Study Resource: Brazilian Portuguese noun gender reference sheet
Nouns that end in ‘-e’ and ‘-z’
Nouns that end in -e and -z can be either masculine or feminine. Here are some common nouns in each category.
| Masculine Nouns ending in -e and -z | |
|---|---|
o creme | the cream |
o dente | the tooth |
o leite | the milk |
o parque | the park |
o poste | the pole |
o restaurante | the restaurant |
o arroz | the rice |
o xadrez | the chess |
o cartaz | the poster |
o nariz | the nose |
o giz | the chalk |
o chocolate | the chocolate |
| Feminine Nouns ending in -e and -z | |
|---|---|
a carne | the meat |
a chave | the key |
a morte | the death |
a noite | the evening, the night |
a tarde | the afternoon |
a voz | the voice |
a paz | the peace |
a luz | the light |
a raiz | the route |
a noz | the walnut |
Nouns with slightly different forms in the masculine or feminine
The animate nouns (i.e. nouns for living things) use different stems when they’re used for male or female individuals.
| Masculine | Feminine | ||
|---|---|---|---|
o ator | the actor | a atriz | the actress |
o avô | the grandfather | a avó | the grandmother |
o cavalheiro | the gentleman | a dama | the lady |
o garçom | the waiter | a garçonete | the waitress |
o genro | the son-in-law | a nora | the daughter-in-law |
o herói | the hero | a heroína | the heroine |
o homem | the man | a mulher | the woman |
o padre | the priest | a freira | the nun |
o padrinho | the godfather | a madrinha | the godmother |
o poeta | the poet | a poetisa | the poetess |
o príncipe | the prince | a princesa | the princess |
o rapaz | the boy | a moça | the girl |
o rei | the king | a rainha | the queen |
Nouns with misleading gender
Though masculine nouns typically end in -o while feminine ones end in -a, some nouns follow the opposite pattern.
Masculine nouns that end in -a:
Masculine o planetathe planet
o cometathe comet
o diathe day
o imãthe magnet
o climathe weather
o tapathe slap
o dramathe drama
o mapathe map
o enigmathe enigma
o alertathe alert
o sambathe samba
o pijamathe pajamas
Feminine nouns that do not end in -a:
Feminine a mãothe hand
a tribothe tribe
a leithe law
a colherthe spoon
a corthe color
a dorthe pain
a florthe flower
a foto*the photo
a moto*the motorbike
Nouns that change their meaning depending on their gender
The following nouns can be used either as masculine nouns or feminine nouns, with no change to their form. However, the meaning is different depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine.
| Masculine noun | Feminine noun | ||
|---|---|---|---|
o cabeça | the leader | a cabeça | the head |
o cara | the guy | a cara | the face |
o capital | the investment | a capital | the capital city |
o cura | the priest | a cura | the cure |
o caixa | the till | a caixa | the box |
o grama | the gram | a grama | the grass |
o guarda | the guard | a guarda | the defense |
o guia | the guide | a guia | the form |
o rádio | the radio | a rádio | the radio station |
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