# Repeating verbs as the answer



## terredepomme

I read a Portuguese lesson book based on European PT, and it said that normally, one simply repeats the verb in the first person as an affirmative answer. For example:

Q: Falas Português?
A: Falo.
or
A: Falo sim. (which is more affirmative)

But as I am reading a Brazilian PT material, I rarely see this form of answer, and it's rather done by a simple "sim" or "não."
Is this a difference between European and Brazilian portuguese?


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## englishmania

I'm Portuguese and I'd just answer "falo/sim"  or "não".        > *all the time 
* 
"Sim, falo" is also possible but not used as often.

I'm not sure about "Falo, sim" but I would say it's rarely used or used in a context different from the one you've presented.


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## Macunaíma

terredepomme said:


> Q: Falas Português?
> A: Falo.
> or
> A: Falo sim.



Responding affirmatively to this question with just "sim" is not common _at all_ in Brazil. We usually repeat the verb too.

"Sim, falo", however, is not unlikely; "falo, sim" is a little bit more affirmative though.


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## terredepomme

Here are some cases that I see at the moment.

Ela gosta desse tipo de evento, não é? -Sim. (Instead of gosta.)
Vocês estavam nos seguindo? -Sim! (Instead of estavamos.)

Or does it uniquely apply to first person?


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## terredepomme

Also, can you say não falo?


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## Macunaíma

terredepomme said:


> Ela gosta desse tipo de evento, não é? -Sim. (Instead of gosta.)
> Vocês estavam nos seguindo? -Sim! (Instead of estavamos.)



The most common way to reply to those would be "gosta" and "estávamos".

Please note that I edited my post above. I just realized that using just "não" to give negative answers is the default - in this case, repeating the verb as in "não falo" would be odd.

Sorry for that, I was bit tired.


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## anaczz

When the answer is negatiive, sometimes we repeat the "não"
Você fala coreano?
Não, não falo.


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## GOODVIEW

Mind that in the Northeastern region of Brazil, when the answer is negative, it's quite usual to say _falo, não / sei, não / quero, não_...


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## Audie

GOODVIEW said:


> Mind that in the Northeastern region of Brazil, when the answer is negative, it's quite usual to say _falo, não / sei, não / quero, não_...


 _(...posso não, minha mulher não deixa não..._)

So, in Brazil, you can hear:

Ela gosta desse tipo de evento, não é? 
-Gosta./ Gosta, sim./ É. / É, sim./ 
-Não./ Não, não gosta./ Gosta não (At least, in my region, all these answers are possible) 

Vocês estavam nos seguindo? 
-Sim! (less common)/ Estávamos./ Sim, estávamos./ Sim, a gente estava (or just '_tava_)
-Não./ Não, não estávamos./ Não, a gente não estava./ Não, a gente não '_tava _não. (the latter only in Northeast, I think)


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## terredepomme

Strangely in the comic I'm reading, only sim and é seems to appear. Maybe it's the author's habit.


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## Audie

terredepomme said:


> Strangely in the comic I'm reading, only sim and é seems to appear. Maybe it's the author's habit.


Maybe that's the difference: you're *reading*.


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## terredepomme

> Maybe that's the difference: you're reading.


Não entendei. O que queres dizer?


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## nick1990

reading and writing conventions are distinct. it isn't easy to flawlessly convey spoken conversations in a written medium.


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## GOODVIEW

> (...posso não, minha mulher não deixa não...)



ôxe! Que raio de cabra é esse???


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## Audie

_
Minha mulher não deixa não. _(Exemplo típico, atual -e insuportavelmente reiterado inúmeras vezes durante vários dias em quase todas as esquinas do Recife- da negativa depois do verbo)


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## uchi.m

GOODVIEW said:


> ôxe! Que raio de cabra é esse???



eita homi frouxo


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## uchi.m

terredepomme said:


> I read a Portuguese lesson book based on European PT, and it said that normally, one simply repeats the verb in the first person as an affirmative answer. For example:
> 
> Q: Falas Português?
> A: Falo.
> or
> A: Falo sim. (which is more affirmative)
> 
> But as I am reading a Brazilian PT material, I rarely see this form of answer, and it's rather done by a simple "sim" or "não."
> Is this a difference between European and Brazilian portuguese?


In fact, my impression is that Europeans are more likely to say sim than Brazilians are when answering a yes-no question. In this sense, Brazilian Portuguese is pretty much similar to what happens with Mandarin Chinese when it comes to answering yes-no questions.

A: You-eat-not-eat-rice-questionMark
B: Eat.

A: Você-gosta-de-comer-arroz-questionMark
B: Gosto.


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