Ele sentiu raiva.

Sentiu is the simple past form of the verb sentir, which usually means to feel.

So:

• sentir = to feel
• ele sentiu = he felt

This is the preterite in Portuguese, which is commonly used for a completed action in the past. In this sentence, it means he felt anger at some point in the past.

The difference is mainly about how the past action is viewed.

• Ele sentiu raiva = he felt anger / he got angry
  
  • a specific, completed moment or event in the past
• Ele sentia raiva = he used to feel anger / he was feeling anger
  
  • ongoing, habitual, or background feeling in the past

So sentiu sounds more like something that happened at a particular moment, while sentia suggests a more continuous or repeated state.

Raiva usually means anger, rage, or resentment, depending on context.

In Ele sentiu raiva, the most natural meaning is simply:

• He felt angry
• He felt anger
• sometimes He got angry, depending on context

One important note: raiva can also mean rabies in medical contexts, but that is not the meaning here.

In Portuguese, abstract nouns like raiva, medo, vergonha, and ciúme often appear without an article after verbs like sentir.

So these are natural:

• sentir raiva = to feel anger
• sentir medo = to feel fear
• sentir vergonha = to feel shame

Adding an article can change the nuance or make it sound more specific:

• sentiu raiva = felt anger
• sentiu a raiva = felt the anger

The version without the article is the normal, general one here.

Yes, Portuguese often drops subject pronouns when the subject is clear from the verb form or from context.

So both are possible:

• Ele sentiu raiva.
• Sentiu raiva.

Because sentiu can mean he/she/you formal felt, context tells you who the subject is.

Including ele can be useful for:

• emphasis
• contrast
• clarity

For example:

• Ela ficou calma, mas ele sentiu raiva.

A rough pronunciation guide for Brazilian Portuguese is:

• Ele ≈ EH-lee
• sentiu ≈ sen-CHEEW
• raiva ≈ HAI-vah in many Brazilian accents

A few helpful notes:

• In Brazilian Portuguese, ti before a vowel often sounds like chee, so sentiu sounds close to sen-cheew.
• The r at the beginning of raiva is often pronounced like an English h in many Brazilian accents.
• The stress is:
  • senTIU
  • RAIva

Yes, sentir raiva is a very common and natural combination.

For example:

• Senti raiva disso. = I felt angry about that.
• Ela sentiu raiva dele. = She felt angry at him.

But Portuguese also has other ways to express anger, such as:

• ficar com raiva = to get angry
• estar com raiva = to be angry

So:

• Ele sentiu raiva. = He felt anger.
• Ele ficou com raiva. = He got angry.
• Ele estava com raiva. = He was angry.

They are similar, but not identical in tone.

They are close, but the focus is slightly different.

• sentiu raiva = focuses on the feeling itself
• ficou com raiva = focuses on the change of state: he became angry

So:

• Ele sentiu raiva ao ouvir isso.
  = He felt anger when he heard that.
• Ele ficou com raiva ao ouvir isso.
  = He got angry when he heard that.

In many contexts, either one could work, but ficou com raiva often sounds a bit more like everyday spoken Brazilian Portuguese when talking about someone becoming angry.

Yes. If you want to say what or whom the anger is directed at, Portuguese often uses de.

Examples:

• Ele sentiu raiva de mim. = He felt angry at me.
• Ela sentiu raiva do irmão. = She felt angry at her brother.
• Senti raiva da situação. = I felt angry about the situation.

You may also hear com in some expressions, especially with other structures like estar com raiva or ficar com raiva, but with sentir raiva, de is very common.

Sentir is not fully regular, so learners usually need to memorize some of its forms.

Its preterite forms are:

• eu senti
• você/ele/ela sentiu
• nós sentimos
• vocês/eles/elas sentiram

In Ele sentiu raiva, the form sentiu is the third person singular preterite.

A useful thing to notice is that the stem stays fairly recognizable here, so once you know sentir, sentiu is not too hard to spot.

Sometimes, depending on context, raiva can be stronger than simple irritation, but it usually means anger rather than hate.

So the safest translation is:

• He felt anger
• He felt angry
• possibly He got angry

If you want to clearly say hate, Portuguese would more often use:

• ódio = hate

For example:

• Ele sentiu ódio. = He felt hate.