How to say "the" in Portuguese 

Singular (the book, the table, the girl, the house etc) 

All nouns (people, places, things ...) in Portuguese are either masculine or feminine. This includes the word for "the".

• masculine: the = "o" (pronounced "oooh")
• feminine: the  = "a" (pronounced "er" as in "mother")

Examples: o livro (the book), o telefone (the telephone), o acidente (the accident), o apartamento (the apartment), o banco, (the bank), o biquíni (the bikini)

NB - The Portuguese always use "the" when talking about a person. They don't say "Mary is tall". They say "The Mary is tall" (A Maria é alta) 
(Don't ask me why -I have no idea. Take it up with your teacher :-)

Plural (the books, the tables, the girls, the houses etc)

 Unlike English, the word for "the" also has a plural.

• masculine plural: the = "os" (pronounced "ooosh")
• feminine plural: the  = "as" (pronounced "ersh")

Examples: os livros (the books), os telefones (the telephones), os acidentes (the accidents), os apartamentos (the apartments), os bancos, (the banks), os biquínis (the bikinis)

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How to say "a" or "an" or "some" in Portuguese 

Singular (a book, a table, an elephant, an orange etc) 

All words in Portuguese are either masculine or feminine. This includes the word for "a / an".

• masculine: a / an = "um" (pronounced "ooong")
• feminine: the  = "uma" (pronounced "oooma")

Examples: um livro (a book), um telefone (a telephone), um acidente (an accident), uma banana (a banana), um apartamento (an apartment), uma dentista, um banco, (a bank),

Plural (some books, some tables, some girls, some houses etc) 

 Unlike English, the word for "a" and "an" also has a plural form in Portuguese. In English we often say "some". 

• masculine plural: some = "uns" (pronounced "ooongsh")
  - (notice that in Portuguese you cannot have an "m" followed by an "s". Yo have to change the "m" to an "n")
• feminine plural: some  = "umas" (pronounced "ooomush")

Examples: uns livros (some books), umas telefónes (some telephones), uns acidentes (some accidents), uns apartamentos (some apartments), uns bancos, (some banks), umas bananas (some bananas)

Study (and memorize!) the following chart:

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