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- "O monte"
24 Comments
The question isn't whether "o monte" means "the mount." The question is its relevance and usage. I have never referred to anything as a "mount". Mountain, hill, peak, pile, heap, but never "mount." Mount is used in English only when describing a mountain by its name. Mount Everest. Mount of Olives, etc.
I looked in the dictionary Word Reference and it says "monte" is a heap or a pile, (which is what I understood the word to mean...for example "um monte de documentos") and that "colina" is a hill and "montanha" is a mountain. Can some native speaker please clarify the translation of "monte" as other comments here seem to disagree about the translation?
I think Word Reference has let you down on this occasion. Try a more traditional dictionary:
http://dictionary.reverso.net/portuguese-english/monte
or something like Wiktionary:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/monte#Portuguese
Or, even better, use a Pt-Pt dictionary as they usually have much more information. For example this entry:
http://www.priberam.pt/dlpo/monte
Says that it is elevated land which is higher than a hill but not as high as a mountain.
Thanks Davu. I particularly like your recommendation of a Pt-Pt dictionary, I hadn't used one before now. (Incidentally the one you proposed gives a second meaning of monte as "Porção considerável" which for me is the same as heap or pile of something, such as "There's a heap of clothes to wash" or "I've a pile of letters to answer").
Yes, Word Reference wasn't wrong, just lacking a definition or two. Other Pt-Pt dictionaries you could try are: http://www.aulete.com.br and http://michaelis.uol.com.br