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User too_late also put together this terrific explanation you might reference;http://www.duolingo.com/#/comment/536217
2224
Hey Rob!
I'm going to put them all side by side for you (and others, in case anyone else has the same question):
Essa/Esse = That (one near you);
Dessa/Desse = Of/from that (one near you) --- comes from de esse, de essa;
Daquele/Daquela = Of/from that (one far from us) --- comes from de aquele, de aquela;
Naquele/Naquela = On/in that (one far from us) --- comes from em aquele, na aquela;
aquele = that (...noun which is far away from us);
àquele = to that (...noun which is far away from us) --- only used when you would have written "a aquele". "Pergunte a aquele homem" The crase accent on the "a" indicates that two as have joined forces.
a + a = à (super a!)
I hope that helps clear things up. =)
Fantastic! Awesome! Thank you. I actually asked for this exact thing in another discussion. Mind adding disso, disto to this list?
- 2224
Not at all!
Disso = Of/from that (one thing near you) -- fem dessa and masc. desse;
Disto = Of/from this (one thing near/on me) -- fem desta and masc. deste.
There. =D
You are very helpful. Thanks a lot. Greetings from Russian lovers of Brazilian Portuguese :)
You forgot nesse/nessa.. It's ok though, I think I get it so I forgive you. Thank you for the helpful post!
- 2224
Sorry! Nesse/nessa/nisso/neste/nesta/nisto is nothing more than "em" + "esse" (nesse), "em" + "isto" (nisto), etc. Does that make sense?
Yes, «esse/essa/aquele/aquela» all mean "that." However, in Portuguese, "that" functions a bit differently than in English. «esse/essa» is used for something that is close to a second-person addressee. If I am talking to you and ask for something that is close to you, I would use «esse/essa» for "that." «aquele/aquela» is used for something that is close to neither first-person speaker nor second-person addressee. If we are talking about something that we had seen in a store earlier, neither of us are close to the store now, so I would use «aquele/aquela».
Yes, that would be «Aquele homem pergunta.» with no accent on the «aquele» and a different word order. If it is a quote, you can maintain the same word order: «"O que está a fazer?!" pergunta aquele homem.»
P.S. «aquele» = "that," while «àquele» = «a» + «aquele» = "to" + "that"
Can àquele ever mean this? As in 'ask this man' the translation given when you get this question wrong.
Okay, I think it's clear. You would translate daquele as "that" and àquele as "to that".
- 2224
You are mostly correct, but actually, "aquele" is "that" (that one over there, not near any of us) and "daquele" is "de+aquele", so "of that". =)
Of course I adore the amazing explanation - but the best thing is the introduction to the SUPER A :-)
Shouldnt "Ask that man" use the imperativo? --> "Pergunte àquele homem." In my opinion the translation should therefore be: "She/He aks that man". Whats your opinion?
"Pergunte àquele homem" is also correct, it uses the "você" form in the imperative. "Pergunta" uses the "tu" form. Your translation is correct, the sentence could be translated to "he/she asks that man"; however we usually add the article "Ele/Ela" to avoid ambiguity.
It could also be a noun: question for that man. Like, if you are in a quiz game and it's time for team A to answer:
Pergunta ao time A = Question for team A
Perhaps in Brazilian Portuguese, the difference in pronunciation is slight to none. In European Portuguese, you hear it more. «Aquele» has a more closed «a» sound, like a schwa-sound as in the "a" in the word "sofa." «Àquele» will be more of an open «a» sound, like in the interjection "Aah!" Hope this helps.
The "crase" (à) is tricky! It is completelly correct, but the most common form is "para aquele", or informally "pra aquele" or even "praquele".
Since this appears to be a command, wouldn't the conjugation change to the imperative track, thus being "Pergunte àquele homem"?
You're right, this sentence is a command (imperativo). Also right is djeidot (above), who pointed out that the imperative is conjugated to the 'tu' form. This is confusing for native English speakers (that's me) because in English, imperative conjugation is very easy. It's usually the infinitive. To tell one of your friends to go, say "Go!" To tell a group of your friends to go, also say "Go!" Try this website for verb conjugations :) http://www.conjugacao.com.br/verbo-perguntar/
That would be «Aquele homem pergunta....» which sounds weird if you don't follow it with something like «Aquele homem pergunta porquê.» One could also say «Pergunta aquele homem.» but with the accent on the second word, it unequivocally means "Ask that man." Literally, word-by-word, "Ask to.that man." «a» + «aquele» = «àquele»
The accent is hard to hear/nearly indistinguishable in Brazilian Portuguese, though.
what is the difference between ''daquilo'' and ''aquele'' because duolingo tells me that they both mean ''that''
«daquilo» = "of that" («de» + «aquilo»; «aquilo» does not change according to gender and is used only for singular objects) so «Quero uma fatia daquilo.» = "I want a slice of that." and «Gosto daquilo.» = "I like that," because «gostar» always requires «de» afterwards.
«aquele» is not a pronoun but a demonstrative adjective, so it needs a noun after it. Note that «aquele» can only be used for masculine singular objects (with «aquela», «aqueles», and «aquelas» being the other forms). «Quero uma fatia daquele bolo.» = "I want a slice of that cake," «Gosto daquele homem.» = "I like that man," and «Aquele sapo é feio.» = "That toad is ugly." Hope this helps. I would also like to direct you to vivisaurus' comment at the beginning of the thread, which goes into more detail about the demonstrative adjectives.
Why do I need to add the preposition a? I understand àquele = a + aquele but I don't understand why the a is there in the first place since the translation is ''ask that man'' and not ''ask TO that man''
Not all verbs require the same arguments cross-linguistically. In English, the verb "to ask" is a transitive verb that requires a direct object, so we have "ask that man" without a preposition. In Portuguese, though, «perguntar» always requires the preposition «a» afterwards (just like «gostar» always requires «de») because, in Portuguese, you ask to someone. Another example are the two verbs that mean "to call": «chamar» and «telefonar». «chamar» does not take a preposition («chama o homem»), but «telefonar» always takes «a» («telefona ao homem»). You just have to memorize which verbs require a preposition
Thank you! now it makes sense:) Is there any list of these verbs, that need a preposition with them, some where to be found?
There may be. I did a quick search and found this, although it seems to be largely equivalent to the English verbs: http://www.memrise.com/course/34416/portuguese-verbs-with-prepositions/1/.
Here is something else, but it talks more about the nuances of the different combinations of a verb and prepositions: http://hackingportuguese.com/sample-page/finding-out-what-preposition-to-use-with-a-verb/
There's no exclamation mark in the end of the sentence - so: How should I know, that this sentence means an exclamation/an imperative? I translated it with "he asks that man" and was turned down. Why? What is wrong with this? Is it different in Portuguese contrary to Spanish and/or Italian where in both languages you don't need the personal pronoun like "he/she, ..."
I'd be rather glad for any helpful explanation ..., thanks in advance
