Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Tens de fazer o relatório para o chefe.

In Portuguese, to say you have an obligation to do something, you use the verb ter followed by the preposition de, and then the action verb in its basic dictionary form (like fazer). Together, ter de means you have to do something. Without de, the verb ter just means to possess or own something.

I sometimes hear people say ter que. Could I say Tens que fazer instead?

Yes, you will hear ter que very often in everyday spoken Portuguese. However, ter de is the traditional, grammatically correct way to express an obligation in Portugal. It is best to practice writing ter de, but do not be surprised when you hear ter que in casual conversations.

How do we know who has to do the report if the sentence does not start with a person?

The verb ending gives it away! Tens is the informal singular you form of the verb ter. In Portuguese, it is very common to drop the subject pronoun tu because the conjugated verb already makes it completely clear exactly who you are talking to.

Why does the sentence use para o chefe instead of just para chefe?