Breakdown of O ministro dirá a verdade no discurso.
em
in / on / at
dizer
to say
a verdade
the truth
o ministro
the minister
o discurso
the speech
Questions & Answers about O ministro dirá a verdade no discurso.
Why is the verb dirá and not dizerá?
In the future tense, most verbs just add the ending to the full infinitive. However, dizer (to say/tell) is irregular. Along with fazer and trazer, it uses a shortened base for the future tense. Instead of dizer-, the base becomes dir-. We then add the standard he/she/it future ending -á to get dirá.
The English translation is "tell the truth", so why does the Portuguese use dirá (from dizer, to say)?
In Portuguese, the set phrase for "telling the truth" is always dizer a verdade (literally "to say the truth"). While the verb contar is often used for "to tell" (like telling a story or a joke), truth and lies always pair with the verb dizer.
Why is no used before discurso to mean "in the"?
This is a mandatory contraction of the preposition em (in/on/at) and the masculine singular article o (the). Because discurso is a masculine noun, you must combine em + o to make no discurso.
Does the word discurso mean "discourse"?
They share the same origin, but in everyday Portuguese, um discurso simply means "a speech" (like one given by a politician or at a wedding). It doesn't usually carry the heavier academic meaning of the English word "discourse".
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