Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Vocês têm dezasseis gatos?

Vocês têm dezasseis gatos?

Do you have sixteen cats?

Breakdown of Vocês têm dezasseis gatos?

Questions & Answers about Vocês têm dezasseis gatos?

Why does têm have an accent mark on the 'e'?

The verb ter (to have) is irregular. The singular form for he, she, or it is tem (no accent). The plural form for they or you all is têm (with a circumflex accent). The accent tells us the verb is plural. Since this sentence uses the plural vocês (you all), we must use têm.

I thought têm meant "they have". Why is it used here with vocês (you plural)?

In Portuguese, the pronoun vocês always uses the exact same verb endings as eles and elas (they). Because of this rule, you will use the third-person plural form têm for both "they have" and "you (plural) have".

Is dezasseis a combination of other numbers?

Yes! The number dezasseis (sixteen) is literally built from dez (ten) + a (and) + seis (six). Note that in European Portuguese, it is spelled with an 'a' in the middle (dezasseis), which is helpful to remember if you ever accidentally see the Brazilian Portuguese spelling online, which uses an 'e'.

Why is there no Portuguese word for "Do" at the beginning of the question?

Portuguese does not use helper words like "do" or "does" to form questions. You simply keep the normal statement word order—Vocês têm dezasseis gatos—and add a question mark. When speaking, you just raise the pitch of your voice at the very end of the sentence.