Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Tu tens muitas saudades da escola, não é?

Tu tens muitas saudades da escola, não é?

You miss school a lot, don't you?

Breakdown of Tu tens muitas saudades da escola, não é?

you

of / from / by (means of transport) / wearing (attire)

Questions & Answers about Tu tens muitas saudades da escola, não é?

Why do we use não é? here instead of pois não?

You use não é? when the main part of the sentence is affirmative, like Tu tens (You have). If the sentence was negative, like Tu não tens (You don't have), you would use pois não? to ask for confirmation instead.

In English we say 'don't you?', but the Portuguese tag não é? means 'isn't it?'. Do we not need to match the verb?

Exactly! Unlike English, which changes the tag based on the main verb (like 'don't you?', 'haven't we?', 'aren't they?'), Portuguese just uses the fixed phrase não é? as a universal tag for almost all affirmative sentences.

Why is 'a lot' translated as muitas instead of just muito?

In Portuguese, you express missing something by 'having longings' (ter saudades). Because saudades is a feminine plural noun, the word for 'a lot' must match its gender and number, becoming the feminine plural muitas.

Why is it da escola and not just de escola?

The full expression is ter saudades de (to miss / to have longings of). In Portuguese, we usually include the definite article 'the' before nouns like school. The preposition de (of) combines with the feminine article a (the) to create the contraction da.