The definite article (artigo definido) is the small word that marks a noun as specific and known — the Portuguese equivalent of English the. But where English has one invariant the, Portuguese has four forms, one per combination of gender and number. And where English drops the before generic plurals, abstract nouns, possessives, and many proper names, Portuguese usually keeps it. Getting the article right — including in all the places English omits it — is one of the first habits of sounding natural in European Portuguese.
This page covers the forms, the obligatory contractions with prepositions, and the main contexts in which PT-PT uses the definite article. A companion page covers Articles with Names, which is the most distinctive PT-PT use and deserves its own treatment.
The four forms
Portuguese nouns are either masculine or feminine, and either singular or plural. The article must agree on both dimensions:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | o | os |
| Feminine | a | as |
O livro está em cima da mesa.
The book is on top of the table.
Os meus pais chegam amanhã.
My parents arrive tomorrow.
As chaves estão no teu bolso.
The keys are in your pocket.
Once you know a noun's gender and number, the article is fixed. There is no optionality: livro is masculine, so it takes o in the singular and os in the plural. Mesa is feminine, so a / as.
Contractions with prepositions — obligatory
The articles merge with four prepositions to form contractions. These contractions are obligatory in writing and speech:
| Preposition |
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a (to, at) | ao | à | aos | às |
| de (of, from) | do | da | dos | das |
| em (in, on, at) | no | na | nos | nas |
| por (by, through) | pelo | pela | pelos | pelas |
You will never write a o, de o, em a, por as — always ao, do, na, pelas. The grave accent on à and às distinguishes the contraction from the preposition a alone.
Vou ao médico amanhã.
I'm going to the doctor tomorrow. (a + o = ao)
Chegámos à estação às oito.
We arrived at the station at eight. (a + a = à; a + as = às — with acute on 'chegámos' for EP)
Volto do trabalho por volta das seis.
I get back from work around six. (de + o = do; de + as = das)
As crianças estão no quarto.
The children are in the room. (em + o = no)
Passamos pela praça todos os dias.
We pass through the square every day. (por + a = pela)
See the dedicated pages — Contractions with a, de, em, por — for the full treatment and pronunciation notes. For quick reference the Complete Contractions page lists them all together.
When Portuguese uses the definite article
English uses the when the referent is specific and identifiable. Portuguese uses o/a/os/as there too — but also in several contexts where English drops the article. Learning those divergences is most of the work.
Specific, identifiable referents
This is the overlap with English — the easy case.
O livro que me emprestaste é fantástico.
The book you lent me is fantastic.
Fecha a janela, por favor.
Close the window, please.
Os miúdos estão a dormir.
The kids are asleep.
Both English and Portuguese mark these nouns as known to the listener.
Generic reference — all of a class
When you make a statement about a whole class of things, Portuguese uses the article; English usually does not.
Os portugueses gostam muito de café.
Portuguese people really like coffee.
As crianças precisam de brincar.
Children need to play.
O café é bom para a concentração.
Coffee is good for concentration.
O vinho faz bem em pequenas quantidades.
Wine is good for you in small quantities.
In all four sentences, English uses a bare plural or a bare mass noun; Portuguese inserts the definite article. The article signals that you are making a statement about the category as a whole.
Body parts and clothing
Where English uses a possessive (my hands, his coat), Portuguese uses the definite article — the ownership is implied by context.
Lavei as mãos antes de comer.
I washed my hands before eating.
Põe o casaco, está frio lá fora.
Put on your coat, it's cold outside.
Ela fechou os olhos e adormeceu.
She closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Dói-me a cabeça.
My head hurts.
Using a possessive in these contexts (as minhas mãos) is not wrong — it is just overwrought and stylistically marked, like saying I washed my own hands in English. When the body part or item of clothing is clearly the subject's, the article does the work.
Days of the week for habitual events
With days of the week in the plural (às segundas, aos sábados), the article marks habit — on Mondays, on Saturdays.
Aos sábados vou ao cinema.
On Saturdays I go to the cinema. (habitually)
Tenho aulas às terças e às quintas.
I have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Ela corre aos domingos de manhã.
She runs on Sunday mornings.
For a single specific day — on Saturday (this week) — you use the singular with the article: no sábado, na sexta-feira.
No sábado vamos à praia.
On Saturday we're going to the beach. (this coming Saturday)
Times of day
Times take the feminine plural article contracted with a: às + number.
O comboio parte às sete e meia.
The train leaves at seven thirty.
Acordo todos os dias às seis.
I wake up every day at six.
The one o'clock takes the singular: à uma (hora).
Almoço à uma.
I have lunch at one.
Seasons
No verão vamos sempre ao Algarve.
In summer we always go to the Algarve. (em + o = no)
A primavera em Lisboa é maravilhosa.
Spring in Lisbon is wonderful.
No inverno os dias são curtos.
In winter the days are short.
English often drops the article before season names; Portuguese keeps it.
Unique referents
Things of which there is only one — the sun, the moon, the president — take the definite article as a matter of course.
O sol nasce cedo no verão.
The sun rises early in summer.
A lua está cheia hoje.
The moon is full today.
O primeiro-ministro falou na televisão ontem.
The Prime Minister spoke on television yesterday.
Abstract nouns
Love, life, freedom, happiness, death — abstract concepts take the article when discussed generically.
A vida é curta.
Life is short.
O amor não tem idade.
Love has no age.
A liberdade é um direito fundamental.
Freedom is a fundamental right.
A paciência é uma virtude.
Patience is a virtue.
Here again, English uses a bare abstract noun; Portuguese inserts a or o and marks the concept as a whole.
Most country names
Most country names take the definite article. The gender is usually feminine for countries ending in -a and masculine otherwise, with some exceptions.
| Feminine (with a) | Masculine (with o) | No article |
|---|---|---|
| a França | o Brasil | Portugal |
| a Espanha | o Japão | Moçambique |
| a Alemanha | o Canadá | Angola |
| a Itália | o México | Cuba |
| a Inglaterra | o Egito | Israel |
| a Rússia | os Estados Unidos | Cabo Verde |
| a China | os Países Baixos | Timor-Leste |
A França fica a norte da Espanha.
France is north of Spain.
O Brasil é o maior país da América do Sul.
Brazil is the largest country in South America.
Os Estados Unidos têm cinquenta estados.
The United States has fifty states.
The article-less country names are a small, important list for a PT-PT speaker to know: Portugal, Moçambique, Angola, Cuba, Israel, Cabo Verde, Timor-Leste. Notice that most Portuguese-speaking countries take no article — with the prominent exception of Brazil, which does: o Brasil.
Vou a Portugal em agosto.
I'm going to Portugal in August. (no article)
Vou ao Brasil em agosto.
I'm going to Brazil in August. (article — a + o = ao)
Vou à França em agosto.
I'm going to France in August. (article — a + a = à)
Notice how this combines with contractions: a + Brasil → ao Brasil, a + França → à França, but a + Portugal just stays a Portugal because there is no article to contract with.
Personal names
Standard informal and semi-formal PT-PT puts a definite article before personal names: o João, a Maria, a tia Ana. This is one of the most distinctive features of the European variety. It has its own page — see Articles with Names — because the patterns are subtle.
O João chega hoje à noite.
João arrives tonight.
A Maria é minha colega há dez anos.
Maria has been my colleague for ten years.
Before possessives — always
In PT-PT, the definite article almost always precedes the possessive: o meu, a minha, os nossos, as tuas. This is treated in depth on Possessives with Articles.
A minha mãe telefonou-me esta manhã.
My mother called me this morning.
Os teus filhos são muito bem-educados.
Your children are very well-behaved.
O nosso cão adora a praia.
Our dog loves the beach.
Skipping the article — minha mãe, teus filhos, nosso cão — sounds Brazilian or stylistically marked in PT-PT.
When Portuguese does NOT use the definite article
Three important contexts where the article is absent.
Most city and town names
City names take no article: Lisboa, Porto, Coimbra, Paris, Londres, Madrid, Roma, Nova Iorque.
Moro em Lisboa desde 2015.
I've lived in Lisbon since 2015.
Fomos a Paris no verão passado.
We went to Paris last summer.
A few city names have the article as part of their name: o Porto (the northern city, the name historically meaning "the port"), a Guarda, a Figueira, o Rio de Janeiro, o Cairo, a Haia. These are memorised exceptions.
Vivo no Porto há cinco anos.
I've lived in Porto for five years. (em + o = no; Porto takes the article)
Ele nasceu no Rio de Janeiro.
He was born in Rio de Janeiro.
After ser + profession or nationality (unmodified)
When ser is followed by a bare noun of profession, nationality, religion, or political affiliation — and no modifier is attached — Portuguese drops the article.
A minha irmã é médica.
My sister is a doctor. (no article before 'médica')
Ele é engenheiro informático.
He's a computer engineer.
Ela é portuguesa.
She's Portuguese.
Sou católico.
I'm Catholic.
As soon as the profession is modified by an adjective or clause, the article comes back:
Ele é um médico excelente.
He's an excellent doctor.
Ela é uma engenheira que trabalha na Alemanha.
She's an engineer who works in Germany.
This is parallel to how ser + bare predicate noun works in Spanish (es médico), and contrasts with English, which always requires a/an before a singular profession.
In certain prepositional phrases and set expressions
A handful of fixed expressions drop the article:
Estou em casa.
I'm at home. (not 'na casa')
Foi para casa cedo.
She went home early.
Vou de carro.
I'm going by car. (not 'do carro')
These are idiomatic — memorise them. Note that em casa means at home in the general sense; na casa (do João) means at the (specific) house.
Register notes
- (neutral / spoken PT-PT) The default use of the article described on this page.
- (formal written) Slightly more article-loaded than spoken: even expressions that allow variation tend to include the article.
- (headlines and titles) Articles are routinely dropped for compression, as in English: Governo aprova Orçamento rather than O Governo aprova o Orçamento.
- (vocative / direct address) Articles drop when you are directly addressing someone (see the names page).
Common Mistakes
❌ Gatos são independentes.
Missing article — Portuguese requires it for generic reference.
✅ Os gatos são independentes.
Cats are independent.
❌ Vida é bela.
Missing article before abstract noun.
✅ A vida é bela.
Life is beautiful.
❌ Lavei minhas mãos.
Wrong register — Portuguese uses the definite article for body parts, and in PT-PT possessives need an article anyway.
✅ Lavei as mãos.
I washed my hands.
❌ Vou a Brasil no próximo ano.
Missing article — 'Brasil' takes 'o'.
✅ Vou ao Brasil no próximo ano.
I'm going to Brazil next year. (a + o = ao)
❌ Moro em o Porto.
No such form — em + o contracts to 'no'.
✅ Moro no Porto.
I live in Porto.
❌ A minha irmã é uma médica.
Article before unmodified profession — unnecessary and incorrect.
✅ A minha irmã é médica.
My sister is a doctor.
❌ Vou à Portugal.
Portugal takes no article — 'a Portugal' stays uncontracted.
✅ Vou a Portugal.
I'm going to Portugal.
❌ Estou em a casa.
No such form — em + a contracts to 'na'.
✅ Estou em casa.
I'm at home. (idiomatic — no article)
Key Takeaways
- Portuguese has four definite articles: o, a, os, as, matching gender and number.
- Articles contract obligatorily with a, de, em, por: ao, à, do, da, no, na, pelo, pela.
- Portuguese uses the article in many places English does not: generic plurals (os portugueses), abstract nouns (a vida), body parts (as mãos), seasons (no verão), unique referents (o sol), most country names (a França, o Brasil), before possessives (a minha casa), and before personal names (o João).
- Portuguese drops the article before most city names (Lisboa, Paris), before unmodified professions after ser (é médica), and in set expressions (em casa, de carro).
- A small list of country names takes no article: Portugal, Moçambique, Angola, Cuba, Israel, Cabo Verde, Timor-Leste.
- Learn each noun together with its article — o problema, a mão, o dia — and the agreement becomes automatic.
Related Topics
- Determiners in Portuguese: An OverviewA1 — What determiners are, the families of determiners in European Portuguese, and how they combine with nouns — a map of the group.
- The Indefinite Article: Forms and UsesA1 — The four forms of the Portuguese indefinite article (um, uma, uns, umas), their uses for introducing new referents, and where Portuguese drops the article that English keeps.
- Articles with Names in European PortugueseA2 — Why European Portuguese says 'o João' and 'a Maria' — the definite article is standard before personal names, and dropping it carries specific meaning.
- Contractions with a (the grave accent)A2 — How the preposition a contracts with articles and distal demonstratives — ao, à, aos, às, àquele — and why the grave accent matters.
- Contractions with deA1 — How the preposition de contracts with articles, demonstratives, pronouns, and other words — a complete reference.
- Contractions with emA1 — How the preposition em contracts with articles, demonstratives, pronouns, and indefinites — a complete reference.
- Possessives with Definite ArticlesA2 — Why European Portuguese says 'o meu livro' and almost never 'meu livro' — the article before the possessive is virtually mandatory