"Os nossos pássaros comem pão."

Translation: Our birds eat bread.

[Muchacho1]

May I please have an explanation for when to (and when it's unnecessary to) include the article for possessives? Thanks!

[tu.8zPhLD72zzoZN]

Here are some links to information about possessives and articles.:

http://www.easyportuguese.com/Portuguese-Lessons/Possessive-pronoun.html

http://www.duolingo.com/comment/64947

[sj8duolingo]

Is it like a dolingo thing???.

[StR.]

Well.. I dont know if there is a rule, I asked portuguese friends of mine and they didnt know a rule...
Their explanation attempt was sth like this:

If your birds eat bread (meaning some bread): no article
If your birds eat THE bread you just put there to feed them: article

So kinda like in english...
I eat rice = Eu como arroz
I eat THE rice you made = eu como o arroz ...

Id really appreciate a rule though. ;)

[ellecarr]

obrigado

[Sheila13824]

Best explanation so far. Thank you.

[jtarrio]

I think the original question was why to use the article "os" before "nossos" Seems redundant to Spanish speakers (los nuestros) and strange to english speakers (the our)

[htreumann]

Here in Brazil, both forms are righ. But the most usualy is without article, because it already implicit.

[htreumann]

Right*

[htreumann]

Let me try to explain:
In brasilian portuguese, we can use or not the article before possessive pronaums. Look.

(Without article)
-PT: [Pergunta] De quem é este carro? [Resposta simples] MEU. [Resposta completa] Este carro é MEU.
- EN: [Question] Whose is this car? [Short answer] Mine. (I don't know if in english is usualy to answer this way) [Full answer] This car is mine.

(With article)
-PT: [Pergunta] Qual carro? [Resposta simples] O MEU. [Resposta completa] O MEU carro.
-EN: [Question] Wich car? [Short answer] Mine. [Full answer] My car.

I realy hope I've been helpfull. Any doubts?

[lita.rumle]

Still not sure why Os before nossos is necessary??? Would the sentence still be fine without it?

[htreumann]

The complete and most formal way is with article, but if you write less then, isn't wrong (in this case).

[charlmari]

Does the Nos have to be with an accent on O and the Nossos is without? It's confusing!

[K_10]

yes Nos have an accent on O and the nossos don't. Portuguese is all about accents when it comes to speak and write it.
For e.g. e and e with an accent!

[Avys19]

No need to use "os"

[AnnaStopin]

Nossos as explained is 'ours' in plural for masculine words. So why it is wrong 'ours birds eat bread' pássaros is plural and masculine word
Any explanation?
Obrigada

[DanielTietz]

use only "our" (and not ours) that will be accept

[IanWitham1]

English speakers say, "That is our bird," and, "Those are our birds", but, "That bird is ours" and, "Those birds are ours." The possessive pronoun is "our" before a noun and "ours" at the end of a sentence.

[Raul618698]

I was confussed about this "Os" too... in fact I answered "the birds of ours" to try to use the article... and got it wrong. Confussed!!!

[JessicaCa3]

Why are both os and nossos used in this sentence why cant it be just "nossos passaros comem pao" ?

[nowwheresmynut]

it should be accepted, its a perfectly good answer