Learn Portuguese (Portugal): O dia tem vinte e quatro horas.

O dia tem vinte e quatro horas.

The day has twenty-four hours.

Breakdown of O dia tem vinte e quatro horas.

Questions & Answers about O dia tem vinte e quatro horas.

Why is there an e in vinte e quatro?

In Portuguese, when writing or saying numbers above 20, you always put e (and) between the tens and the units. So, 24 is literally "twenty and four" (vinte e quatro).

Does horas always mean "hours"?

In this sentence, horas literally means "hours" as a length of time. However, since you are learning how to tell time, it is good to know that horas is also used to talk about the time on the clock. For example, to ask "What time is it?", you say Que horas são? (literally "What hours are they?").

Why use tem here?

Tem is the "he/she/it" form of the verb ter (to have). Because o dia (the day) is a singular noun, it acts like an "it", so we use tem. If we were talking about multiple days, we would use the plural form têm with a circumflex accent.