falar

From Old Leonese falar, from Latin fābulārī (“to chat, converse”).

• IPA^(key): /faˈlaɾ/ [faˈlaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: fa‧lar

falar (first-person singular indicative present falo, past participle faláu)

1. to talk
2. to speak

From Old Galician-Portuguese falar, from Latin fābulārī (“chat, converse”). Doublet of fabular, which was borrowed from Latin. Compare Asturian, Mirandese and Portuguese falar, Spanish hablar.

• IPA^(key): /faˈlaɾ/ [faˈlaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Hyphenation: fa‧lar

falar (first-person singular present falo, first-person singular preterite falei, past participle falado)

1. (intransitive) to speak, to talk

   Falemos.

   Let's talk.

2. (intransitive) [with con ‘to someone’]
3. (intransitive) to speak [with para ‘to one particular audience or in one particular direction’]

   Non oes ou falo para as moscas?

   Aren't you hearing me or am I speaking to the flies?

4. (intransitive) to talk about [with de or sobre]
5. (transitive) to speak (to be able to communicate in a language)

   Eu falo galego.

   I speak Galician.

6. (pronominal) to get along
7. (intransitive) to have a relation [with con ‘with someone’]

falar m (plural falares)

1. speech

   O falar non ten cancelas. (proverb) ― Speech has no gates.

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “falar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “falar”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “falar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “falar”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “falar”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Borrowed from Esperanto fali, English fall, German fallen.

• IPA^(key): /faˈlar/

falar (present falas, past falis, future falos, conditional falus, imperative falez)

1. (intransitive) to fall, to fall down

From Latin fābulārī (“chat, converse”).

falar

1. to speak

Inherited from Latin fābulārī (“chat, converse”). Compare Old Spanish fablar.

• IPA^(key): /fa.ˈlaɾ/
• Rhymes: -aɾ

falar

1. to speak; to talk

• fala

• Fala: falal
• Galician: falar
• Portuguese: falar

falar m (plural falares)

1. speech (the act of speaking)

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese falar, from Latin fābulārī (“chat, converse”). Doublet of fabular, which was borrowed from Latin. Compare Galician falar, Spanish hablar.

• fallar (obsolete)
• falá (apocopic or eye dialect)

• (Rural Central Brazil) IPA^(key): /fɐˈla(ɹ)/
• Hyphenation: fa‧lar

falar (first-person singular present falo, first-person singular preterite falei, past participle falado)

1. (intransitive) to speak; to talk (to say words out loud)

   Para de falar. ― Stop talking.

   Fala! ― Talk!

   Fale, por favor. ― Please, talk..

   • 1890, Aluizio Azevedo, O Cortiço, Rio de Janeiro: B. L. Garnier:

     Começavam a fazer compras na venda; ensarilhavam-se discussões e resingas; ouviam-se gargalhadas e pragas; já se não falava, gritava-se.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (by extension) to communicate by any means

   Synonym: comunicar

   Já não nos falamos. ― We don't talk anymore.

   Falamo-nos por correio. ― We communicate by mail.

3. (Brazil, transitive) to say something

   Synonym: dizer

   Para de falar bobagens. ― Stop talking nonsense.

   • 2006, Norma Simões Lopes Duarte, Mulheres de um homem só, Editora AGE Ltda., →ISBN, page 36:

     Os pensamentos que fervilhavam em seus cérebros era: afinal, homens é que podiam falar palavrão e baixarias, não suas distintas esposas criadas em colégio de freiras.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

4. (intransitive) to talk [with com or para ‘to someone’]

   Synonyms: conversar, papear

   Estou falando com você ― I'm talking to you.

   Tás a falar pra mim? ― Are you talking to me?

5. (Brazil, transitive) to tell (to convey by speech) [with para ‘someone’]

   Synonyms: contar, dizer, relatar

   Vou falar para você. ― I’m going to tell you.

6. (intransitive) to talk [with de or sobre ‘about someone/something’]
7. (intransitive) to speak ill [with de ‘of someone/something’]
8. (transitive) to speak (to be able to communicate in a language)

   Eu falo português.

   I speak Portuguese.

   • 2006, Richard Diegues, André Vianco, Alexandre Heredia, Visões de São Paulo - Ensaios Urbanos, Tarja Editorial, →ISBN, page 13:

     Formigas. Formiguinhas pequenininhas, marchando em linha. E elas falam. Elas dizem coisas impossíveis de entender porque eu não falo formiguês.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2012, Luís Fernando Veríssimo, “A tradutora belga”, in Diálogos Impossíveis, Rio de Janeiro: Editora Objetiva, →ISBN, page 84:

     — E que língua se falava na Bélgica, afinal?

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• Macanese: falâ

Nominalization of Etymology 1.

• Hyphenation: fa‧lar

falar m (plural falares)

1. a cant, dialect or regional language

   Synonym: fala

• “falar” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “falar”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “falar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025