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when you pay something you use just "pagar"(pagar a conta). When you pay someone you use "pagar a" (pagar ao menino)
Is this right?
She pays for him = Ela paga por ele
She pays for the boy = Ela paga pelo menino
She pays for the girl = Ela paga pela menina
She pays the boy = Ela paga ao menino
She pays the girl = Ela paga à menina
Yes, or institution or so... tenho que pagar ao banco uma multa de 20%
So if you were to say "ela pega o menino" that would mean the boy is what she paid, as in the boy was the currency?
If you meant that "ela paga o menino" means that she pays someone and receives the boy, then no, it doesn't really mean that. In Portuguese, "ela paga o menino" doesn't really make much sense. There are two possibilities: a) "ela paga ao menino" — she pays the boy; or b) "ela paga pelo menino" — she pays for the boy.
In this situation, the preposition "a" will indicate to whom one is paying (pay attention to the contractions "ao, "à", "aos", "às"); and the preposition "por" will indicate the thing for what one is paying someone (contractions: "pelo", "pela", "pelos", "pelas").
You can also use them both together:
"Ela paga ao menino pelo cachorro" — She pays the boy for the dog.
What if I want to say (and this is getting a bit dark, but bear with me): "She pays with the boy" as in she uses the boy as currency to settle some debt.
Google translated it, logically, to Ela paga com o menino. But I think I get what you're saying and I would like an answer too. Why exactly does "ela paga o menino" not make sense? What would it sound like is being said, if not "she pays [using/with] the boy"?
No. Enen though you may hear "to pay someone" the only standard form is:
- PAGAR something + A (prep.) someone
-
PAGAR A (prep.) someone + something
-
Paguei a conta de luz à (prep. + article) companhia de energia elétrica.
- Paguei ao (prep. + article) dentista a mensalidade.
Obrigado pela sua resposta. Gosto muito de português mas o acho difícil porque sempre estou confus: ouvimos amiúde erros na boca dos nativos e logo os fazemos à nossa volta :O
That's the point. Unfortunately, we have two types of Portuguese: spoken and written. Spoken Portuguese is much more simple and tends not to follow grammar rules. Also, if you follow all grammar rules, you may sound pedantic. It's a hard predicament.
People don't care much if you do not follow the rules when speaking, but you should avoid mistakes when writing. That's why natives must always check out whether a structure, preposition, conjugation, etc. is right or only used orally. It makes things more difficult.
Anyway, I think nobody follows all grammar rules, no matter the language they speak.
But don't give up. I think you do not to master a language - you need to communicate your ideas!
(For example: I make many English mistakes. Anyway, I think you got the point. So that's what matters! =])
I think you're right and thanks for the encouragements :D Even if I'm not an English native speaker I can ensure you that you don't make a lot of mistakes.
Informally, we don't use the preposition. Also we can say para o menino, wich becomes pro menino informally. But pagar para is dubious, since it can mean to pay the vendor or to pay for another buyer.
Yes. "to the boy" can be translated as "ao menino", but the preposition "to" can be omitted in English while it has to be used in Portuguese.
"She pays to the boy" is grammatically incorrect! "She pays for the boy" is correct use of English!
"Ela paga ao menino" = "She pays the boy".
"Ela paga pelo menino" = "She pays for the boy".
It means that the girl gives the money to the boy, eg in a shop...she pays the boy €20
If she was paying a female or a feminine institution as oppose to the boy would it just be
¨ela paga a menina¨ for example?
To the (masculine) use ao. To the (feminine) use a crase à. Applies also for other situations, like going to places: Eu vou ao parque. Eu vou à praia.
Why for menino you use 'ao', but for menina you use à? Is it because the accent sort of compensates the fact that you wouldn't put two 'A's together? Ela paga a a menina ?
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I was corrected as "she pays TO the boy", and in the discussion it says "she pays the boy". Error maybe Duo?
It seems to be a bug feature of DL, that when we put something in as an answer that DL does not have in the database list of possible correct or incorrect solutions (such as Casa de Banho) then DL returns back something odd, even gibberish as the supposed correct one (Quarto de Banho in the previous example).
I consistently see these as I push the limits to try and learn the Euro version.
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The Memrise DuoLingo PT BR course level 10 declares the "a" preposition as: "to/at/for".
So I tried the wrong "She pays for the boy".
Is there any use case to use a/ao/à/aos/às in the meaning of "for" instead of using "por/pelo/para"?
"*She pays TO the boy" is not proper English. "She pays the boy" is correct. The only way you can use "TO the boy" is by preceding it with a direct object. For example: "She pays THE MONEY TO the boy." "She pays the boy the money" is also correct.
