"Ele é um menino."

Translation: He is a boy.

[Ex3mity]

Ele é um menino = he is a boy....... ok, È uma mulher.= It is a woman.......... why it and no she???

[dieman]

Because "É uma mulher" is different (in Portuguese, at least) from "Ela é uma mulher".

"É uma mulher" = "It is a woman" /////// "Ela é uma mulher" = "She is a woman"

"É um menino" = "It is a boy" //////// "Ele é um menino" = He is a boy".

I think I know where your confusion is coming from. You are assuming that "É uma mulher" is the same as "Ela é uma mulher" and you are just omitting "Ela" without changing the meaning of the sentence. Thing is, when you omit "Ela", you do change the meaning of the sentence.

"É uma mulher" or "É um menino" is used when you just realized that the person is a woman or a boy.

Like when a survivor of a shipwreck shows up on the beach and you see that shape from a long distance. You come closer to it and then you realize that it is a woman, or a boy. In Portuguese you say "É uma mulher!" ("It is a woman!")/ "É um menino!" ("It is a boy!") and not "Ela é uma mulher!" ("She is a woman!") / "Ele é um menino!" ("He is a boy!").

[simpleisgooddani]

Great tips! Obrigado!

[FogoQueConsome]

Is "é um menino!" used in Brazil to announce the birth of a newborn boy? Or is there another phrase used?

[ack_bel]

Yes, it is correct.

[meadowdewdrop]

"é" pronounced "ih" or "eh"?

[Wezzee]

yeah, and the "eh" is pronounced sharply. that's why it has an accent over it. it's stressed.

[Zinornia]

why is it 'um' not 'o'

[InesTrigo]

um menino = a boy
o menino = the boy

[yadwinder_gadari]

Duolingo gave me "he is a lad" as another translation. XD

[3009324]

yeah i put "he is a lad" and marked it right.

[jailoves1d]

Dosent uma and um have the same meaning

[ceaer]

They have the same translation - a/an. But they are used differently.

In Portuguese, words have a gender. "um" is the masculine indefinite article and "uma" is the feminine indefinite article.

You use "um" before masculine nouns, and "uma" before feminine ones.

Um menino = A boy

Uma menina = A girl

Um livro = A book

Uma mesa = A table

[roberto-_--_-]

is boy ending with an O and girl ending with a E or the other way round? and also is O masculine and E feminine?

[Paulenrique]

NO. Girl = garota. Most feminine words end with the letter "A".

[Scutigera]

Girl also = menina. =}

[KTKee-EnglishEng]

Is this an accurate pronunciation? It sounds more like am, but that might be because of the merger of é and um.

[Scutigera]

I agree. Having to do everything again (over and over) with the new Crowns system and the fast voice sounds like, "ele ammenino" to me (or even "ele almenino" like she is about to break out into the alphabet...)

[KTKee-EnglishEng]

I wish up and down votes weren't anonymous. What sort of twerp votes a simple question down?

[spoonbill25]

um... i put boy, and it said to put "lad." I am out to get multiple meaning messages.......