Eu tenho um livro alemão.

I have a German book.

Breakdown of Eu tenho um livro alemão.

• eu: I
• um: a
• ter: to have
• o livro: the book
• alemão: German

Questions & Answers about Eu tenho um livro alemão.

Why do we say Eu tenho and not just Tenho? Can I drop the pronoun Eu?

Yes, you can drop Eu here.

Portuguese is a pro‑drop language: the verb ending usually shows who the subject is.

• Eu tenho um livro alemão. = I have a German book.
• Tenho um livro alemão. = Same meaning; a bit more natural in everyday speech.

You normally include Eu:

• to emphasize the subject: Eu tenho um livro alemão, tu não.
• for contrast or clarity in a longer context.

In neutral, simple sentences, European Portuguese speakers very often just say Tenho um livro alemão.

What verb is tenho from, and why does it look different from ter?

Tenho is the 1st person singular (eu) form of the verb ter (to have) in the present tense.

Present tense of ter (European Portuguese, informal use with vocês):

• eu tenho – I have
• tu tens – you have (singular, informal)
• ele / ela tem – he / she has
• nós temos – we have
• vocês têm – you have (plural)
• eles / elas têm – they have

It’s irregular, so the stem changes (ter → tenho / tens / tem / temos / têm), which is why it looks different from the infinitive.

Why is it um and not uma? How do I know the gender of livro?

In Portuguese, every noun has grammatical gender, masculine or feminine, and articles must agree with the noun:

• um – masculine singular
• uma – feminine singular

The word livro is masculine, so you must use um:

• um livro – a book
• uma casa – a house

There’s no simple universal rule to guess gender; you mostly learn it with the noun. That said, many nouns ending in -o are masculine and many ending in -a are feminine, so:

• livro (ends in -o) → usually masculine → um livro
• revista (magazine, ends in -a) → usually feminine → uma revista

Why does alemão come after livro? Can I say um alemão livro?

In Portuguese, adjectives usually come after the noun:

• um livro alemão – a German book
• uma casa grande – a big house

Um alemão livro is wrong. The natural order here is noun + adjective.

There are some adjectives that can appear before the noun (often with a more figurative or emotional meaning), but nationality adjectives like alemão, português, inglês almost always come after the noun:

• um filme alemão – a German film
• um rapaz inglês – an English boy

Why isn’t alemão capitalised like German in English?

In Portuguese, adjectives of nationality are not capitalised:

• um livro alemão – a German book
• uma cidade portuguesa – a Portuguese city
• um filme francês – a French film

Even when they are used as nouns (a German, a Portuguese person), they are usually written with a lowercase initial letter in modern Portuguese:

• um alemão – a German (man)
• uma alemã – a German (woman)

So alemão is lowercase, unlike English German.

Does alemão only mean “German” as an adjective, or can it also mean “the German language” or “a German person”?

Alemão can be:

1. Adjective (as in your sentence)

   • um livro alemão – a German book
   • um carro alemão – a German car

2. The German language

   • Eu falo alemão. – I speak German.
   • Alemão é uma língua difícil. – German is a difficult language.

3. A German person (masculine)

   • um alemão – a German man
   • Dois alemães – two German men / Germans

Forms for people / adjective agreement:

• masculine singular: alemão
• feminine singular: alemã
• masculine plural: alemães
• feminine plural: alemãs

How would I say “German books” in the plural? How does alemão change?

To make the whole phrase plural, both the article, noun, and adjective must agree:

• um livro alemão – a German book
• uns livros alemães – some German books
• os livros alemães – the German books

Notice the adjective changes like this:

• alemão (m. sg.) → alemães (m. pl.)
• alemã (f. sg.) → alemãs (f. pl.)

So:

• um livro alemão → dois livros alemães
• uma revista alemã → duas revistas alemãs

Could I drop the article and say Tenho livro alemão?

In normal, neutral European Portuguese, you should keep the article here:

• Tenho um livro alemão. ✓ natural
• Tenho livro alemão. ✗ sounds wrong or at best very telegraphic

Dropping the article can happen in:

• headlines
• notes or labels
• some fixed expressions

But in standard speech or writing, for this meaning (“I have a German book”), you say Tenho um livro alemão.

Is ter here just possession, or does it also work like English “have” in “I have read a book”?

In your sentence, tenho expresses simple possession:

• Eu tenho um livro alemão. – I have / own a German book.

Portuguese also uses ter + past participle for a kind of “have done” idea, but with a nuance of repeated or ongoing action:

• Tenho lido um livro alemão. – I have been reading a German book (repeated / ongoing, not just once).

So:

• tenho um livro alemão → I possess a German book.
• tenho lido um livro alemão → I have been reading a German book (over some time).

They are not interchangeable.

How do you pronounce alemão, especially the ão?

European Portuguese pronunciation (approximation):

• alemão: /ɐ.lɨ.ˈmɐ̃w̃/

Key points:

• a‑le‑mão has three syllables: a‑le‑MÃO (stress on the last syllable).
• le: like leh, but with a very reduced vowel in fast speech.
• mão: the ão is a nasal sound, a bit like English “own” said through your nose, with no clear final n.

For a rough English approximation: ah-leh-MOWN (with the last vowel nasalised and no actual n).

Why do we use the verb ter here and not something like haver?

For possession in modern Portuguese (both European and Brazilian), you normally use ter:

• Eu tenho um livro alemão. – I have a German book.

The verb haver is not used for personal possession in contemporary speech. Instead:

• há um livro alemão na mesa. – there is a German book on the table.

So:

• ter = to have (possess)
• haver = to exist / there is, there are (especially written or formal, or in set expressions)

If I want to say “I have the German book”, how does the sentence change?

You switch from an indefinite article to a definite article:

• Eu tenho um livro alemão. – I have a German book (one of several, not specific).
• Eu tenho o livro alemão. – I have the German book (a specific one we both know about).

So the sentence becomes:

• (Eu) tenho o livro alemão.

Again, you can drop Eu in normal context: Tenho o livro alemão.