Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Ele tem uma constipação.

Ele tem uma constipação.

He has a cold.

Breakdown of Ele tem uma constipação.

ele

ter

to have

a / an / some (all forms)

a constipação

the cold (illness)

Questions & Answers about Ele tem uma constipação.

Does constipação really mean a cold? It looks like the English word constipation!

Yes, this is a classic false friend! In Portuguese, uma constipação is a common head cold. If you need to talk about stomach constipation, the phrase is prisão de ventre.

Since this lesson is about plurals ending in -ão, how would I say colds?

Nouns ending in -ção almost always form their plural by changing the -ão to -ões. So, the plural of constipação is constipações.

Why does the sentence use the feminine word uma before a word ending in -o?

Although words ending in just -o are usually masculine, words ending specifically in -ção (which often match English words ending in -tion) are almost always feminine. Because it is feminine, we use uma.

Why use tem (to have) here? Do you always use it for being sick?

For specific noun illnesses like a cold or a fever, yes. Just like in English, you use ter to say you 'have' it. However, if you are using an adjective to say you 'are sick' (doente), you would use the verb estar instead.