falei

Falei is the first-person singular form of the Portuguese verb falar in the pretérito perfeito (the simple past). It translates as “I spoke” or “I talked” and is used to describe a completed action in the past. Falar is a regular -ar verb; its pretérito perfeito conjugation for the eu form is falei. Full standard forms are: eu falei, tu falaste (or você falou in Brazilian Portuguese), ele/ela falou, nós falamos, vós falastes, eles falaram.

Usage: Falei is transitive and commonly takes a direct object or a prepositional complement. Examples include “Eu falei com ele” (I spoke with him) and “Eu falei sobre o projeto” (I spoke about the project). It can introduce reported speech or narratives: “Ela disse que eu falei com ele” (She said that I spoke with him). Time specifications such as “ontem” (yesterday) or “já” (already) are often used to anchor the event.

Regional variation: In Brazil, the present-day spoken form often relies on the second-person pronoun você, so the second-person past is “você falou.” In Portugal, “tu falaste” is commonly used in informal speech. The form “falei” is widely understood across Portuguese-speaking regions.

Etymology and related forms: The verb falar derives from Latin fabulari, meaning to speak or tell tales. Related forms include present “falo,” imperfect “falava,” and future “falarei.” See also: falar, pretérito perfeito, conjugation.