Falar vs. Dizer vs. Contar in Portuguese

Language learners often wonder about the difference between the verbs Falar, Dizer, and Contar. While they can sometimes be used interchangeably, certain contexts will call for one of them. Let’s take a closer look at the usage of these three verbs in European Portuguese.

Falar

Falar means ‘talk’ and usually relates to the physical dimension of speech (just like Talk or Speak in English):

Ela fala muito alto.
She speaks very loudly.

Ele não fala de forma clara.
He doesn’t speak clearly.

However, Falar can be used similarly to the verb Tell in English. That being the case, Falar will typically be followed by the prepositions sobre or de:

Fala-me sobre o que tens andado a fazer.
Tell me what you’ve been up to.

Ela falou-me da vida dela em Londres.
She told me about her life in London.

Dizer

Dizer is closely related to Falar though it is more concerned with semantics than the physicality of speech (just like Say or Tell in English):

O que é que disseste?
What did you say?

Diz-me o que achas da minha nova ideia.
Tell me what you think about my new idea.

Tenho que te dizer uma coisa: estou desapontado contigo.
I have to tell you something: I’m disappointed with you.

Now, here’s one thing you might want to keep in mind: in Brazilian Portuguese (BR-PT), Falar is often used instead of Dizer. Here is what the examples above could look like in BR-PT:

O que é que você falou?

Me fala o que você acha da minha nova idea.

Tenho que lhe falar uma coisa: estou muito desapontado consigo.

Contar

Contar can mean ‘tell’ or ‘count’ depending on the context.

Conta-me uma história. 
Tell me a story.

Vamos contar até 20?
Shall we count to 20?

In the sense of telling something, Contar relates to narratives, stories, and personal accounts or anecdotes (as a matter of fact, the Portuguese noun Conto means tale):

Conta-me como foi o teu fim-de-semana.
Tell me how your weekend was.

Ela contou novamente a história da vida dela.
She told us again her life’s story.

Interchangeable usage

Despite the eventual contextual specificities of each of these verbs, remember that they are often used interchangeably (sometimes requiring minor sentence adjustments). Here are a few examples:

Conta-me o que fizeste ontem.
Diz-me o que fizeste ontem.
Fala-me sobre o que fizeste ontem.
Tell me what you did yesterday.

Fala-me da tua viagem.
Conta-me sobre a tua viagem.
Diz-me coisas sobre a tua viagem.
Tell me about your trip.

Ela disse-me um segredo.
Ela contou-me um segredo.
She told me a secret.