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Portuguese noun genders
The gender of most Portuguese nouns follows from their ending or their meaning. These are the
48 groups behind the 349 nouns of our word bank up to level
A1 , in the order our
practice introduces them: 92% of the nouns follow one of them, the rest must be learnt word by word.
Open a group for its explanation, examples, exceptions and every noun in it.
masc
masculine (o)
181 nouns (52%)
27 groups
fem
feminine (a)
168 nouns (48%)
20 groups
1
masc
Male people
rule
o adulto, o aluno, o amigo, o ator
26 nouns
2
fem
Female people
rule
a aluna, a amiga, a atriz, a avó
23 nouns
3
fem
People named without specifying sex
rule
a criança, a gente, a pessoa, as pessoas
4 nouns
4
masc
Mixed-gender groups of people
rule
os avós, os pais
2 nouns
5
masc
Nouns ending in ‑o
strong indication
o aeroporto, o almoço, o ano, o banco
55 nouns
6
fem
Nouns ending in ‑a (not ‑grama)
strong indication
a água, a ajuda, a aula, a banana
78 nouns
7
fem
Shortened words with a feminine full form
rule
a foto, a quarta, a quinta, a segunda
7 nouns
8
masc
Shortened words with a masculine full form
rule
o cinema, o quilo, o zoológico
3 nouns
9
masc
Months
rule
o abril, o agosto, o dezembro, o fevereiro
12 nouns
10
fem
Weekdays from Monday to Friday
rule
a quarta-feira, a quinta-feira, a segunda-feira, a sexta-feira
5 nouns
11
fem
Countries ending in ‑a
strong indication
a Alemanha, a China, a Espanha, a França
5 nouns
12
fem
Continents
rule
a Europa
1 noun
13
masc
Male animals
rule
o cão, o porco
2 nouns
14
fem
Female animals
rule
a vaca
1 noun
15
fem
Nouns ending in ‑ção (except coração)
rule
a emoção, a estação, a lição
3 nouns
16
fem
Nouns ending in ‑dade
rule
a cidade, a idade, a nacionalidade, a universidade
4 nouns
17
masc
Nouns ending in ‑mento
rule
o alimento, o apartamento, o sentimento
3 nouns
18
fem
Nouns ending in ‑eira
rule
a cadeira, a feira
2 nouns
19
masc
Nouns ending in ‑eiro
rule
o banheiro, o dinheiro
2 nouns
20
fem
Nouns ending in ‑agem
rule
a imagem, a mensagem
2 nouns
21
masc
Nouns ending in ‑ário
rule
o aniversário, o dicionário
2 nouns
22
fem
Nouns ending in ‑ária or ‑ória
rule
a história
1 noun
23
fem
Nouns ending in unstressed ‑aria or ‑eria
rule
a cafeteria
1 noun
24
masc
Nouns ending in ‑ador, ‑edor or ‑idor
rule
o computador
1 noun
25
fem
Nouns ending in ‑ança or ‑ença
rule
a dança
1 noun
26
fem
Nouns ending in ‑logia, ‑grafia, ‑cracia, ‑nomia or ‑metria
rule
a fotografia
1 noun
27
masc
Nouns ending in ‑ão (not ‑ção, ‑são, ‑xão, ‑idão)
strong indication
o avião, o macarrão, o pão, o verão
5 nouns
28
fem
Feminine nouns ending in ‑ão
rule
a mão
1 noun
29
fem
Nouns ending in ‑são or ‑xão
strong indication
a televisão
1 noun
30
varies
Multiword nouns with a grammatical head
rule
o café da manhã, a carne de porco, o cartão de crédito, o dever de casa
11 nouns
31
masc
Compounds with a masculine head
rule
o final de semana, o meio-dia
2 nouns
32
fem
Compounds with a feminine head
rule
a meia-noite
1 noun
33
masc
Substantivized infinitives
rule
o jantar
1 noun
34
masc
Loanwords from English
strong indication
o esporte, o filme, o futebol, o tênis
4 nouns
35
masc
French loanwords retaining masculine gender
rule
o bebê, o hotel
2 nouns
36
masc
Latin loanwords
rule
o lápis, o ônibus
2 nouns
37
fem
Greek loanwords retaining feminine gender
rule
a frase
1 noun
38
masc
Nouns ending in ‑r
indication
o açúcar, o amor, o ar, o lugar
6 nouns
39
masc
Nouns ending in ‑l
strong indication
o mel, o papel
2 nouns
40
masc
Nouns ending in ‑il or ‑ol
rule
o álcool, o sol
2 nouns
41
masc
Nouns ending in ‑im, ‑om, ‑um or ‑ém
rule
o fim, o jardim
2 nouns
42
masc
Nouns ending in ‑au, ‑eu or ‑éu
rule
o céu, o chapéu, o museu
3 nouns
43
masc
Nouns ending in ‑ás, ‑és, ‑ês or ‑ís
strong indication
o mês, o país
2 nouns
44
masc
Modifiers with an understood masculine noun
rule
o celular
1 noun
45
masc
Nouns ending in ‑fone
rule
o telefone
1 noun
46
masc
Nouns ending in ‑grama (except grama)
rule
o quilograma
1 noun
47
masc
Nouns ending in ‑e (not ‑dade, ‑ade, ‑tude, ‑ise, ‑ose, ‑ese, ‑ie, ‑nave)
indication
o chocolate, o leite, o nome, o parque
8 nouns
48
masc
Nouns ending in ‑al
indication
o animal, o final, o hospital, o jornal
6 nouns
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