Phrase · 🕊️ Diplomacy & delicate topics
Acho que houve um pequeno mal-entendido entre nós.
I think there's been a small misunderstanding between us.
C2defusing conflictAudio · coming soon
Why every word is where it is
Acho1verbI thinkachar · present · 1st sing.queconjunctionthathouve2verbthere washaver · past · 3rd sing.umdetermineramasc. · sing. · indefinitepequeno3adjectivesmallmasc. · sing.mal-entendido2nounmisunderstandingmasc. · sing.entreprepositionbetweennósobject pronounus1st pl. · direct object.
- Acho → houve: achar que + indicative
- houve → mal-entendido: existential haver
- pequeno → mal-entendido: pequeno minimizes the conflict
Why it's built this way
The notes match the numbers above.
- 1«achar que» (to think) takes the indicative.
- 2Existential «houve»; «mal-entendido» is hyphenated.
- 3«pequeno» and «entre nós» share the blame and shrink the problem. Pragmatics of Brazilian indirectness & politeness →