Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Brazil): O treinador fala com o aluno todos os dias. - The coach talks with the student every day.

In Portuguese, most singular, countable nouns require a definite article (like o for masculine, a for feminine). So O treinador literally means “The coach.”

English often drops “the” before professions (e.g., “Coach speaks…”), but in Portuguese you almost always say o treinador.

Could we omit the article and say Treinador fala com o aluno todos os dias?

You might see the article dropped in headlines, titles or very informal notes, but in normal speech and writing you keep it:

O treinador fala… is standard.
Treinador fala… sounds like a newspaper heading or an ungrammatical fragment in everyday conversation.

Why isn’t there a subject pronoun ele before fala?

Portuguese is a pro-drop language: verb endings reveal the subject.

Fala ends in -a, marking 3rd person singular (ele/ela).
Since o treinador is already named, you don’t need ele. You could say Ele fala…, but it’s redundant.

Why do we use falar com instead of just falar?

Falar by itself means “to speak.” When you specify whom you speak with, you need the preposition com (“with”). So:

falar + com + alguém = “talk with someone.”
Without com, it’d be incomplete (“to speak” about what or with whom?).

Could we use falar ao aluno instead of falar com o aluno?

Yes, you can say falar ao aluno (where ao = a + o). Nuance:

Falar com o aluno emphasizes a two-way conversation (“chat with the student”).
Falar ao aluno often implies a one-way address or formal instruction (“speak to the student”). Both are correct.

Why is it todos os dias and not todo dia?

Both mean “every day”:

Todos os dias (literal “all the days”) is slightly more formal and very common.
Todo dia (singular “every day”) is more colloquial.
They’re interchangeable in most contexts, though you’ll hear todo dia a lot in spoken Brazilian Portuguese.

Why is dias plural?

Because you’re referring to multiple instances: the coach speaks on many days, not just a single day. If you use the singular dia, you’d have to say todo dia (one day at a time). With the plural, you say todos os dias.

Can we change the word order to Todos os dias o treinador fala com o aluno?

Absolutely. Portuguese allows flexibility:

Moving todos os dias to the front puts emphasis on the frequency.
Both orders are correct; choose the one that fits the rhythm or focus you want.

Why doesn’t com contract with o (like c’o)?

Portuguese only contracts de + o = do, em + o = no, etc. The preposition com never contracts with the article. So you always write/say com o, com a, com os, com as.

What’s the difference between falar com, dizer a, and conversar com?

Falar com = “to speak/talk with” (general act of talking or communicating).
Dizer a = “to say/tell to someone” (emphasizes the content you’re telling).
Conversar com = “to have a conversation with” (implies back-and-forth dialogue).
Example:
• O treinador fala com o aluno (he speaks with him).
• O treinador diz ao aluno a mensagem (he tells the student the message).
• O treinador conversa com o aluno sobre a aula (they converse/discuss the lesson).