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- "Eu preciso contar uma coisa …
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I'm getting sick of duo lingo not accepting answers in English that we would actually say. Yes I'm trying to learn Portuguese but why does it translate correctly into English one lesson then speak jibberish the next. Not only do I need to remember how to structure the sentence in Portuguese, but now I need to learn duolingo language as well.
I would think there was a subtle difference: Contar - to TELL, relate, recount something of substance/length to someone (a more urgent topic perhaps?) - Eu preciso contar uma coisa pra você; Você tem me ajudado muito e é uma pessoa tão especial!...; Dizer - to SAY something short and simple to someone; "Eu preciso dizer uma coisa para você; Eu te amo!" - A simple sentence for which a reply is not (necessarily!) expected. Whereas, Falar - to speak/talk WITH someone in general, light conversation; "Eu falo com a minha mãe cada dia". Does this give an accurate distinction between these 3 verbs? This question still stands from 3 years ago!
I too am curious how perfectly parallel contar in portuguese and recount in english, are. Anyone?
In english, "recount" would not work (though he could recount the tale of the firing later to his friends, or you could to yours; not because it's positive, but because it's the telling of a story--and any story, even a tale of woe, can be recounted.)
104
PT-BR
Eu diria que "na teoria" você está certíssimo(a), mas na "prática", usando o contexto do Duo: "contar, dizer e falar" é praticamente a mesma coisa. Mas acho que "falar" e "dizer" são um pouco mais "próximos" um do outro.
EN
I would say that "in theory" you are absolutely right, but in "practice", using the Duo context: "contar, dizer and falar" is pretty much the same thing. But I think that "falar" and "dizer" are a little more "close" to each other.
*"Eu falo com a minha mãe todo dia/todos os dias."
Nessa frase não faria sentido usar "digo", e "conto" teria um significado diferente: "I count on my mom every day." / In that sentence it would make no sense to use "digo", and "conto" would have a different meaning: "I count on my mom every day."
"Conto" também significa "Tale" or "Short story". / "Conto" also means "Tale" or "Short story".
(Google T)
Then “quero falar algo para você“ is the same as “quero contar algo para você“ ?
In Spanish “quiero contarte algo“ is slightly different from “quiero hablarte de/sobre algo“, besides the preposition. “quiero hablarte algo“ not used so much.
What about “quero te falar sobre algo“ ?
Is “te“ used only when addressing a person as “tu“ instead of “você“ ?