Tão & Tanto, necessity and obligation

Today the subject of our article will be two words that often causes some confusion on students: “tão” and “tanto”. But don’t worry, as you will see it’s much easier than it looks.

Also, we will talk about verbs we use when we want to express necessity and obligation.

The differences between “tão” and “tanto”

The words tão and tanto are invariable adverbs of intensity and they modify the word that follows them. Tão (so) can be used with adjectives or adverbs and it is placed before:

• Esta sopa está tão quente! (This soup is só hot!)
• A tua mãe cozinha tão bem! (Your mother cooks só well!)

Tanto (so much) is used with verbs and it is placed after:

• Ele come tanto! (He eats só much!)
• Vocês bebem tanto! (You drink só much!)

Tanto can also be a quantifier when it precedes a noun, in which case it agrees in gender and number and it means so much/ so many:

• Tu bebes tanto café. (You drink so  much coffee.)
• Ele bebe tanta cerveja. (He drinks so much beer.)
• Nós comemos tantos chocolates. (We eat so many chocolates.)
• Eles comem tantas bolachas. (They eat so many cookies.)

Now let’s see how it looks like in a daily life situation.

Dialogue 1

How to express necessity and obligation

In order to do that, you need to know the following three verbs:

TER DE/QUE – PRECISAR DE – DEVER

Ter de/que (to have to) indicates a strong necessity or obligation:

Necessity:

• Tenho um exame na próxima semana. Tenho de estudar mais. (I will have an exam next week. I have to/ I need to study more).

Obligation:

• Tenho de pagar hoje a fatura da eletricidade. É o último dia. (I have to pay the electricity bill. It’s the last day).

Sometimes students ask what is the difference between necessity and obligation. Basically it’s a necessity when we have “some choice” and obligation when we have no choice. Looking to our examples, maybe if I don’t study more I can pass the exam anyway, but if I don’t pay the bill for sure I will have consequences.

They also used to ask what is the difference between “ter de” and “ter que”. Actually there is no difference, so you can use whichever one you prefer.

Precisar de (to need) is used ONLY for a necessity:

• Vou ao supermercado. Preciso de comprar leite. (I’ll go to the supermarket. I need to buy milk.)

Dever (should/must) is used for a moral necessity, that is, the right thing that we should do, or  also for a probability:

Necessity:

• Não deves fumar. Fumar faz mal à saúde. (You shouldn’t smoke.  It’s bad for your health).

Probability:

• Não encontro o meu telemóvel. Deve estar no carro. (I can’t find my phone. It should/must be in the car) = It’s probably in the car.
• There is also a third situation in which we use this verb, which is not part of the theme of this article but it’s good to know: to express debt.
• Emprestei-te 100 euros mais só me devolveste 80. Ainda me deve 20 euros. (I lent you 100 euros but you only gave me back 80. You still owe me 20 euros.)

Dialogue 2

Conclusion

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