This is the 4571st most frequent Portuguese word.
contava
"Contava" means "told" or "was telling" (imperfect past tense of "contar").
In this sentence, 'contava' is the past imperfect form of the verb 'contar', meaning 'to tell'. It indicates an ongoing or habitual action in the past.
Ela contava histórias emocionantes sobre aventuras.
She told exciting stories about adventures.
Here, 'contava' is used in the sense of 'counting', referring to the action of enumerating items or periods.
Ele contava os dias até o fim da semana.
He was counting the days until the end of the week.
In this example, 'contava' means 'was counting on' or 'relied on' in a figurative sense, expressing a form of dependency or expectation.