Grammatical Gender of Nouns
All Portuguese nouns have grammatical gender (masculine or feminine). While many patterns exist, some must simply be memorised, and a few differ from Spanish cognates.
PortuStories Editorial
European Portuguese Grammar Guide
Most nouns ending in -o are masculine and most ending in -a are feminine. Nouns ending in other letters vary and must be learned individually.
| Pattern | Gender | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| ends in -o | masc (usually) | o livro, o carro, o tempo |
| ends in -a | fem (usually) | a casa, a mesa, a palavra |
| ends in -ção | fem | a situação, a canção |
| ends in -dade | fem | a cidade, a verdade |
| ends in -ema | masc | o problema, o tema, o sistema |
| ends in -ão | varies | o coração (m), a mão (f) |
o leite (the milk) — o mar (the sea)
Masculine nouns not ending in -o.
a flor (the flower) — a viagem (the journey)
Feminine nouns not ending in -a.
Always learn a noun with its article: o livro, a casa. This builds gender memory naturally. Pay special attention: o leite is masculine in PT (la leche is feminine in Spanish).
From a PortuStories Story
O sistema de transportes da cidade tem uma solução para cada problema.
The city's transport system has a solution for every problem.