"Eu falo pelos meninos."

Translation: I speak for the boys.

[mikocot]

does it mean to represent?

[Paulenrique]

yes!

[JCMcGee]

a fancy way of saying it could be:
"I advocate for the boys" or "I am the boys advocate"

[Enoch_is_edrees]

I speak for the trees!

[Marc383010]

Somebody needs to. Especially out there in Brasil!!!

[EmDem]

In all of the other places where "falar" was, I wrote "to speak" and then the alternate translation was "to talk". So this time, I put "to talk" and it said it was wrong!!! Que pasa?

[pandrewhk]

Maybe because in English only "speak for" means "to represent", and "talk for" is invalid.

[midmo63359]

"speak for" in Am. English could also mean "on behalf of"

[SteveJB1987]

In Australian English too, midmo

[DanielTietz]

conversar = to talk, keep a conversation ("Eu converso com meus amigos")
falar = to speak ("Eu falo português")

[SteveJB1987]

Seems like "I speak for..." is an English idiom.

[blorgle]

How do we know when pelo/por means 'for' or 'about'?
I've just seen the same word used for both meanings in two consecutive phrases, and context alone isn't enough to differentiate.

[Scutigera]

Here are some resources to help you on the PT journey including a couple specific to the many uses of "por" in Portuguese:

https://forum.duolingo.com/topic/328

https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/6331998
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/24821552

https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/3185480
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/24929556

"Por" in PT can be used in the English sense to mean many different things including "through" as in looking through a doorway. That is because other languages are not just English with different words. =]

https://www.learn-portuguese-with-rafa.com/por-and-para-in-portuguese.html

https://www.learningportuguese.co.uk/guide/grammar/basics/prepositions

To be fair, English prepositions are just as daunting to native speakers of other languages (and even among those using English their entire lives).

https://www.economist.com/johnson/2011/11/21/up-down-in-around-aboard-with-it-on-it

http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/prepositions-are-funny-but-not-random

---

And so it goes...
https://forum.unilang.org/viewtopic.php?t=37436

[MartinKarlberg]

How would I say "I talk to the boys"?

[Scutigera]

"Eu converso com os meninos" or "Eu falo para os meninos."

Though I suppose it could also be, "Eu falo aos meninos" with the Portuguese "a" meaning the English "to" contracting with the article, "os" in this case (otherwise too many vowels together). For girls it could be "Eu falo às meninos."

I am hoping someone will correct me (with an explanation). But my sense of it so far is that "a" is more of a destination than a direction concept.

[Markker26]

how would one say "i speak about the boys"?

[Paulenrique]

Eu falo sobre os meninos.

[NguyenTanBuu]

I think that maybe "i speak to the boys"

[NguyenTanBuu]

Or maybe i was wrong =))))

[AlexandreM-L]

Why "pelos" and not "para os"?

[rabelo_ana]

• Eu falo pelos meninos = I speak for the boys (I speak substituting boys)
• Eu falo para os meninos = I speak to the boys (I talk to them)

[VictorTheLead]

Falar com alguém=Talk/Speak to someone

Falar por alguém=Speak for someone

Falar para alguém=Tell someone something/Say something to someone

[David444575]

Would "Eu fala pelo os meninos" be acceptable, even if it is clumsy?

[Scutigera]

Pelo = por + o (obligatory contraction) so the second os would be redundant and pelo itself (in your example) would not be following the plural declension of the sentence so it becomes pelos.

[aaronkantepa]

I wonder why 'os' was not used. 'Eu falo pelos OS meninos'

[Paulenrique]

Por + os = pelos