Parent note

Practice o mel

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

English
honey
Say together
o mel
Gender cue
'o' = masculine singular
Plural
os méis

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