Outro / Outra / Outros / Outras

English splits one idea across two words depending on number: another for one more, other for the rest. Brazilian Portuguese uses a single agreeing stem, outr-, for both — and, unlike English, it normally takes no indefinite article in front of it. That second point is the one careful learners get wrong for years, because the colloquial um outro is everywhere and sounds fine. This page covers the agreement, the article question, how outro stacks with numbers and the definite article, and the contracted forms.

The four forms

Outro is a textbook agreeing determiner. Match it to the noun in gender and number:

No indefinite article — the key point

This is what English speakers must unlearn. English says another, a different one — the indefinite article is baked in. Portuguese puts the "an-" idea inside outro itself, so the careful, standard form takes no um/uma:

You will hear um outro café, uma outra coisa constantly in Brazil — it is widespread and not stigmatized in speech. But prescriptively the article is redundant, and in writing or careful speech outro stands alone. Treat um outro the way an English speaker treats "could care less": common, understood, but not the form to imitate in formal contexts.

Outro with numbers — "another three people"

Here outro shows its range. To say "another N of something," English forces another + number; Portuguese simply places the agreeing outros/outras before the number:

The agreement is governed by the noun, not the number: outras três pessoas (feminine), outros dois dias (masculine). English speakers tend to want a singular "another" here ("another three"); Portuguese keeps it plural because three things are plural.

O outro — "the other one"

Add the definite article and the meaning sharpens from "another (unspecified)" to "the other (specific) one" — the remaining member of a known set:

When it stands alone like os outros ("the others / the rest"), outro is functioning as a pronoun, but it still agrees, so there is never any confusion. Compare the indefinite set with the definite: outros livros = "other books (some, unspecified)"; os outros livros = "the other books (the specific remaining ones)."

Contractions and the fused form

When a preposition meets outro, the usual contractions apply, though several are felt as somewhat formal or literary today:

• de + outro → doutro (literary/dated; in modern BR you'll usually see the uncontracted de outro)
• em + outro → noutro (literary/dated; modern BR prefers em outro)

There is also outrora (archaic/literary), a frozen adverb meaning "in former times, once upon a time" — useful to recognize in older texts but not something to produce in conversation.

Comparison with English

The English split — another (singular, one more) vs other (plural or "the remaining") — simply does not exist in Portuguese. One stem covers all of it, and you choose the ending by gender and number instead. Where English changes the word, Portuguese changes the suffix. The single biggest interference error is importing the English article: because English never says "other" without some determiner ("an-other," "the other," "some other"), learners reach for um outro by reflex. Drop it.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• outro/outra/outros/outras agrees with the noun and means both another and other.
• Careful BR uses no indefinite article: outro café, not um outro café (colloquial but redundant).
• With numbers, outro stays plural: outras três pessoas, outros dois dias.
• Add the definite article for the specific sense: o outro = "the other one," os outros = "the rest."
• noutro/doutro are literary/dated contractions; modern BR keeps em outro / de outro uncontracted. outrora is archaic for "in former times."