Parent note

Practice o menino

Practice the word with its article: o menino, boy. In European Portuguese, the article 'o' helps show that menino is masculine singular.

English
boy
Say together
o menino
Gender cue
'o' = masculine singular
Plural
os meninos

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