Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Eles não precisam dos bilhetes.

Eles não precisam dos bilhetes.

They (m) do not need the tickets.

Breakdown of Eles não precisam dos bilhetes.

Questions & Answers about Eles não precisam dos bilhetes.

Why is there a dos in this sentence instead of just de?

The verb precisar (to need) requires the preposition de when you need a noun (a person, place, or thing). Here, they need "the tickets" (os bilhetes). In Portuguese, you must combine de + os into the single word dos. You can think of it literally as "They do not need of the tickets."

Why doesn't the Portuguese sentence have a word for "do" like in "do not need"?

Portuguese doesn't use helper verbs like "do" or "does" to make negative sentences. To say "do not", you simply put não directly before the main verb. So, "do not need" translates to just não precisam.

Is it mandatory to include Eles at the beginning?

It is not strictly mandatory, but it is often helpful here. In Portuguese, you can usually drop the pronoun (like "I" or "we") because the verb ending tells you who is doing the action. However, precisam is shared by eles (they, masculine), elas (they, feminine), and vocês (you plural). Including Eles prevents confusion if the context isn't already clear.

How can I tell from this sentence that bilhetes is a masculine word?