"My intentions are good, but it depends on the group."

Translation: Minhas intenções são boas, mas isso depende do grupo.

[valdemarvascaino]

06.05.2013

U, dear Duo, used the singular "intenção" here, instead of the plural "intenções".

[emeyr]

I chose "isto" and got it wrong. How can I tell whether I use "isto" or "isso" when the pronoun is simply "it"?

[JohnGrunewald]

I'm getting better, and there is inconsistency in the translations, but with isto and isso, as with este and esse, the rule seems to be that if there is a 't' in it (isto, este), it is 'this' and if there isn't (isso, esse) it means "that" Someone who knows more should verify this.

[G.P.Niers]

Isto = by me

Isso = by you

Aquilo = by them

So you see that you often have multiple options for translating ‘it’, ‘this’ and ‘that’. There is no one-to-one correspondence between the Portuguese and English words.

[emeyr]

You are correct except that DL is sometimes very inconsistent in translating/accepting what we know the rule to be. I have noticed in daily speech, Brazilians use "isso" for "this" and "that". I think because it simply slips off the tongue more easily. Paulenrique or Dan can verify that.