Parent note

Practice a palhinha

Practice the word with its article: a palhinha, drinking straw. In European Portuguese, the article 'a' helps show that palhinha is feminine singular.

English
drinking straw
Say together
a palhinha
Gender cue
'a' = feminine singular
Plural
as palhinhas

Portuguese nouns have grammatical gender. The article is included here so children learn the sound of the word and its gender pattern together, instead of treating the article as an extra grammar detail later.

There are useful patterns, but gender is not perfectly predictable from spelling and there are edge cases. The dictionary links below are there for adults who want to check the full entry, grammar details, or pronunciation notes.

Sources