4.2.1 Fusion of undefinite article and preposition
The plural form of the undefinite article in english is some and has therefore nothing to do with a. (a man => some men). In Portuguese the plural form of the undefinite article is based on the singular form of the undefinite article. (um => uns, uma => umas). The singular form as well as the plural form are used if the noun is unknown (A man crosses the street = Someone unkwown crosses the street => The man crosses the street => A specific man crosses the street) or if the amount of elements are unknown (Some men crosses the street = More than one unknown men crosses the street).
| a man | a woman |
| some men | some women |
The undefinite article has to agree in gender and number with the noun it refers to.
| feminine, singular | uma | flor (flower) | cadeira (chair) | canção (song) |  |
| maskuline, singular | um | garfo (fork) | prato (plate) | coração (heart) | |
| feminine, plural | umas | flores (flowers) | cadeiras chairs) | canções (songs) | |
| maskuline, plural | uns* | garfos (forks | pratos (plates | corações (hearts) | |
*note: The plural form of um is uns. Actually any singular noun ending in um forms the plural with uns.
The undefinite articles fuse only, in opposite to the definite articles / personal pronouns, see 4.1.1, with the preposition de and em.
 |
um | uma | uns | umas | |
| de | dum | duma | duns | dumas | |
| em | num | numa | nuns | numas |
examples:
| Estou* | à | esperar | umas | pessoas. | |
| I am | to | wait | some | persons. | |
| I am waiting for some persons. | |||||
* * estar a esperar is a variation of the construction in Brasilian Portuguese of estar + gerundio what corresponds to the English construction to be + gerund. We don't care about that right now. We have a detailed look on the gerundio at 18.1.2 estar + gerundio.
| A | presença | duma* | mulher | numa | taberna | era | inaceitável. | |
| The | presence | of a | woman | in a | taverne | was | inacceptable. | |
* In this case the duma (de + uma) is not a preposition, but a genitive, but the logic is the same. De fuses with the indefinite article. As a genitive de corresponds to of.
| Gostaria | dumas | dicas. | |
| Would like | of some | tips. | |
| I would like to get some tips. | |||
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