Boa Tarde!
Eu so Americana aprendizagem Portuguese.

Ok besides getting into the touristy stuff thats all I have for now. I am only on lesson 4 and 5.

Here are the reasons I want to learn the language:
It is beautiful.
My family is from the Maceio area and I want to learn my culture.
we will be traveling there in september of 2012.
Brazilians are the most amazing people.

I keep getting stuck on the while masucline/feminine thing. How would you know if a word should be either?
Obrigada!

You just know....

Masculine words can be proceeded by o, os, um, uns
Feminine words can be proceeded by a, as, uma, umas

There are words that are completly different:
pai - mãe (father - mother)
homem - mulher (man - woman)

There are words we only have to change a letter (o/e-masculine; a-feminine)
pato-pata (duck)
amigo - amiga (friend)
mestre - mestra
infante - infanta

There are words with any difference (the last letter is "e")
estudante - estudante (student)

There are masculine words, we only have to add "a" for the feminine
pintor - pintora
professor - professora

If a words ends with "ão" it's masculine - the feminine ends with "ã; ona; oa; ana)
cortesão - cortesã
chorão - chorona
leão - leoa
sultão - sultana

I a words ends with "eu"" it's masculine - the feminine ends with "eia"
plebeu - plebeia
ateu - ateia
europeu - europeia


Words ending in "dade" and "gem" are usually feminine
lealdade
criadagem

You did one thing right...you said "obrigada"..."obrigado" is for men but there are people who don't care about it.

Muito Obrigada!

I also used Americana instead of Americano correctly, yes?

This is going to take a while to learn but I have 15 months to get in as much as I can.

Wow, this is great! - Wow, isso é ótimo!
I always find amazing when people from other countries show some interest about my idiom and cultural aspects... it's really lovely ^-^
If you have any doubts, I'll be pleased to help you!
And you're so lucky - Maceió is a beautiful place, you'll love it!

Sim, you are americana and not americano.
Good luck - boa sorte

Muito Obrigada.

Be careful about some "exceptions to the rule": words ending in "a" that are masculine, and ending with "o" or "ão" that are feminine.

Examples: O motorista, O astronauta, A nação, A prisão, etc...

dantefortbr wrote:

Be careful about some "exceptions to the rule": words ending in "a" that are masculine, and ending with "o" or "ão" that are feminine. Examples: O motorista, O astronauta, A nação, A prisão, etc...

Motorista and astronauta haven't gender.....we can say ela é motorista or ele é motorista; o astronauta or a astronauta

Yeah, it depends if the motorista or the astronauta is a man or a woman. But foreigners who are learning the language need to be cautious with the rule of "words ending in A being feminine", because this rule is very useful, but also can be a little tricky, and it will not be cool if they refer to a male taxi driver as "a motorista simpática que me trouxe aqui", it could be the start of a fight!!

Catarina1991 wrote:

dantefortbr wrote: Be careful about some "exceptions to the rule": words ending in "a" that are masculine, and ending with "o" or "ão" that are feminine. Examples: O motorista, O astronauta, A nação, A prisão, etc... Motorista and astronauta haven't gender.....we can say ela é motorista or ele é motorista; o astronauta or a astronauta

I think you're supposed to use an auxiliary verb when have is your main verb, in other words, "don't have gender" rather than "haven't gender".

As for the subject, you can identify the gender by the pronoun, "O/Os" is masculine, "A/As" is feminine, and so on.