menina
/miˈnĩ.nɐ/
The English phrase "baby girl" is translated into Portuguese as menina.
menina is used to refer to a young female child.
How does it change in a sentence?
menina is a feminine noun. Because of this, it must be used with feminine articles such as a or uma. To express the plural, "baby girls", use meninas.
How do you pronounce it?
The word has 3 syllables, with the stress on the 2nd syllable: /miˈnĩ.nɐ/.
Did you know?
- In Brazil, a person might call their girlfriend or even their wife 'minha menina' as a term of endearment, despite the literal meaning being 'my girl'.
- In Portugal, menina was historically used as a respectful way to address a young unmarried woman of a higher social class.
- The word menina evolved from the Old Galician-Portuguese word meninha.
Examples in context
- A mulher deu à luz uma menina.The woman gave birth to a baby girl.This sentence is useful for seeing how to say a woman gave birth to a menina.Tatoeba #3481387 by carlosalberto, translation #2254347 by _undertoad
- Leila deu à luz uma linda menina.Layla gave birth a beautiful baby girl.This sentence shows how to describe a beautiful menina being born.Tatoeba #6102233 by carlosalberto, translation #6101728 by OsoHombre
- A menina não me deixou ver o brinquedo.The baby girl didn't let me see the toy.This sentence illustrates using menina when referring to a child and a toy.Tatoeba #7028205 by iart61, translation #2676840 by fekundulo
- A Maria teve uma recém-nascida adorável.Maria had a lovely newborn baby girl.
- A menina bebê está crescendo tão rápido!The baby girl is growing so fast!
- 3 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Rodrigo and Beatriz are looking at a photo of a newborn.
- RodrigoQue menina linda!What a beautiful baby girl!
- BeatrizSim, ela é uma menina muito doce.Yes, she is a very sweet baby girl.
- RodrigoEla parece muito calma.She looks very calm.
- BeatrizA nossa menina está ótima.Our baby girl is doing great.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry menina, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries menina, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
