Learn Portuguese (Portugal): O homem tem um gato e zero problemas.

O homem tem um gato e zero problemas.

The man has one cat and zero problems.

Breakdown of O homem tem um gato e zero problemas.

Questions & Answers about O homem tem um gato e zero problemas.

Is um acting as "a" or "one" in this sentence?

It actually does double duty! In Portuguese, the word for the number one (um for masculine words, uma for feminine) is the exact same word as the word for "a" or "an". Because the sentence contrasts it with zero later on, it makes the most sense to translate it as "one" here.

Why is problemas plural if there are zero of them?

Just like in English, the number zero is usually followed by a plural noun in Portuguese. We say zero problemas (zero problems) just as we would say "zero cats" or "zero days".

Wait, doesn't ending in "-a" make problemas a feminine word?

Normally, yes! But problema is a very common exception. Words ending in "-ema" or "-oma" (which usually come from Greek) are masculine. If we had just one problem, we would say um problema, not uma problema.

I always mix up tem and têm. Why is there no accent on tem here?

tem (without an accent) is the "he/she/it" form of the verb ter (to have). We use it here because the subject is o homem (one man). You only add the hat accent (têm) when the subject is plural, like "they have" (eles têm).