A manutenção começa hoje.

Because a is the feminine singular definite article, meaning the.

In A manutenção começa hoje, manutenção is a feminine singular noun, so it takes a:

• a manutenção = the maintenance

Portuguese uses definite articles more often than English does, so a sentence like this sounds natural with a.

Yes, manutenção is feminine, which is why it uses a.

There is no single perfect rule for guessing gender in Portuguese, and nouns ending in -ão can be masculine or feminine. So the safest way is to learn the noun together with its article:

• a manutenção
• a estação
• o avião
• o coração

So for this word, just memorize it as a manutenção.

Começa is the third-person singular present tense form of the verb começar.

Conjugation in the present tense:

• eu começo = I start
• você/ele/ela começa = you/he/she starts
• a manutenção começa = the maintenance starts

Since a manutenção is a singular subject, the verb is also singular: começa.

The ç is called a cedilla.

It is used to keep the s sound before a, o, or u. So:

• ça sounds like sa
• ço sounds like so
• çu sounds like su

Without the cedilla, ca in Portuguese would normally sound like ka. So comeca would be pronounced differently and would be incorrect spelling.

That is why the verb is written:

• começar
• começa

But notice:

• comecei has no cedilla, because before e, the letter c already has the soft s sound.

Either one works.

In this sentence, começa can mean:

• starts
• begins

Both are natural English translations. Começar is a very common everyday verb and usually matches to start or to begin depending on context.

Yes, hoje can go in other positions.

The original order:

• A manutenção começa hoje.

is very natural and neutral.

You can also say:

• Hoje a manutenção começa.

This puts more emphasis on today.

In general, Portuguese word order is flexible, but the original version is a standard, natural way to say it.

Usually it means a specific, known maintenance.

Because of the definite article a, the sentence normally suggests that the speaker and listener know which maintenance is being referred to:

• A manutenção começa hoje. = The maintenance starts today.

If you wanted a more general idea, you would usually phrase it differently depending on context.

So in most situations, this sounds like scheduled or previously mentioned maintenance.

In normal sentences, A manutenção começa hoje is better.

Leaving out the article can happen in very specific styles, such as:

• headlines
• notices
• labels
• very abbreviated writing

For example, on a sign or announcement, you might see something shorter like:

• Manutenção começa hoje

But in regular spoken or written Portuguese, A manutenção começa hoje is the natural full sentence.

In Brazilian Portuguese, it is roughly pronounced like:

• ma-nu-ten-SOWN

A few important points:

• the stress falls on the last syllable: -ção
• ção sounds roughly like sown, but nasal
• the final sound is nasal, which English does not have in quite the same way

And começa is roughly:

• ko-MEH-sa

with stress on me.

These are only approximations, but they can help at first.

The structure is:

• A manutenção = subject
• começa = verb
• hoje = time expression

So it follows a very familiar pattern:

• Subject + verb + time

Literally:

• The maintenance starts today

This is one reason the sentence is relatively easy for English speakers to understand.

Yes, you could say:

• A manutenção inicia hoje.

But começa is usually the more common and everyday choice.

Iniciar can sound a little more formal or technical in some contexts. Both are correct, but começar is often the most natural verb for learners to use first.

You can change the tense of começar:

• A manutenção começou hoje. = The maintenance started today.
• A manutenção começa amanhã. = The maintenance starts tomorrow.
• A manutenção começará amanhã. = The maintenance will start tomorrow.

In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, people also often use ir + infinitive for the future:

• A manutenção vai começar amanhã. = The maintenance is going to start tomorrow.

Its basic meaning is today, referring to the current day.

In some contexts, especially more abstract speech, hoje can also mean something like nowadays or these days, but not in this sentence.

Here, A manutenção começa hoje clearly means the maintenance starts today, on this day.