Eu sei disso vs nos sabemos isso

Portuguese Questions Grammar
1

I have two flash cards in the smart review queue that I repeatedly get wrong:

  • I know that = eu sei disso
  • We know that (near the listener) = nós sabemos isso

I’ve checked https://www.practiceportuguese.com/learning-notes/invariable-demonstrative-pronouns/ which tells me that isso is “that, near the listener” and that if I wanted to refer to something close to myself (as the speaker), it should it be isto. I have also checked https://www.practiceportuguese.com/learning-notes/combining-de-with-demonstratives/ which tells me that disso is simply a contraction of de + isso. But the verb is saber in both instances, so there’s no reason why it should be “saber de” for singular and “saber” for plural.

Please can someone help me understand why the singular is not just “eu sei isso”?

2

DeepL gives “Eu sei disso” as its primary translation but suggests “Eu sei isso” is also correct. For “we”, it gives “Nós sabemos isso” as its primary translation but suggests “Nos sabemos disso” is an option as well. Let’s see what the PP team has to say about this.

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3

@Tomas, both versions are possible in both cases (and I’ve already checked the flash cards to make sure that both are accepted). In theory, the difference between them would be more or less like:

  • Eu sei isso = I know that
  • Eu sei disso = I know about that, I am aware of that
    (we wouldn’t really see a practical difference between these two)

Here’s an example that might be more obvious:

  • Eu sei matemática = I know maths (i.e. I really know this subject)
  • Eu sei da matemática = I am aware of maths (i.e. I am aware that it exists, without necessarily knowing all about it)
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4

That helps a lot. Muito obrigado @Joseph for the clear and detailed explanation.

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