Breakdown of Outro passageiro entrou no táxi falando ao telemóvel e eu continuei em silêncio.
Questions & Answers about Outro passageiro entrou no táxi falando ao telemóvel e eu continuei em silêncio.
Outro passageiro here means “another passenger” (an additional one, not specified before).
- Outro passageiro = another passenger / one more passenger (non‑specific).
- O outro passageiro = the other passenger (a specific one already known in the context).
So the sentence is saying that some (unspecified) additional passenger got into the taxi.
No is the contraction of em + o.
- em = in / on / at
- o táxi = the taxi
- em + o táxi → no táxi
In Portuguese you normally say:
- entrar em / no táxi = to get into the taxi
Em táxi without the article sounds wrong in this context. You need the article: no táxi.
Yes. Falando is the gerund form of falar (to speak / to talk).
- falando ao telemóvel = talking on the mobile phone
This type of phrase often expresses an action that is happening at the same time as the main verb:
- entrou no táxi falando ao telemóvel
→ he/she entered the taxi while talking on the phone
So it describes how or in what state the passenger entered the taxi.
It’s the passenger.
In Portuguese, a gerund like falando normally refers to the subject of the same clause, here outro passageiro. So:
- Outro passageiro entrou no táxi falando ao telemóvel
= Another passenger entered the taxi, and that passenger was talking on the phone.
If you wanted to make it clear that I was the one talking, you would need a different structure, for example:
- Enquanto eu falava ao telemóvel, outro passageiro entrou no táxi.
Ao telemóvel is an idiomatic expression in European Portuguese meaning “on the phone / on the mobile”.
- falar ao telefone / ao telemóvel = to talk on the (landline / mobile) phone
Details:
- ao = a + o (to / at + the)
- Literal idea: speaking to the phone → idiomatically: on the phone
- no telemóvel usually refers more to the device itself (e.g. something is saved on your phone) rather than being on a call.
So for a phone call, ao telemóvel or ao telefone is the usual expression.
Both are correct, but European Portuguese tends to prefer a + infinitive in many cases where Brazilian Portuguese uses the gerund.
So you might very often hear:
- Outro passageiro entrou no táxi a falar ao telemóvel.
In Portugal:
- falando ao telemóvel → correct, a bit more formal / written or influenced by Brazilian style
- a falar ao telemóvel → very natural in everyday European Portuguese speech
The meaning is the same in this sentence.
Portuguese can often drop subject pronouns, but here eu helps to avoid ambiguity and gives contrast/emphasis.
- e eu continuei em silêncio
→ and I remained silent (clear change of subject from the other passenger to me, and a bit of emphasis on I).
You could say e continuei em silêncio if the context already makes it crystal clear that you are the one continuing in silence, but in a standalone sentence the eu is more natural and clearer.
All are similar, but with small differences in emphasis:
continuei em silêncio
- I stayed / remained in silence.
- Suggests you were already silent and kept being silent. Neutral tone.
fiquei em silêncio
- I fell silent / I became silent or I stayed silent depending on context.
- Often used when you become silent or decide to say nothing from that point.
continuei calado
- I kept quiet (calado = not speaking).
- Slightly more informal / colloquial, focusing more directly on not speaking.
In the original sentence, continuei em silêncio fits well: the speaker was already quiet and simply remained that way.
Both exist, but they’re used differently:
- em silêncio literally means “in silence” and is the standard, very common expression for “silent / not speaking”.
- silencioso is an adjective (silent / quiet), but is much more often used of:
- things: um carro silencioso (a quiet car)
- places: uma rua silenciosa (a quiet street)
- sometimes people, but it sounds more descriptive or literary.
For a natural, everyday way to say “I remained silent”, fiquei em silêncio / continuei em silêncio is much more typical than fiquei silencioso.
Táxi has an acute accent on á because the stress falls on the first syllable, and by default a word ending in a vowel + i is usually stressed on the second-to-last syllable. The accent marks the irregular stress:
- TÁ-xi (first syllable stressed)
As for gender:
- o táxi = the taxi (masculine singular)
- um táxi = a taxi
So no táxi is em + o táxi (in the taxi).
Both are in the pretérito perfeito simples (simple past) in Portuguese:
- entrou = he/she entered
- continuei = I continued / I remained
This tense describes completed past actions. In this sentence:
- First: Outro passageiro entrou no táxi — a finished action in the past.
- At that time / after that: eu continuei em silêncio — I remained silent during that situation.
The gerund falando shows that at the moment of entrar, the passenger was already talking on the phone.
Yes, that’s grammatically correct and still natural, especially in more written or literary styles:
- Outro passageiro, falando ao telemóvel, entrou no táxi.
The meaning is essentially the same: the passenger entered the taxi while talking on the phone.
Differences:
- Outro passageiro entrou no táxi falando ao telemóvel
- Very typical, neutral order.
- Outro passageiro, falando ao telemóvel, entrou no táxi
- Slightly more marked / stylistic, gives a tiny pause around falando ao telemóvel, almost as extra information.
The sentence is perfectly understandable in Brazil, but a more typically Brazilian version would be:
- Outro passageiro entrou no táxi falando ao celular e eu continuei em silêncio.
Main differences:
- telemóvel (Portugal) → celular (Brazil)
- The gerund falando is very common and natural in Brazilian Portuguese; there’s no tendency to replace it with a falar.
- ao celular is used, but Brazilians more often say no celular or ao telefone. For example:
- falando no celular / falando ao telefone
So a very natural Brazilian version might be:
- Outro passageiro entrou no táxi falando no celular e eu continuei em silêncio.