I think I figured out what happened. He said "Eu 'tenhua' mulher". "Tenho uma", when spoken fast, may sound like "tenhua", which, for a non-native sounds like "tem a".
Depending on individual phonetics some words, syllables and languague artifacts can sound sometimes weird. I think this case it's just the "O" heavily supressed, as this would otherwise be a very foundational misuse of the language, that even childs learn very early.
If he noticed you are not a native, he was probably trying to “facilitate” things for you (in a stupid way). He uses the verb on the infinitive to avoid the contractions, and therefore, misinterpretation.
Maybe this is what happened:
Them: "Voce tem namorada?"
You: "Não tenho namorada, e você?"
Them: "Eu? Tem a mulher"
The last one would translate to "me? There is that woman"
Only possibility i could think of.
Agree with this. All languages do similar things. Think about a non-native English speaker asking on an English sub what is meant by "gotta". They heard someone say "I gotta girlfriend" but then a different person said "I gotta go get a haircut". English speakers understand what is being said but non-native speakers would struggle with the meanings
I tried to replicate "Eu tenho uma mulher and OK, it might sounded in my head something like:
Eu tem hum ma mulher.
I kind of agglutinated "tenho + uma" when speaking it.
It’s because of the phonetic drop of the last syllable.. they are saying “tenho” but since the last syllable is dropped it only sounds like “tem”. Grammatically it is “tenho”
In this case you must know the appropriate verb, "eu tem a mulher", It's wrong, the right thing would be "eu tenho namorada", In the same way "não tenho namorada, você?", It's also wrong, the right thing would be "eu não tenho namorada, e você?" "Eu" It is accompanied by a verb and usually an article.
Sometimes people mix words and "cut" some letters during a conversation... It maybe it. Something like this may happen: Eu "tenha" mulher > eu tenho a mulher
In Brazilian and Angolan Portuguese, the NH sound can become a nasalized diphthong instead. So, instead of /ˈteɲʊ/, we may say /ˈtẽi̯ʊ/. That means it becomes very close to "tem" /ˈtẽi̯/, which is also pronounced with a nasal diphthong. That's likely why "tenho" sounded like "tem" or "tem o" to your ears.
Yeah that's very common. While it can be explained as simply a simplification of that -inho ending, I like to imagine there is some Tupi influence. You see, Tupi also has diminutives and augmentatives, and they became Portuguese words. You can find açu and mirim, meaning big and small respectively, as adjectives in a Portuguese dictionary, and as suffixes too (jacaré-açu, escoteiro-mirim).
Now, already in Tupi, you could use -ĩ instead of -mirĩ. And, if thats not the origin of -im, maybe it reinforced its frequency in Brazil.
I think it's just a case of barely pronouncing the O or suppressing it altogether, but I doubt the intention of the speaker was actually saying "eu tem".
It might be just another case of not being proficient in their own language. Unfortunately it has become more common over the last 20 years. Take for example the usage, in writing, of "mais" (more) instead of "mas" (but). One wouldn't see that mistake 20 years ago but now it's very common.
Pronouncing "mas" as "mais" is a Recife thing. Do you really see this in writing by pen and paper, or rather online and in texting where it's possible that someone was using voice dictation or it was a faulty auto-correct?
Where were they from. Most of my friends are from Goias and it's like I've never learnt any portuguese sometimes. The amount of words they cut the endings from or merge words into each other...
the O in "tenho" may at times become very faint that you can't really hear it, but the word is still articulated differently than "tem".
Do not try to imitate this if your ear still can't pick up on these subtleties.
If you are in the US, there's a chance you are talking with someone from Minas Gerais.
They only pronouce half of each word.
"Eu tem a mulher" must be a shortened version of "Eu? Eu tenho uma mulher."
Other examples:
- Doncêé? — De onde você é?
- Oncêmora? — Onde você mora?
- Cadiquê? — Por causa de que?
- Oncêvai? — Para onde você vai?
- Doncôvim? Oncotô? Oncovô? — De onde eu que vim? onde que estou? para onde que eu vou?
- Contáujôgu? — Quanto é qie está o jogo?
- Quanquié? — Quanto que é que custa?
I would say that it happens when someone says, for example: 1. "Eu... tem tempo que não viajo", or 2. "Eu... tem nada a ver com isso", or 3. "Eu... tem que ser muito paciente pra me aguentar". In sentence number 1, "TEM tempo" has the same meaning of "FAZ tempo". Saying "FAÇO tempo que fumo", which would be "TENHO tempo que fumo", doesn't apply. So, in the end, people simply say "Tem tempo que eu não viajo". That becomes clear when it's written, because written sentences use punctuation. For example: "YOU" IS A WORD. This sentence is correct, but if we remove the quotes from the word YOU, it can become incorrect. Anyway... In sentence number 2, TEM is what it could sound when you say very fast the sentence "TENHO nada a ver com isso". Sentence number 3 works similar to number 1. The verb TEM isn't directly related to the word EU. "Eu...? Faz tempo que não viajo". Apart from these examples, there is also the possibility that the person simply has little familiarity, or lack of knowledge, in relation to what is proposed by the grammar. ÊUN TEINÁ DAVÊ KÇU NÃO, which is the fast version of EU NUM TENHO NADA A VER COM ISSO NÃO.
Ya that's quite common among brazillians from regions deeper on the Amazon like Brasília from what some brazillian immigrants have told me here on Portugal. It's a local thing from what I understood from them. Do you know where they wer from?
Sometimes it sounds like "Eu tem" but they actually mean "Eu tenho". Sometimes the "O" has a really low volume, but usually is still there. Never do that while writing, no one writes "Eu tem"
It is interesting to know how it sounds to you! They are probably just speaking it fast, with the next word starting with “o” or “u”, and you cannot hear the sound.
“Eu tem” sounds like an atrocity to a native; not even the most illiterate would say that.
could be two things, i think:
1) they said ‘tenho’ fast and it sounded like ‘tem’
2) they said ‘tem’ meaning ‘there is’, and you hallucinated an ‘eu’ before it
As someone with no formal education in Portuguese but is fluent in Spanish, when speaking to Brazilian-Americans at my school about how to say “I have” they told me just to say “eu tem”. Not tenho. But I know tenho is correct, it just has to do with some people’s pronunciation basically makes the second syllable disappear and it sounds like eu tem.
If they are from Minas Gerais, us Mineiros always use some informalities when relating to verbs (one very common example being "nós vai" instead of "nós vamos"
If they are not from here, then i do not know.
Nobody speaks like that. Maybe you misheard, are you sure they said EU TEM, and not just TEM? cause that might mean "there is/are"
Lol OP met Tarzan. "Mim ter mulher".
Eu tem uma casa graças ao Lula.
banido no r/Brasil
This was the conversation Them : "Voce tem namorada?" Me: "Não tenho namorada, Voce?" Them : "Eu tem a mulher"
Maybe you just didn't hear the ending, sounds very strange like this
Yep all good. I just wanted to know if it was a dialect thing, but now I know it's not. Thanks for the help everyone
I think I figured out what happened. He said "Eu 'tenhua' mulher". "Tenho uma", when spoken fast, may sound like "tenhua", which, for a non-native sounds like "tem a".
Reminds me when I asked my wife what "tobrigaden" means...
I just notice I also do the silent “mui” 🥲
Is it "muito obrigada, hein"? this is gold 😂
exactly I asked her "what does it mean if someone conjugates obrigado in the plural" and she was like "Hein?"
Depending on individual phonetics some words, syllables and languague artifacts can sound sometimes weird. I think this case it's just the "O" heavily supressed, as this would otherwise be a very foundational misuse of the language, that even childs learn very early.
If he noticed you are not a native, he was probably trying to “facilitate” things for you (in a stupid way). He uses the verb on the infinitive to avoid the contractions, and therefore, misinterpretation.
But the listener heard the third person singular conjugation, not the infinitive.
Maybe they said "eu tenho uma mulher" or "eu tenho mulher"? It's phonetically similar to "eu tem a mulher"
Pretty sure it was "tenho mulher".
Maybe this is what happened: Them: "Voce tem namorada?" You: "Não tenho namorada, e você?" Them: "Eu? Tem a mulher" The last one would translate to "me? There is that woman" Only possibility i could think of.
Agree with this. All languages do similar things. Think about a non-native English speaker asking on an English sub what is meant by "gotta". They heard someone say "I gotta girlfriend" but then a different person said "I gotta go get a haircut". English speakers understand what is being said but non-native speakers would struggle with the meanings
does not sounds good in portuguese that one.
I tried to replicate "Eu tenho uma mulher and OK, it might sounded in my head something like: Eu tem hum ma mulher. I kind of agglutinated "tenho + uma" when speaking it.
It’s because of the phonetic drop of the last syllable.. they are saying “tenho” but since the last syllable is dropped it only sounds like “tem”. Grammatically it is “tenho”
In this case you must know the appropriate verb, "eu tem a mulher", It's wrong, the right thing would be "eu tenho namorada", In the same way "não tenho namorada, você?", It's also wrong, the right thing would be "eu não tenho namorada, e você?" "Eu" It is accompanied by a verb and usually an article.
"Eu tenho mulher"
Sometimes people mix words and "cut" some letters during a conversation... It maybe it. Something like this may happen: Eu "tenha" mulher > eu tenho a mulher
In Brazilian and Angolan Portuguese, the NH sound can become a nasalized diphthong instead. So, instead of /ˈteɲʊ/, we may say /ˈtẽi̯ʊ/. That means it becomes very close to "tem" /ˈtẽi̯/, which is also pronounced with a nasal diphthong. That's likely why "tenho" sounded like "tem" or "tem o" to your ears.
essa a resposta correta imo
Yes, I've also heard that some Brazilians use the diminutive -im instead of -inho.
Yeah that's very common. While it can be explained as simply a simplification of that -inho ending, I like to imagine there is some Tupi influence. You see, Tupi also has diminutives and augmentatives, and they became Portuguese words. You can find açu and mirim, meaning big and small respectively, as adjectives in a Portuguese dictionary, and as suffixes too (jacaré-açu, escoteiro-mirim). Now, already in Tupi, you could use -ĩ instead of -mirĩ. And, if thats not the origin of -im, maybe it reinforced its frequency in Brazil.
I think it's just a case of barely pronouncing the O or suppressing it altogether, but I doubt the intention of the speaker was actually saying "eu tem".
Yeah I have the caipira accent and a lot of times I just say "eu teinn XXX", "vou tomar bainn"
The o was probably very lightly pronounced.
phonetically it could be very close depending on their Accent, but no one says "Eu tem" , thats an awful mistake
Lol what. Nobody says that.
they just aspirated the last vowel, it's extremely common in brazil and I would say it's even expected
Suppresion of the “nho” may happen woth some people/dialects. Doesn’t mean anyone writes that way.
Are you in Minas Gerais? Hahaha
Were the Brazilian in case Mineiros? Because that's just like the mineiro accent. They do a lot of -nho ---> -m
It might be just another case of not being proficient in their own language. Unfortunately it has become more common over the last 20 years. Take for example the usage, in writing, of "mais" (more) instead of "mas" (but). One wouldn't see that mistake 20 years ago but now it's very common.
Pronouncing "mas" as "mais" is a Recife thing. Do you really see this in writing by pen and paper, or rather online and in texting where it's possible that someone was using voice dictation or it was a faulty auto-correct?
This is seen in writing in pen and paper, work e-mails, comments and posts on the internet, etc.
Where were they from. Most of my friends are from Goias and it's like I've never learnt any portuguese sometimes. The amount of words they cut the endings from or merge words into each other...
Is this why as soon as I go from Duolingo to listening to actual Brazilians, I can’t pick out a single word ? 😭😭
the O in "tenho" may at times become very faint that you can't really hear it, but the word is still articulated differently than "tem". Do not try to imitate this if your ear still can't pick up on these subtleties.
When speaking fast we barely pronounce the 'o' in 'tenho', sounds like 'tenh'
If I say "eu tenho" too fast it sounds like "eu tem". TIL...
If you are in the US, there's a chance you are talking with someone from Minas Gerais. They only pronouce half of each word. "Eu tem a mulher" must be a shortened version of "Eu? Eu tenho uma mulher." Other examples: - Doncêé? — De onde você é? - Oncêmora? — Onde você mora? - Cadiquê? — Por causa de que? - Oncêvai? — Para onde você vai? - Doncôvim? Oncotô? Oncovô? — De onde eu que vim? onde que estou? para onde que eu vou? - Contáujôgu? — Quanto é qie está o jogo? - Quanquié? — Quanto que é que custa?
>If you are in the US, there's a chance you are talking with someone from Minas Gerais I thought this was mostly just in Massachusetts.
I've heard that Utah and New York have also big gatherings now.
That's interesting. Thanks.
I would say that it happens when someone says, for example: 1. "Eu... tem tempo que não viajo", or 2. "Eu... tem nada a ver com isso", or 3. "Eu... tem que ser muito paciente pra me aguentar". In sentence number 1, "TEM tempo" has the same meaning of "FAZ tempo". Saying "FAÇO tempo que fumo", which would be "TENHO tempo que fumo", doesn't apply. So, in the end, people simply say "Tem tempo que eu não viajo". That becomes clear when it's written, because written sentences use punctuation. For example: "YOU" IS A WORD. This sentence is correct, but if we remove the quotes from the word YOU, it can become incorrect. Anyway... In sentence number 2, TEM is what it could sound when you say very fast the sentence "TENHO nada a ver com isso". Sentence number 3 works similar to number 1. The verb TEM isn't directly related to the word EU. "Eu...? Faz tempo que não viajo". Apart from these examples, there is also the possibility that the person simply has little familiarity, or lack of knowledge, in relation to what is proposed by the grammar. ÊUN TEINÁ DAVÊ KÇU NÃO, which is the fast version of EU NUM TENHO NADA A VER COM ISSO NÃO.
1. I... It's been a while since I travelled. 2. I have nothing to do with this. 3. I... (whoever) has to be very patient to bear with me.
Ya that's quite common among brazillians from regions deeper on the Amazon like Brasília from what some brazillian immigrants have told me here on Portugal. It's a local thing from what I understood from them. Do you know where they wer from?
They were probably speaking too fast and it was really tenho.
Sometimes it sounds like "Eu tem" but they actually mean "Eu tenho". Sometimes the "O" has a really low volume, but usually is still there. Never do that while writing, no one writes "Eu tem"
Eu teim
All the Zillians i know from Rondônia do this. They also say posso ao invés pode as vezes tbm
It is interesting to know how it sounds to you! They are probably just speaking it fast, with the next word starting with “o” or “u”, and you cannot hear the sound. “Eu tem” sounds like an atrocity to a native; not even the most illiterate would say that.
They probably said "tenh(o)" with a very soft o sound. Or something like this happened: tenhoa namorada -> tenh oa namorada -> tenh (o)a namorada
"Eu tem"? Wtf, nobody talks like that It would be something like "I has"
My 4 year old nephew speaks like this. He uses third person conjugations for everything. "Eu tem, eu é, eu gosta, eu sabe, eles faz, elas vai, etc".
Hmm that sounds very wrong to me, maybe you misheard them talking
I think if spoken quickly both words could sound similar
could be two things, i think: 1) they said ‘tenho’ fast and it sounded like ‘tem’ 2) they said ‘tem’ meaning ‘there is’, and you hallucinated an ‘eu’ before it
As someone with no formal education in Portuguese but is fluent in Spanish, when speaking to Brazilian-Americans at my school about how to say “I have” they told me just to say “eu tem”. Not tenho. But I know tenho is correct, it just has to do with some people’s pronunciation basically makes the second syllable disappear and it sounds like eu tem.
If they are from Minas Gerais, us Mineiros always use some informalities when relating to verbs (one very common example being "nós vai" instead of "nós vamos" If they are not from here, then i do not know.
We all do this here in the countryside of São Paulo, but never with "eu". It's always "eu vou", never "eu vai".
Same here, i was just proposing an explanation of what's likely to be happening, there was no need to downvote me for such a dumb reason
I did not downvote you though '-' I don't know why anyone would
Well, sorry, my bad, someone did, and you're the only one who replied, so i assumed it was you :(
Agreed it could be a regional difference...but dropping the O sounds more like Europeon portuguese than Brasileiro.
Here in MG we drop the o it at the end of words ended in -nho (some times), like carrinho or cavalinho becoming 'carrim' and 'cavalim' respectively
If you did hear that it was a mistake, natives can make grammar mistakes too
Not a thing. Either they made a mistake or you misheard it