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In Portuguese, we always use "no singular/plural" when talking about grammar number (e.g., "um verbo/adjetivo no singular/plural").

I have noticed that "en singular" (without an article) is more usual than "en el singular" in Spanish (and Google confirms it). Is there any difference in meaning between both?

Is the same pattern used when talking about a verb conjugation? Is "primera persona de singular" more usual than "primera persona del singular"?

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In Spanish, we generally use "en" followed by the name of the grammatical feature in question:

  • sustantivo en singular
  • adjetivo en plural
  • verbo en infinitivo
  • verbo en presente
  • verbo en indicativo
  • verbo en voz pasiva

However, when the prepositon "a" is used to indicate a change, the contraction "al" (a + el) or the form "a la " are normally used:

  • pasar los sustantivos al singular
  • pasar los adjetivos al plural
  • pasar los verbos al infinitivo
  • pasar los verbos al pasado
  • pasar los verbos al subjuntivo
  • pasar los verbos a la voz activa

With the preposition "de", the article will always be used:

  • primera persona del singular
  • presente del indicativo
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  • Thanks for the answer! From your answer, I infer that "primeira persona de singular" is the most usual expression used to refer to a verb conjugation.
    – Alan Evangelista
    Commented Jan 26, 2020 at 13:27
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    No, the more usual form will be "primera persona del singular".
    – Gustavson
    Commented Jan 26, 2020 at 13:40
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    @AlanEvangelista this is characteristic of Portuguese. In this language, the article is very used and generally Spanish not always it is used the same way. This is clearer when used with country names. For example, you use "do Brasil" or "do Chile". In Spanish it is just "de Brasil" or "de Chile".
    – jstuardo
    Commented Jan 26, 2020 at 20:14

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