Note the following two sentences and respond quickly:
Thousands of people gathered on the avenue
or
Thousands of people gathered on the avenue?
So which is the proper form, the thousands or the thousands? I bet you answered that the first alternative is correct, right? Well, this is another prank of the Portuguese language, because, in fact, the correct alternative is the second one: the thousands of people gathered on the avenue. Did you find it strange, it seems that there is a lack of agreement between the numeral and the article? Rest assured, Escola Kids will explain this story to you!
The word thousand, according to the classification of the Portuguese language, is a numeral and also a masculine noun. It turns out that many people think it's a feminine noun and therefore misinterpret it. We know that masculine nouns do not admit agreement in the feminine, so the numerals, pronouns and articles that precede them cannot be in the feminine. The rule also holds for the words millions and billions. Look at the examples:
Two thousand sacks of rice were stored in the warehouse.
The billions of people on Earth are suffering from the effects of global warming.
About two million candidates will take the entrance exam over the weekend.
Thousands of people celebrate the team's victory.
A few thousand people attended the stadium.
Of the millions of children in that country, only half have access to school.
Thousands, millions and billions are masculine nouns, so the pronouns, articles and numerals that precede them must be properly inflected.
However, care must be taken not to forget that the rule does not apply to the word thousand. That's because thousand is just a numeral, so the article or the accompanying numeral will agree with the noun. Watch:
Two thousand students attended the science congress.
Two thousand people watched the movie over the weekend.
Did you see? Did you like our agreement tip? Now that you know the correct way, just be careful not to make a mistake. Good studies!
By Luana Castro
Graduated in Letters
