Breakdown of Eu não disse nada e não reparei na confusão.
eu
I
e
and
não
not / no
em
in / on / at
nada
nothing / anything
dizer
to say
a confusão
the mess
reparar
to notice
Questions & Answers about Eu não disse nada e não reparei na confusão.
Is disse the past tense of dizer? It looks so different!
Yes! The verb dizer (to say/tell) is highly irregular in the Pretérito Perfeito Simples (the simple past tense). For the eu (I) form, it becomes disse (I said). It doesn't follow the regular endings, so you just have to memorize this root change.
Why is there a double negative (não disse nada) to say I didn't say anything?
In Portuguese, double negatives are perfectly normal and actually required here. When a negative word like nada (nothing/anything) comes after the verb, you must put não before the verb. So, não disse nada literally translates to I didn't say nothing, which is the correct way to say I didn't say anything.
Why does the sentence use na before confusão?
I thought reparar meant to repair. Does it mean both?
It can, but the preposition changes the meaning! When you use reparar with the preposition em (like we did here with na), it means to notice. If you use it without a preposition, it can mean to repair or to fix, though in Portugal you will hear people use the verb arranjar much more often for fixing broken things.
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