Breakdown of Eu disse‑lhe que voltaremos em breve e que, da próxima vez, deixaremos outra gorjeta.
Questions & Answers about Eu disse‑lhe que voltaremos em breve e que, da próxima vez, deixaremos outra gorjeta.
Lhe is an indirect object pronoun meaning to him / to her / to you (formal, singular).
So eu disse‑lhe literally means I said to him / her / you.
Because lhe is 3rd person (or formal you), the exact meaning depends on context:
- I told him
- I told her
- I told you (polite form, talking to one person)
In European Portuguese, unstressed object pronouns (like lhe, me, te, nos, vos, o, a) usually attach to the verb with a hyphen when they come after the verb. This is called enclisis.
So:
- Eu disse‑lhe = I told him/her/you
- Eu dei‑lhe o dinheiro = I gave him/her/you the money
If the pronoun comes before the verb (proclisis), there is no hyphen:
- Eu lhe disse – grammatically possible, but in European Portuguese disse‑lhe is the normal order here because there is no word that attracts the pronoun before the verb.
Yes, you can:
- Eu disse a ele = I told him
- Eu disse a ela = I told her
However, in normal European Portuguese, the pronoun lhe is more typical and sounds more natural in many contexts:
- Very natural: Eu disse‑lhe que voltaremos em breve.
- Also correct but less compact: Eu disse a ele que voltaremos em breve.
Using a ele / a ela is often chosen when you want to make the gender very clear or to emphasize that specific person.
Both are correct and mean we will come back:
- voltaremos – simple future tense
- vamos voltar – periphrastic future (literally: we are going to return)
In European Portuguese:
- Voltaremos is slightly more formal / written and very common in careful speech.
- Vamos voltar is very common in everyday spoken language.
Here, voltaremos fits well because the whole sentence sounds fairly neutral or slightly careful:
Eu disse‑lhe que voltaremos em breve...
I told him/her/you that we will come back soon...
Portuguese does not always shift the future to a “future in the past” form the way English does.
So both are possible:
- Eu disse‑lhe que voltaremos em breve.
Literally: I told him/her/you that we will come back soon.
– Very natural in Portuguese. - Eu disse‑lhe que voltaríamos em breve.
Literally: I told him/her/you that we would come back soon.
– Also correct; follows the English‑style tense sequence more closely.
Portuguese allows the “future seen from now” (voltaremos) inside the que‑clause, even though the main verb (disse‑lhe) is in the past.
Em breve means soon.
Nuances:
- em breve – fairly neutral, common in speech and writing; maybe a tiny bit more formal than logo in some contexts.
- logo can also mean soon, but it has several uses and meanings depending on context.
Examples:
- Voltaremos em breve. – We will be back soon.
- Ele chega em breve. – He is arriving soon.
So in this sentence, em breve is a natural, standard way to say soon.
Da is the contraction of de + a.
- de = of, from
- a = the (feminine singular definite article)
- vez (time, occasion) is feminine: a vez
So:
- de + a próxima vez → da próxima vez = next time / on the next occasion
Literally: “of the next time”, but it is the normal way to say next time in Portuguese:
- Da próxima vez, chegaremos mais cedo. – Next time, we will arrive earlier.
Adjectives in Portuguese agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.
- vez (time/occasion) is feminine: a vez
- So the adjective próximo must also be feminine: próxima
Therefore:
- a próxima vez – the next time
and not o próximo vez (which would be wrong, because vez is not masculine).
The verb deixar literally means to leave, and in European Portuguese it is often used for leaving a tip:
- deixar gorjeta = to leave a tip
- deixaremos outra gorjeta = we will leave another tip
You can say dar gorjeta:
- dar uma gorjeta = to give a tip
But in many contexts, especially in restaurants, deixar gorjeta sounds a bit more idiomatic/natural:
- Costumas deixar gorjeta? – Do you usually leave a tip?
Three things are going on:
Gorjeta (tip) is feminine: a gorjeta.
So the adjective outro must be feminine too:- outra gorjeta – another tip
- outro gorjeta – incorrect
Outra here means another / a different one:
- deixaremos outra gorjeta – we will leave another tip (on the next occasion).
Mais gorjeta would mean more tip / a larger amount of tip, not another tip on a later occasion.
So:- deixar mais gorjeta – to leave more tip (a bigger tip)
- deixar outra gorjeta – to leave another tip (on a different visit/time)
You can absolutely drop eu:
- Eu disse‑lhe que voltaremos em breve...
- Disse‑lhe que voltaremos em breve...
Both are correct. Portuguese is a pro‑drop language, so subject pronouns are often omitted when the verb ending makes the subject clear.
Including eu:
- may add a slight emphasis on I (as opposed to someone else), or
- may just be stylistic.
In neutral contexts, Disse‑lhe que voltaremos em breve is perfectly natural.
Grammatically, Eu lhe disse is possible, but in European Portuguese, with this sentence and no special emphasis, the default is disse‑lhe (enclisis: verb + pronoun with hyphen).
Some patterns:
- After a pause or at the beginning of a clause, EP typically uses enclisis:
- Disse‑lhe que voltaremos em breve.
- Proclisis (lhe disse) is more common when certain words attract the pronoun, like não, que, se, quando, já:
- Que lhe disse? – What did you say to him/her/you?
- Não lhe disse nada. – I didn’t tell him/her/you anything.
So in your original sentence, Eu disse‑lhe que voltaremos em breve... is the most natural EP version.