Breakdown of Eu tinha uma panela mais velha do que esta.
eu
I
ter
to have
um
a / an / some (all forms)
velho
old
Questions & Answers about Eu tinha uma panela mais velha do que esta.
Why is 'I had' translated as tinha and not tive?
tinha is the Pretérito Imperfeito (past continuous) of the irregular verb ter (to have). We use the Imperfeito here because having a pot is an ongoing past state or description, not a single action that started and finished at a specific moment in the past.
Why is there a do in mais velha do que? Doesn't que already mean 'than'?
Why is the word for old velha and not velho?
Adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. Because panela (pot) is a feminine word, the adjective takes the feminine form velha.