Eu preciso ter água quente.

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Breakdown of Eu preciso ter água quente.

• a água: the water
• ter: to have
• quente: hot
• precisar de: to need

Questions & Answers about Eu preciso ter água quente.

Why do we use ter instead of de after "preciso" in Eu preciso ter água quente?

In Brazilian Portuguese, you can say Eu preciso de água quente if you simply mean "I need hot water." However, Eu preciso ter água quente adds the idea of “having” it as a resource available, emphasizing possession or availability. Both are grammatically correct but carry slightly different nuances.

Is ter in Eu preciso ter água quente conjugated for “eu”?

No, ter here is in the infinitive form. The verb precisar is already conjugated as preciso, so we keep ter in the infinitive (its base form), just as in “I need to have” in English.

Could I say Eu tenho que ter água quente instead?

Yes, you could. Eu tenho que ter água quente means almost the same thing: “I have to have hot water.” The subtle difference is that preciso directly expresses a need, while tenho que can sound slightly more obligatory. They are often interchangeable, though.

Why do we use quente and not something like calor for "hot"?

In Portuguese, quente is the adjective that describes the temperature of objects and substances (like water). Calor is typically used as a noun referring to heat itself, not as an adjective. So for hot water, we use água quente.

Do I always put the adjective after the noun, as in água quente?

Most of the time in Portuguese, adjectives come after the noun. You’ll see água quente (hot water), café quente (hot coffee), etc. In everyday usage, it’s more natural to keep the adjective following the noun in these cases.