Breakdown of Concordo com o professor, mas não acho que ele tenha a solução.
não
not / no
ele
he
o professor
the teacher (m)
mas
but
ter
to have
com
with
achar
to reckon / to find
que
that (conjunction)
a solução
the solution
concordar
to agree
Questions & Answers about Concordo com o professor, mas não acho que ele tenha a solução.
Why is the verb ter in the subjunctive form tenha here instead of the normal present tense tem?
This is the core of this lesson! When you express a negative opinion using não acho que (I do not think that), it introduces doubt or denial, which triggers the subjunctive mood. If the sentence were a positive opinion, like acho que ele tem a solução (I think he has the solution), you would use the normal present tense (the indicative).
Is the preposition com always used with concordar?
Yes, just like in English where you agree with someone, in Portuguese you use concordar com. Here it is followed by the masculine noun professor, so it is paired with the definite article o to make com o professor.
How do we get the subjunctive form tenha from the verb ter?
To form the present subjunctive for most irregular verbs, you start with the eu (I) form of the normal present tense. For ter, that is tenho. You drop the final o and add the opposite vowel ending. Since ter is an -er verb, its subjunctive endings use a, giving us ele tenha.
If I used não penso que instead of não acho que, would it still trigger the subjunctive?
Yes! Both não acho que and não penso que mean I do not think that, and both trigger the subjunctive because they express the same denial or doubt. However, achar is much more common in everyday spoken Portuguese for expressing opinions.
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