"O mapa está em cima da cama."
Translation:The map is on top of the bed.
April 25, 2013
6 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
This discussion is locked.
not really. It consists more on tradition fixed by the usage than any other thing. if you compare latin languages will notice that (a viagem (fem) / el viaje ( masc / spanish); o sangue (masc)/ la sangre (fem / spanish), la sang (fem/ french)). These are masculine: O…clã, champanha, dó, formicida, grama (measurement/weight), milhar, pijama, sósia, telefonema…Words ended in -ema are usually masculine (poema, dilema, cinema, sistema)
kcmurphy
1074
If you look to the etymology of these words, you'll see that they are largely Greek in origin rather than Latin, so they were not governed by strictly Latin rules.
Obviously that's not going to help you decide day-to-day which article to use, but I think it's an interesting tidbit of info :P