How to Use Articles and Prepositions with the Months of the Year - with Video

On July 19th I posted a video teaching you how to say the months of the year. Now you are going to learn what articles and prepositions to use with the months.

First, a reminder: We do not capitalize the months of the year in Portuguese.

Let's go:

1) As in English, when starting a sentence with the month, do not use any articles in front of it. Examples:

• Dezembro é um mês quente no Brasil. (December is a hot month in Brazil)
• Março é um mês chuvoso no Brasil. (March is a rainy month in Brazil)

2) "The month of ..." = "O mês de...". That may sound a bit strange or old fashioned in English, but is commonly used in Brazil. Examples:

• O mês de dezembro é quente no Brasil. (The month of December is hot in Brazil)
• O mês de março tem muita chuva no Brasil. (The month of March has lots of rain in Brazil) 

3) To say that something happens in a certain month, use the preposition "em" in front of the month. Examples:

• O Natal é em dezembro. (Christmas is in December)
• Meu aniversário é em setembro. (My birthday is in September)

4) In Brazil, we sometimes use the expression "in the month of...", which in Portuguese is  "no mês de...". Examples:

• O Natal é no mês de dezembro. (Christmas is in the month of December)
• Meu aniversário é no mês de setembro. (My birthday is in the month of September)

For more on the Portuguese language and Brazilian culture, visit StreetSmartBrazil.com

Calendar picture from calendar-today.com