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Às vezes, eu engano-me no acento dessa palavra.

Às vezes, eu engano-me no acento dessa palavra.
Sometimes, I get the accent of that word wrong.
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Questions & Answers about Às vezes, eu engano-me no acento dessa palavra.

Why is it engano-me? What does that whole verb form mean?

It comes from the verb enganar-se.

  • enganar on its own can mean to deceive, to trick, or to get wrong
  • enganar-se very often means to be mistaken, to make a mistake, or to get confused

So eu engano-me here means something like:

  • I make a mistake
  • I get it wrong
  • I confuse myself

In this sentence, the idea is I sometimes get the accent of that word wrong.

Why is me after the verb instead of before it?

This is very typical of European Portuguese.

In affirmative main clauses, European Portuguese usually puts unstressed pronouns after the verb:

  • engano-me
  • lembro-me
  • chamo-me

In many situations, though, the pronoun moves before the verb. For example:

  • Não me engano
  • Quando me engano...
  • Quem me chamou?

So in this sentence, engano-me is the normal European Portuguese order.

A Brazilian Portuguese speaker would very often say:

  • eu me engano

instead.

Is eu necessary here?

No, not really.

Portuguese verbs usually show the subject clearly, and engano already tells you it is I.

So these both work:

  • Às vezes, eu engano-me no acento dessa palavra.
  • Às vezes, engano-me no acento dessa palavra.

Including eu can add:

  • emphasis
  • contrast
  • clarity in context

But very often, Portuguese leaves the subject pronoun out.

What does às vezes mean, and why does às have an accent?

Às vezes means sometimes.

The word às has a grave accent because it is a contraction of:

  • a
    • as = às

This is a very common fixed expression in Portuguese.

So:

  • às vezes = sometimes

Do not confuse às with as:

  • as = the for feminine plural nouns
  • às = contracted form with the preposition a
What is no in no acento?

No is the contraction of:

  • em
    • o = no

So literally it means in the or on the, depending on context.

Here, no acento is best understood as:

  • about the accent
  • in the accent
  • with the accent placement

In Portuguese, it is normal to use em/no/na to talk about the point where the mistake happens.

Does acento mean the written accent mark or the spoken stress?

It can mean either, depending on context.

acento may refer to:

  • a written accent mark such as á, ê, ó
  • the stress of a word

In this sentence, most learners would understand it as the written accent or accent placement in that word.

If someone wants to be very precise, they might say:

  • acento gráfico = written accent mark
  • acento tónico = word stress

So here, acento most likely means the written accent.

What does dessa mean?

Dessa is a contraction of:

  • de
    • essa = dessa

So dessa palavra means:

  • of that word

or, more naturally in English here:

  • that word’s
  • the accent of that word

This kind of contraction is very common in Portuguese:

  • do = de + o
  • da = de + a
  • desse = de + esse
  • dessa = de + essa
Why dessa palavra and not desta palavra?

Both are possible, but they do not point in exactly the same way.

Traditionally:

  • esta / desta = this
  • essa / dessa = that
  • aquela / daquela = that over there

So:

  • desta palavra = of this word
  • dessa palavra = of that word

In real usage, especially in conversation, the distinction can be less strict than grammar books suggest. But if you want the standard textbook idea:

  • desta points to something closer to the speaker
  • dessa points to something already mentioned or closer to the listener
Could I also say me engano instead of engano-me?

If you are learning Portuguese from Portugal, engano-me is the normal choice here.

In Brazilian Portuguese, me engano is very common and natural.

So:

  • European Portuguese: engano-me
  • Brazilian Portuguese: me engano

Both are understandable, but for Portugal Portuguese, it is best to learn engano-me as the default pattern in sentences like this one.

Could I say com o acento instead of no acento?

Yes, you may hear both, but the nuance can change a little.

  • engano-me no acento focuses on making the mistake in the accent
  • engano-me com o acento can sound more like I get confused by/with the accent

Both are understandable. The version with no fits well if the idea is that the mistake is specifically in the accent placement of the word.

Other possible ways to express similar ideas are:

  • Engano-me na acentuação dessa palavra.
  • Às vezes, ponho mal o acento nessa palavra.
Is the comma after Às vezes necessary?

It is common and perfectly fine.

Às vezes is an adverbial expression at the beginning of the sentence, so a comma is natural:

  • Às vezes, eu engano-me no acento dessa palavra.

Without the comma, the sentence is still understandable:

  • Às vezes eu engano-me no acento dessa palavra.

The comma simply makes the pause clearer in writing.

Can the sentence sound more natural without eu?

Yes. In fact, many speakers would naturally say:

  • Às vezes, engano-me no acento dessa palavra.

Because the verb already shows the subject, leaving out eu often sounds smoother and more idiomatic in Portuguese.

Keeping eu is not wrong. It just adds a little more explicitness or emphasis.

How would a European Portuguese speaker roughly pronounce the sentence?

A rough guide is:

  • Às vezes → something like azh VEH-zesh
  • eu → a quick sound like eh-oo, but compressed
  • engano-me → en-GAH-no-muh
  • no acento → nu a-SEN-tu
  • dessa palavra → DEH-sa pa-LA-vra

A few useful pronunciation points for European Portuguese:

  • unstressed vowels are often reduced
  • the final -me is weak
  • s in às sounds like zh before the following v sound in vezes

So the sentence flows quite tightly in real speech.