Breakdown of Falamos desse problema hoje.
o problema
the problem
hoje
today
falar
to speak
desse
of that (m/sg), dessa (f/sg), desses (m/pl), dessas (f/pl)
Questions & Answers about Falamos desse problema hoje.
Where does the word desse come from?
It is a contraction of the preposition de (which means "of" or "about") and the demonstrative word for "that" (esse). In Portuguese, the verb falar is followed by de when you want to say "to talk about". Instead of saying de esse, you combine them into a single word: desse.
Why is it desse instead of dessa if the word problema ends in an "a"?
Even though problema ends in an "a", it is actually a masculine noun (o problema). Because it is masculine, it must be paired with the masculine form of "that" (esse), making the contraction desse. Many Portuguese words ending in "-ema" or "-oma" (like o cinema or o idioma) are masculine because they originally come from Greek.
Why is the word for "we" (nós) missing from the beginning of the sentence?
In Portuguese, the subject pronoun (like "I" or "we") is often dropped because the verb's ending already tells you who is doing the action. The "-amos" ending on falamos can only refer to "we". You could say Nós falamos desse problema hoje, but leaving nós out is very common and sounds perfectly natural.
The English translation says "are talking", but isn't falamos just the simple present tense?