Contar Para Alguém: Tell Someone a Story or a Piece of News — Practice

Name what you are telling

Contar can describe telling a story, a joke, or a piece of news: contar uma história, contar uma piada, contar a novidade. In these patterns the thing after contar is the information being shared. Contar also means counting in other contexts; the surrounding words tell you which meaning is intended.

This worksheet focuses on sharing information with another person, rather than comparing every translation of English tell. Use a complete object when the listener needs to know what you will tell. If the information is already clear, a pronoun or a shorter expression may be enough.

Add the listener with para

Use para alguém to identify the person who hears the story or news. In informal Brazilian speech, para often appears as pra. You may also hear contar algo a alguém or an object pronoun such as me in me conta. These options express the recipient without making the person the story itself.

Practice one sentence about what you told and then add who you told it to. Keep private information out of the exercise: a fictional story or an ordinary travel update is enough. Ask a partner to retell the basic information so you can check whether the message was clear.

Check your understanding

Choose the English meaning of each Portuguese example. Answer before looking back at the tables. These questions check the written examples in this guide; they are not a listening or proficiency test.

Recall the Portuguese, then say it

Read the English prompt and say a Portuguese version before opening the answer. The answer shows the example from the lesson; other natural translations may also work. Compare the meaning and the situation rather than counting a different word as automatically wrong.

1. She told a funny story.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Ela contou uma história engraçada.

2. I want to share some news.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Quero contar uma novidade.

3. He told a joke at dinner.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Ele contou uma piada no jantar.

4. I told my sister the news.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Contei a novidade para a minha irmã.

5. Can you tell us that story?

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Você pode contar essa história para a gente?

6. Tell me how the trip went.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Me conta como foi a viagem.

Make the phrase useful to you

Choose one example you could actually use. Say it once from memory, then change one detail that fits your life, such as the person, place, time, or object. Check whether your change also needs a different verb form, article, or adjective ending. If it does, compare it with the pattern in the explanation.

Return to two prompts tomorrow without opening the answers first. If a phrase still feels difficult, shorten it to a useful chunk and build the complete sentence again.

Sources and your next lesson

This I Speak Portuguese practice guide builds on our Say, Tell, and Speak in Portuguese: Dizer, Contar, or Falar? lesson on Real Life Portuguese, with written recall tasks and additional speaking practice. The explanations and examples are teaching material; the practice questions are exercises, not a transcript of a recording.

To add Brazilian audio to your routine, choose a lesson in the Real Life Portuguese app. The app offers its own lessons and practice; this page does not imply that every example here has an app recording.