Eu não preciso de nada material hoje.

I don't need anything material today.

Breakdown of Eu não preciso de nada material hoje.

• eu: I
• hoje: today
• precisar de: to need
• não: not
• nada: anything
• material: material

Questions & Answers about Eu não preciso de nada material hoje.

Why do we need de after preciso? Why not just Eu não preciso nada material hoje?

In European Portuguese, when precisar means “to need” + a thing, it is almost always used as:

• precisar de + noun / pronoun

So:

• ✅ Eu não preciso de nada material hoje.
• ❌ Eu não preciso nada material hoje.

Think of it as a fixed pattern:

• precisar de dinheiro – to need money
• precisar de ajuda – to need help
• precisar de ti – to need you

Without de, it sounds incorrect or very non‑standard in Portugal when followed by a noun/pronoun.

Is não + nada a “double negative”? Why doesn’t it become positive, like in English?

Portuguese allows negative concord, which is normal and correct; it does not cancel the negation.

• Eu não preciso de nada material hoje.
  literally: I not need of nothing material today → still means I don’t need anything material today.

Other examples:

• Eu não vejo ninguém. – I don’t see anybody.
• Ela nunca diz nada. – She never says anything.

So in Portuguese, não + nada / ninguém / nunca is the standard way to say a negative sentence, not a mistake.

What exactly does nada mean here? Is it “nothing” or “anything”?

The word nada literally means “nothing”, but:

• In negative sentences, Portuguese uses nada where English often uses “anything”.

So:

• Eu não preciso de nada material hoje.
  → literally: I don’t need nothing material today.
  → natural English: I don’t need anything material today.

If you make the sentence affirmative, you can’t use nada anymore:

• Eu preciso de alguma coisa material. – I need something material.
• Eu não preciso de nada material. – I don’t need anything material.

Why is it nada material and not material nada?

In Portuguese, adjectives usually go after the noun or pronoun they describe.

• nada material = “material nothing / nothing material”

Structure:

• nada – pronoun (nothing)
• material – adjective (material, physical, tangible)

You normally don’t say material nada. That order is wrong for this meaning. Some adjectives can go before the noun for stylistic reasons, but material does not go before nada in this structure.

Could I also say nada de material? Is there a difference from nada material?

Yes, you can also hear:

• Eu não preciso de nada de material hoje.

Both are acceptable in European Portuguese, with only a small nuance:

• nada material – slightly more compact, a bit more formal/logical-sounding.
• nada de material – adds a tiny bit of emphasis on the category: “nothing of a material kind”.

In everyday speech in Portugal, both sound natural. For learning purposes, you can treat them as equivalent here.

Why is material singular? Why not materiais?

Here material is an adjective describing nada:

• nada material = “material nothing / nothing material”

In Portuguese, adjectives agree in gender and number with the word they describe:

• nada is grammatically masculine singular, so:
  • masculine singular: material
  • masculine plural: materiais
  • feminine singular: material
  • feminine plural: materiais

Examples:

• um bem material – a material good (m.sg.)
• bens materiais – material goods (m.pl.)

So nada material is correct; nada materiais would be wrong.

Can I move hoje to another position in the sentence?

Yes. Hoje is quite flexible. Common options:

• Hoje eu não preciso de nada material.
• Hoje não preciso de nada material.
• Eu hoje não preciso de nada material.
• Eu não preciso de nada material hoje. (your original)

All are grammatical. The differences are about emphasis:

• Starting with Hoje (e.g. Hoje não preciso…) slightly emphasizes “today (as opposed to other days)”.
• At the end (…material hoje) sounds very neutral and is probably the easiest pattern to copy.

Is the Eu necessary? Could I drop it?

You can absolutely drop Eu:

• ✅ Não preciso de nada material hoje.
• ✅ Eu não preciso de nada material hoje.

Portuguese is a “null subject” language: the verb form preciso already tells you the subject is “I”.

When is Eu used?

• For emphasis or contrast:
  
  • Eu não preciso de nada material hoje, mas tu precisas.
• For clarity in longer or more complex sentences.

In simple sentences, dropping Eu is very natural in speech:
Não preciso de nada material hoje.

Is preciso here a verb or an adjective? How is this different from É preciso?

In your sentence, preciso is the 1st person singular of the verb precisar:

• (Eu) preciso – I need
• (Tu) precisas – you need
• (Ele/Ela) precisa – he/she needs

So:

• Eu não preciso de nada material hoje. – I don’t need anything material today.

There is also preciso as an adjective, meaning “precise / exact”:

• Um instrumento preciso. – A precise instrument.

And there is the impersonal expression:

• É preciso… – It is necessary…
  
  • É preciso estudar. – It’s necessary to study / You need to study.

So:

• Eu preciso de… = I need…
• É preciso… = It is necessary… (impersonal)
• um cálculo preciso = a precise calculation (adjective)

Can precisar be used with a verb instead of de + noun, like “I don’t need to buy anything”?

Yes. When precisar is followed by a verb in the infinitive, the structure changes.

With a noun:

• precisar de + noun
  
  • Eu não preciso de nada material hoje.

With a verb:

• precisar de + infinitive (European Portuguese – preferred)
  
  • Eu não preciso de comprar nada material hoje. – I don’t need to buy anything material today.

In Brazilian Portuguese, you’ll also hear precisar + infinitive (without de) very often:

• (BP) Eu não preciso comprar nada material hoje.

In Portugal, precisar de + infinitive is safer and more standard, though dropping de before an infinitive is also heard in casual speech.

Does Portuguese present tense preciso correspond to English “I don’t need” or “I’m not needing”?

Portuguese simple present covers both ideas:

• Eu não preciso de nada material hoje.

This can mean:

• I don’t need anything material today. (general statement about today)
• I’m not needing anything material today (right now / at the moment).

Portuguese usually uses simple present where English might use either simple present or present continuous, depending on context. Using a continuous form (estou precisando, estou a precisar) is possible but often adds nuance (temporary, ongoing, etc.), and the simple form is the default.

How is this sentence pronounced in European Portuguese?

Approximate European Portuguese pronunciation (Lisbon standard), using English-like hints:

• Eu – like “eh-oo” merged: [eu]
• não – roughly “nuh-ong”, nasal: [nɐ̃w̃]
• preciso – “pruh-SEE-zoo”: [pɾɨˈsiz.u]
• de – short, like “dɨ”: [dɨ] (often very reduced)
• nada – “NAH-duh”: [ˈnaðɐ]
• material – “muh-te-ree-AL”: [mɐ.tɨ.ɾiˈal]
• hoje – “OH-zh(uh)”: [ˈo.ʒɨ]

Spoken quickly, you’ll often hear some reductions and linking:

• Eu não preciso de nada material hoje.
  → something like: “Ew nɐ̃w pɾɨˈsiz dɨ ˈnaðɐ mɐ.tɨ.ɾiˈal ˈo.ʒɨ”