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Professor,
Thanks for the great lesson. My question concerns the first use of acabo in the third line. It seems like the action is done and over so why not “acabei de falar”? Am I thinking in too literal a manner?
Thad, nice observation! You have actually caught on to something that linguists study a lot. Turns out that “acabo de falar” and “acabei de falar” are pretty much interchangeable. Brazilians will use the present tense “acabo” or the past tense “acabei” and either one is fine, and the meaning doesn’t really change.
I know you’d like a more specific answer where I say, “this is the difference and this is right and this is wrong” but in this case, both are just fine.
Besides its beauty of sound, this type of flexibility is one of the things I love best about this language. It seems to reflect a sense of improvisation, and flow. Thanks, again.