"Ele vai errar."
Translation:He will make a mistake.
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Sure, "to err" is basically the same as "to make a mistake". Imagine you are taking an exam. If you make one mistake, you will be fine. But if you make too many mistakes, you will fail the exam completely (not pass).
I would also add that to me at least 'to err' meaning make a mistake is a little old fashioned, and the most common use of 'err' I hear these days is 'to err on the side of caution', simply meaning, 'to be cautious'.
Hi, me again. I don't get the meaning of the sentence. Ele vai errar. It tells me that it should be "He will miss it". What exactly that "it" stands for???
Without any context it's impossible to say. It could mean anything. I remember I got into chess when I lived in Brasília and played at the clube de xadrez and a buddy and I were watching a friend play (he was a much stronger player than either of us). The guy we were watching was taking far too long as we thought he had a very obvious winning move. My friend said, "Tenho certeza que a gente errou." Meaning "I'm sure we got it wrong." The "it" in this case was implied (o cálculo or the calculation of the moves). And he was right. When we asked our other buddy about it, he showed us that if he had made the move that we thought won the game (he would have gotten a bishop and night for 2 pawns) it would have left him open to a checkmate on the next move. In this case there was no need to say "Tenho certeza que a gente errou o cálculo." because it was obvious from the context what he was talking about.
Would it be not adequate to translate that as “I'm sure we failed“ also?
We missed (it?), we messed up, what other translations?
Thank you.
To make a mistake = errar, cometer um erro. (it's not translated word for word)
I think that; to err, is to have a choice and to not choose the best choice. i.e. to make an error. To fail is to not succeed .
"Errar" is both 'to miss' and 'to make a mistake'? How would we say:
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He will miss the teacher.
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He didn't make that mistake.
He will miss the teacher. (Ele vai sentir falta do professor.)
He didn't make a mistake. (Ele não errou.)
What part does "falta" play here and how should I say "he didn't make that mistake"?
Sentir falta de alguém = to feel the lack of someone (= to miss)
Ele não cometeu esse erro. (He didn't make that mistake.)
I think "He will mess up" should be accepted. I know it is a bit informal, but it is pretty common I believe.
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Because "errar" means "to make a mistake" and not "to fail". They mean different things. Say I'm in a race. If I trip, I've made a mistake; but if I come second when I wanted to come first, I've failed. One can make mistakes and not fail; one can make no mistakes and yet fail.