Falei com o dono.

Falei is the 1st person singular of the verb falar in the pretérito perfeito (simple past).

So it means I spoke, I talked, or in some contexts I said.

In this sentence, because it is followed by com o dono, it means:

I spoke with the owner / I talked to the owner.

Portuguese often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear.

• falei = I spoke
• falaste = you spoke
• falou = he/she/you (formal) spoke

Because falei already clearly means I spoke, adding eu is usually unnecessary.

You could say Eu falei com o dono, but Falei com o dono is more natural in many contexts.

Com means with, and after falar it is very commonly used to mean to speak with someone or to talk to someone.

So:

• falar com alguém = to speak with/to someone

Examples:

• Falei com a Maria. = I spoke with Maria.
• Quero falar com o gerente. = I want to speak to the manager.

This is one of the most common patterns with falar.

Yes, sometimes you can also hear falar a/alguém or falar ao dono, but the meaning and feel can differ slightly.

• falar com alguém = speak with / talk to someone
• falar a alguém = speak to someone, sometimes a bit more one-directional or more formal/literary

In everyday Portuguese, falar com is extremely common and very natural.

So Falei com o dono is a standard, everyday sentence.

O dono means the owner or the male owner.

• o = the (masculine singular)
• dono = owner

If the owner were female, you would say:

• a dona = the female owner / the landlady / the lady owner, depending on context

So:

• Falei com o dono. = I spoke with the male owner.
• Falei com a dona. = I spoke with the female owner.

In Portuguese, using the article here is normal and necessary.

• o dono = the owner
• um dono = an owner

Falei com dono by itself sounds incomplete or unnatural in standard Portuguese.

If you mean a specific owner, you need o dono.
If you mean an unspecified owner, you would normally say um dono:

• Falei com um dono de restaurante. = I spoke with a restaurant owner.

But in your sentence, o dono means a specific, identifiable owner.

They are similar, but not always identical in tone.

• dono = more common, everyday word
• proprietário = more formal, more technical, often used in legal or business contexts

So in normal conversation, dono is very natural:

• Falei com o dono do café.

In a more official context, you might hear:

• Falei com o proprietário do imóvel.

For most everyday situations, dono is the more likely choice.

Falei is in the pretérito perfeito.

This tense is used for a completed action in the past.

So Falei com o dono means that the action is finished: you spoke to the owner, and that event is complete.

It is the normal tense for something like:

• I spoke to him yesterday
• I talked to the owner this morning
• I already spoke with the owner

In European Portuguese, it is approximately:

fuh-LAY cõm u DOH-noo

A more accurate rough guide:

• Falei ≈ fuh-LAY
• com o often links together smoothly in speech
• dono ≈ DOH-noo, with the final vowel often reduced

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• The stress in falei is on the last syllable: fa-LEI
• com o is written as two words, but in fast speech they connect naturally
• European Portuguese often reduces unstressed vowels, so it may sound more compressed than Brazilian Portuguese

Yes, falei can sometimes be translated as I said, depending on context.

The verb falar is flexible and can mean:

• to speak
• to talk
• sometimes to say

But in Falei com o dono, the structure falar com alguém clearly means to speak/talk with someone, not to say.

So here, the best translations are:

• I spoke with the owner
• I talked to the owner

It can definitely stand alone.

Falei com o dono. is a complete sentence with:

• an implied subject: I
• a verb: falei
• a complement: com o dono

It works perfectly as a full reply in conversation.

For example:

• Já resolveste o problema?
• Falei com o dono.

That sounds natural and complete.

Yes, absolutely. Falei com o dono. is natural, correct, and common in European Portuguese.

It sounds like normal everyday speech and could be used in many situations, such as:

• a shop
• a restaurant
• a rented property
• a business
• any situation involving an owner

So this is a very useful real-life sentence.

You would change the article and noun to the feminine form:

• Falei com a dona. = I spoke with the female owner.

Changes:

• o → a
• dono → dona

This is a very common pattern in Portuguese:

• o amigo / a amiga
• o dono / a dona

So the structure stays the same; only the gender changes.