"Ele mente para si mesmo."
Translation:He lies to himself.
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The translation of "self". Herself = ela/si mesma, myself = mim mesmo(a). This link has some explanations for some languages including Portuguese! http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflexive_pronoun -- link for the portuguese: http://www.nativlang.com/po/qg_pronouns_reflexive.htm
Yeah ;) it's used for people. You are very helpful = você é muito prestativo/ajudador. It's very helpful = isso é muito útil ;)
This may sound stupid but could you say, "Ele se mente" which I thought would mean "he lies to himself" as well?
It would have different meanings. "Ele mente para si mesmo" could mean that the person doesnt accept something, try to hide his own mistakes or doesnt accept his own shortcomings. (Ex: ele mente para si mesmo quando diz que não gosta dela - it means that he loves her but he just doesnt want to accept it, his own feelings, but everybody around him knows his real feelings). On the other hand, "ele mente por si mesmo" means that he does that according to his own dispostion, sometimes on purpose, or when he thinks he's misleading people, but actually he's not. Hope you got what i mean...
"ele mente por si mesmo" 。I don't get what you said,it's too complicated for me now.Thanks anyway.
Normally, doing something "por si mesmo" is doing "by yourself". (no help needed)
I could say "eu faço isso por você", and it would mean "I do that in your place".
But there could be another meaning, harder to explain....
"Eu faço isso por você" - I do that because of you/for you
So, in this second case "mentir por si mesmo" would mean something like "lie to save himself".
I think, essentially, 'para' = 'he lies to himself' and 'por' = 'he lies for himself'. Roughly!
In this sentence, the Portuguese word 'mente' is the 3rd person singular form of the verb 'mentir', which means 'to lie'. For instance:
• Ele mente = He lies
And yes, 'mente' also means the noun 'mind' in English; but not in this case.
