you — naming a category you belong to — not introducing a specific individual. BR treats a category label as adjective-like and drops the article. The moment you modify the noun, the article returns, because now you're describing a particular instance:
Ela é uma médica excelente.
She is an excellent doctor. (modified by excelente → article reappears)
After "que" in exclamations
English exclamations keep the article ("What a shame!"). BR drops it after que.
Que pena! Que dia lindo!
What a shame! What a beautiful day! (no article after que)
Que ideia boa você teve!
What a good idea you had!
After certain quantifiers and in set phrases
BR also omits the article with meio ("half"), certo ("a certain"), and after sem/com in many fixed phrases.
Saí de casa sem guarda-chuva e tomei meio litro de chuva.
I left home without an umbrella and got soaked. (sem + bare noun; meio litro = half a liter)
When BR does use um/uma like English
To introduce a genuinely new, specific, countable thing into the discourse, BR uses the article exactly as English does. This is the prototypical "a/an" — first mention of one particular item.
Ontem conheci um cara muito legal numa festa.
Yesterday I met a really cool guy at a party. (first mention of a specific person and event)
Common Mistakes
❌ Ela é uma médica.
Wrong by default — an unmodified profession takes no article in BR.
✅ Ela é médica.
She is a doctor.
❌ Que uma pena!
Incorrect — no article after que in exclamations.
✅ Que pena!
What a shame!
❌ Sou um brasileiro.
Wrong as a plain statement of nationality — drop the article.
✅ Sou brasileiro.
I'm Brazilian.
❌ Espera uns dez minutos sobre.
Incorrect — uns already means 'about'; adding 'sobre' is redundant and wrong.
✅ Espera uns dez minutos.
Wait about ten minutes.
❌ Ele virou um pai dedicado.
If unmodified you'd drop it; but note the rule with a modifier present.
✅ Ele virou pai. / Ele virou um pai dedicado.
He became a father. / He became a devoted father. (article returns only with the adjective dedicado)
Key Takeaways
- Four agreeing forms: um, uma, uns, umas.
- Plural uns/umas = "some / a few", and before a number = "about" (uns dez minutos).
- Contracts informally: num, numa, dum, duma (spoken); keep separate in formal writing.
- Drop the article with unmodified professions/roles/religions/nationalities (é médica, sou brasileiro, virou pai) and after que exclamations (Que pena!).
- Add it back the moment a modifier appears (uma médica excelente).
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Definite Articles: O, A, Os, AsA1 — The Brazilian definite article — its four agreeing forms, its obligatory contractions with prepositions, and the many places it appears where English drops 'the' entirely.
- Indefinite DeterminersA2 — Brazilian Portuguese indefinite and quantifying determiners — algum, nenhum, cada, qualquer, vários, muito/pouco, todo — which agree, which don't, and the post-nominal 'algum' that flips to emphatic negation.
- Numerals as DeterminersA1 — Numbers used to determine nouns — why most cardinals are invariable but 'um/uma', 'dois/duas' (and the hundreds) agree in gender, how ordinals sit before the noun, and the gender of 'meio/meia'.
- Determiners: OverviewA1 — A map of Brazilian Portuguese determiners — articles, demonstratives, possessives, and quantifiers — and the two facts that govern them all: they agree with the noun and they fuse with prepositions.