Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Portuguese grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about O meu aniversário é em junho.
Why is there a definite article before meu?
In European Portuguese, all singular nouns with possessive adjectives normally take a definite article. The article agrees in gender and number with the noun. Since aniversário is masculine singular, we say o meu aniversário (the my birthday), which in English simply becomes my birthday.
Why is the possessive meu placed before aniversário rather than after it?
In Portuguese, possessive adjectives almost always come before the noun they modify. Placing them after (e.g. aniversário meu) is very unusual and would sound poetic or emphatic.
Why is em used before junho?
Portuguese uses the preposition em to indicate months and time periods. Em corresponds to English in, so you say em junho, em julho, em 1990, etc.
Why don't we contract em + junho into no junho?
The contraction no comes from em + o (the definite article). Since months are usually used without an article (junho, not o junho), there is nothing to contract, so you simply use em junho.
Why is junho not capitalized?
In Portuguese, the names of months and days of the week are not capitalized (unless they start a sentence). So you always write janeiro, fevereiro, março, junho, etc., in lowercase.
How do you pronounce junho?
Phonetically, it’s j sounds like the s in measure ([ʒ]), and nh is a palatal nasal ([ɲ]), similar to the ny in canyon. So it’s roughly ZHUN-yo.
Are there alternative ways to express my birthday is in June?
Yes. In Portugal you often say Eu faço anos em junho, and in Brazil Eu faço aniversário em junho. You can also say Comemoro o meu aniversário em junho (I celebrate my birthday in June).
Can you omit the article and say Meu aniversário é em junho?
In informal Brazilian Portuguese you might hear Meu aniversário é em junho without o, but in standard European Portuguese you should include the article (O meu aniversário é em junho) to sound natural.