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Não, eu tenho vinte livros.

Não, eu tenho vinte livros.
No, I have twenty books.
From Lesson 13:The verb to have (tenho, tem)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Breakdown of Não, eu tenho vinte livros.

eu
I
o livro
the book
não
not / no
ter
to have
vinte
twenty

Questions & Answers about Não, eu tenho vinte livros.

Why does the verb ter change to tenho here?
Tenho is the "I" form of the verb ter (to have). Ter is an irregular verb, meaning it does not follow the normal spelling rules. While regular verbs ending in -er just drop the ending and add -o for "I" (like como, I eat), ter changes its base completely to become tenho. You will just have to memorize this one!
Do I have to include the word eu?
No, it is completely optional! Because the verb form tenho can only ever mean "I have", the "I" is already built into the word. You will often hear native speakers just say Não, tenho vinte livros. Including eu just adds a little bit of emphasis.
How do you pronounce the nh in tenho?
The nh combination in Portuguese is equivalent to the "ny" sound in the English word "canyon" or the "ni" in "onion". So, tenho sounds roughly like "ten-yoo".
Would the number vinte change if I was counting a feminine noun instead of livros?
No, vinte (twenty) stays exactly the same for both masculine and feminine nouns. In Portuguese, you only need to worry about matching the gender for the numbers one (um/uma) and two (dois/duas), as well as the hundreds (like duzentos/duzentas).

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