Breakdown of Falamos sobre sexo com o médico.
Questions & Answers about Falamos sobre sexo com o médico.
Why is nós not written in Falamos?
Portuguese often omits subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows who the subject is.
- Falamos = we speak / we talked
- So nós is optional here.
You could also say:
- Nós falamos sobre sexo com o médico.
That sounds fine too, but adding nós usually gives emphasis, contrast, or extra clarity.
Does falamos mean we talk or we talked?
It can mean either one, depending on context.
For -ar verbs like falar, the present and the preterite forms for nós are spelled the same:
- falamos = we speak / we talk
- falamos = we spoke / we talked
So this sentence by itself is ambiguous.
Context usually makes it clear:
- Agora falamos sobre sexo com o médico. = Now we’re talking about sex with the doctor.
- Ontem falamos sobre sexo com o médico. = Yesterday we talked about sex with the doctor.
In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, people often use a gente fala or a gente falou to avoid this ambiguity.
Why is sobre used here?
Because falar sobre means to talk about.
So:
- falamos sobre sexo = we talked about sex
This is very natural Portuguese.
You may also hear:
- falar de sexo
That also means to talk about sex. In many cases, sobre and de are both possible, though sobre can sound a bit more explicitly about the topic.
Why is there no article before sexo?
Because sexo is being used in a general sense.
In Portuguese, abstract or general nouns often appear without an article, especially after expressions like falar sobre or falar de:
- falar sobre sexo
- falar de política
- falar sobre dinheiro
Adding an article is sometimes possible, but it can sound more specific, marked, or just less neutral depending on context.
So sobre sexo is the most natural general phrasing here.
What does com o médico attach to? Does it mean with the doctor or about the doctor?
The natural reading is:
- Falamos ... com o médico = We talked ... with the doctor
So com o médico tells you who we talked with.
It does not normally mean about the doctor.
If you wanted to say We talked about the doctor’s sex, you would need something like:
- Falamos sobre o sexo do médico.
That is a very different structure.
Why is it o médico and not just médico?
Because Portuguese often uses the definite article when referring to a specific person already understood in context.
- com o médico = with the doctor
- com um médico = with a doctor
So o suggests a particular doctor.
Also, note that:
- com + o stays com o
Unlike some other prepositions, it does not contract into one word here.
For example:
Could I also say Falamos com o médico sobre sexo?
Yes. That is also correct and very natural.
Both of these work:
- Falamos sobre sexo com o médico.
- Falamos com o médico sobre sexo.
The meaning is basically the same. The difference is mostly word order and focus:
- sobre sexo first: emphasizes the topic
- com o médico first: emphasizes who you spoke with
Portuguese allows this kind of flexibility.
Is sexo here definitely talking about sex, or could it mean gender?
In this sentence, the most natural meaning is sex as a topic related to sexuality / sexual relations.
The word sexo can also mean biological sex in other contexts, for example on forms:
- Sexo: masculino / feminino
But if someone wants to talk about gender in the social or identity sense, modern Brazilian Portuguese often uses:
- gênero
So in falar sobre sexo, most people will understand it as talking about sex.
If the doctor were female, how would the sentence change?
Is this a natural sentence in Brazilian Portuguese?
Yes, it is natural.
It sounds like a normal sentence you might say in a medical or personal context. Depending on style and context, Brazilians might also say things like:
These are also natural, but your original sentence is perfectly good Portuguese.
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