Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Eles não têm nem a vantagem nem o dinheiro. - They neither have the advantage nor the money.

Eles não têm nem a vantagem nem o dinheiro.

They neither have the advantage nor the money.

Breakdown of Eles não têm nem a vantagem nem o dinheiro.

Questions & Answers about Eles não têm nem a vantagem nem o dinheiro.

Why is there a não before the verb if nem... nem already means neither... nor?

In Portuguese, double negatives are standard and often required. When the nem... nem (neither... nor) structure comes after the verb, you must make the verb itself negative by placing não before it. You are literally saying they do not have neither the advantage nor the money.

Why does the verb têm have a circumflex accent mark here?

The circumflex accent marks the third-person plural form of the verb. Eles têm means they have, whereas ele tem without the accent means he has. This is a very common spelling rule to watch out for, as it is the only thing showing whether the subject is singular or plural in writing.

Do I really need the articles a and o after nem?

Yes, because the sentence specifies the advantage and the money. Just like in English, if you are talking about specific items, you need the definite articles. If you dropped them to say nem vantagem nem dinheiro, it would mean they have neither advantage nor money in a broad, uncountable sense.

How would this sentence change if I wanted to use ou... ou (either... or) instead of nem... nem?

You would need to remove the negative word não from the beginning of the sentence. It would become Eles têm ou a vantagem ou o dinheiro which translates to they have either the advantage or the money.