Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): O canalizador disse a verdade sobre o problema; nada de mentiras. - The plumber told the truth about the problem; no lies.

Feminine forms exist: a canalizadora / a picheleira (you’ll also hear people just use the masculine as a gender‑neutral job title in some contexts).

Why does the sentence start with O canalizador? Do we need the definite article?

Yes. Portuguese normally uses a definite article before a specific person’s profession used as a noun phrase: O canalizador disse… Dropping the article (Canalizador disse…) sounds like a headline. Use:

O canalizador = the plumber (a specific one)
Um canalizador = a plumber (unspecified)
Os canalizadores = plumbers (in general or a known group)

What tense is disse, and how does dizer conjugate in the past?

Disse is the 3rd‑person singular of the preterite (pretérito perfeito) of dizer.

Eu disse
Tu disseste
Ele/Ela/Você disse
Nós dissemos
Vós dissestes (rare)
Eles/Elas/Vocês disseram

It refers to a completed past act: “(he) said/told.”

Why is it disse a verdade and not falou a verdade?

Portuguese strongly prefers dizer with “truth/lie”:

dizer a verdade / dizer uma mentira You use falar for the topic or language:
falar sobre o problema (to talk about the problem)
dizer que… (to say that…) rather than falar que in European Portuguese.

Why sobre o problema and not do problema after a verdade?

The collocation is a verdade sobre X = “the truth about X.” Saying a verdade do problema is not idiomatic. Alternatives:

a verdade sobre o problema
a verdade acerca do problema (more formal)
a verdade quanto ao problema (formal/literary)

Why is it o problema even though it ends in -a? Isn’t that usually feminine?

Words from Greek ending in -ma are typically masculine in Portuguese:

o problema, o tema, o sistema, o programa, o esquema So o problema is correct despite the -a ending.

What exactly does nada de mentiras mean and how is it used?

Literally “nothing of lies,” it’s an idiomatic, elliptical way to impose or emphasize a rule/ban: “no lies,” “none of that lying.” It often stands alone as a command or firm reminder:

Nada de gracinhas! = No funny business!
Nada de atrasos. = No lateness.

Could I say sem mentiras instead of nada de mentiras?

Yes, sem mentiras (“without lies”) is perfectly fine and a bit more neutral. Nada de mentiras feels more emphatic/colloquial, like laying down a rule: “Absolutely no lies.” In formal writing: sem qualquer mentira, sem nenhuma mentira.

Does mentiras have to be plural? Can I use the singular?

After nada de, the noun is typically bare and often plural to mean “no X at all,” so nada de mentiras is the standard idiom. Singular nada de mentira is uncommon and usually needs a modifier to sound natural (e.g., nada de mentira descarada). For the verb form, you can say Nada de mentir! (“No lying!”).

Is the semicolon before nada de mentiras correct? What does it add?

Yes. The semicolon links closely related clauses while giving a stronger pause than a comma. Here it sets off the punchy add‑on nada de mentiras for emphasis. You could also use a dash or a period:

…sobre o problema — nada de mentiras.
…sobre o problema. Nada de mentiras.

Where do object pronouns go with dizer in Portugal vs Brazil? For example, “He told us the truth.”

European Portuguese (default enclisis in affirmative main clauses): Ele disse‑nos a verdade.
Brazilian Portuguese (pronoun before the verb): Ele nos disse a verdade. With negation in both varieties: Ele não nos disse a verdade.

Can I say disse sobre o problema?

No. With dizer, you don’t use sobre for the topic. Say:

disse a verdade sobre o problema
falou sobre o problema
disse que havia um problema (said that there was a problem)

How do I pronounce the sentence in European Portuguese?

Approximate EP pronunciation:

O canalizador disse a verdade sobre o problema; nada de mentiras.
[u kɐ‑nɐ‑lee‑zɐ‑DOR] [DEE‑sɨ ɐ vehr‑DAH‑dɨ] [SO‑brɨ u pru‑BLEH‑mɐ]; [NA‑dɐ dɨ men‑TEE‑rɐsh]. Notes: final -s in mentiras sounds like “sh”; unstressed final -e often reduces to a close sound [ɨ].

What’s the feminine form or a gender‑inclusive way to say it?

Feminine: A canalizadora disse a verdade… or A picheleira…
Gender‑neutral/generic reference to the role: you might still see o canalizador used generically, but when you know the person is a woman, use the feminine article/form.

Can I use contar instead of dizer here?

Sometimes. Contar emphasizes narrating/telling a story or sequence:

contar a verdade can work when the truth is a narrative of what happened. But the fixed, most common collocation for truth/lie is dizer:
dizer a verdade / dizer uma mentira is the safest default.