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Tenho fome e como o pão.

Tenho fome e como o pão.
I am hungry and I eat the bread.
From Lesson 16:Physical states with ter (ter fome, ter frio)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Breakdown of Tenho fome e como o pão.

e
and
o pão
the bread
comer
to eat
ter fome
to be hungry

Questions & Answers about Tenho fome e como o pão.

Why does the sentence say Tenho (I have) instead of a word for 'I am'?
In Portuguese, you don't say 'I am hungry.' Instead, you use the verb ter (to have) followed by the noun fome (hunger). So, Tenho fome literally means 'I have hunger.' This same pattern is used for being thirsty (ter sede), cold (ter frio), or hot (ter calor).
Wait, doesn't como mean 'how' or 'like'?
Yes, it often does! But here, como is the 'I' form of the verb comer (to eat). Because Portuguese verbs change their endings depending on who is doing the action, eu como means 'I eat'. You can tell it is the verb here because it describes an action happening to o pão (the bread).
Is it necessary to include the word eu (I) before tenho and como?
No, it is completely optional and usually dropped. In Portuguese, the ending of the verb tells you who is doing the action. Both tenho and como end in 'o', which is the typical ending for 'I' in the present tense. Adding eu is only needed if you want to emphasize that you are the one doing it.
Why is there an o before pão?
The o is the masculine word for 'the'. While in English you might just say 'I eat bread', Portuguese requires the definite article (o or a) to specify 'the bread'. Knowing whether to use o or a depends on the gender of the noun; since pão is masculine, it takes o.

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