Eu tenho um carro novo.

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Breakdown of Eu tenho um carro novo.

• um: a
• ter: to have
• o carro: the car
• novo: new

Questions & Answers about Eu tenho um carro novo.

Why do we use tenho here instead of other forms like tem or têm?

In Portuguese, tenho is the first-person singular (eu) present tense of the verb ter (to have). Tem is for the third-person singular (ele/ela) or the polite form você, and têm is for the third-person plural (eles/elas). Since the sentence is about I (eu) having something, tenho is the correct form.

Do I always need to say eu before tenho?

In Portuguese (particularly in casual spoken language), pronouns are often dropped because verb conjugations make the subject clear. While eu tenho is perfectly correct, simply saying tenho um carro novo is also acceptable and sounds natural in everyday conversation.

Why does novo (new) come after carro (car)?

Most adjectives in Portuguese come after the noun. Saying carro novo is the standard word order. Placing an adjective before the noun usually adds emphasis or changes the meaning slightly. However, for most situations, you’ll see the adjective after the noun.

Why is it um instead of uma?

Um is the masculine indefinite article and carro is a masculine noun, so they must match in gender. If the noun were feminine (e.g., casa), you would use uma.