Escolhi meu amigo como apresentador.

Escolhi is the 1st person singular form of escolher, which means to choose, to pick, or to select.

So escolhi means I chose or I picked.

It is in the pretérito perfeito in Portuguese, which usually corresponds to the simple past in English.

• escolho = I choose / I am choosing
• escolhi = I chose

Portuguese often leaves out the subject pronoun when the verb already makes the subject clear.

In escolhi, the ending -i shows that the subject is I, so eu is unnecessary.

You could say:

Eu escolhi meu amigo como apresentador.

But the eu is usually only added for emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

In Brazilian Portuguese, both meu amigo and o meu amigo can be correct.

With possessives like meu, minha, seu, nossa, Brazilian Portuguese often allows the article to be omitted, especially in everyday speech.

So:

• meu amigo = natural and very common
• o meu amigo = also possible, sometimes a little more specific or emphatic depending on context

In this sentence, meu amigo sounds perfectly normal.

Yes.

The structure is:

• Escolhi = verb
• meu amigo = direct object
• como apresentador = role/result of that choice

So the speaker chose my friend.

Unlike Spanish, Portuguese does not normally use a special marker like a personal a before a human direct object. That is why you say:

Escolhi meu amigo

not Escolhi a meu amigo.

Here, como means as or in the role of.

So:

Escolhi meu amigo como apresentador
= I chose my friend as presenter / as host

This is not the how meaning of como, and it is not a comparison like like.

It is introducing the function or role the friend was chosen for.

When Portuguese names a person’s role, profession, or function, it often leaves out the article, especially after como.

So:

• como apresentador = as presenter / as host
• como professor
• como presidente

This sounds natural because the noun is being used more as a role label than as a fully specified object.

If you add an article, the meaning can become more specific:

• como o apresentador = as the presenter

That would suggest a particular, already identified presenter role.

Not usually in this structure.

The most natural option here is:

Escolhi meu amigo como apresentador.

If you want a different structure, you could say:

Escolhi meu amigo para ser o apresentador.

That means I chose my friend to be the presenter.

So:

• como apresentador = as presenter
• para ser o apresentador = to be the presenter

But para apresentador by itself would not sound right here.

Apresentador can mean several related things depending on context:

• presenter
• host
• MC
• TV host
• radio host

In Brazilian Portuguese, it often refers to someone who presents a show, event, program, or segment.

So the best English translation depends on the situation:

• for TV: host or presenter
• for an event: MC or host
• in a general sense: presenter

You would normally change both the possessed noun and the role noun to match the feminine form:

Escolhi minha amiga como apresentadora.

Changes:

• meu amigo → minha amiga
• apresentador → apresentadora

Portuguese nouns and related words often show grammatical gender, so those forms need to agree.

Yes, but the original order is the most neutral and natural:

Escolhi meu amigo como apresentador.

Other orders may be possible, but they can sound more marked, literary, or less natural in everyday Brazilian Portuguese.

For example:

Eu escolhi meu amigo como apresentador.
This is fine, with extra emphasis on I.

But something like:

Escolhi como apresentador meu amigo

is grammatically understandable, yet much less natural in ordinary speech.

In Brazilian Portuguese, lh represents a sound similar to the lli in million for many English speakers, though not exactly the same.

So escolhi is roughly:

es-co-LYEE

Very roughly broken down:

• es = like es
• co = ko
• lh = a palatal sound, similar to ly
• i = ee

A rough English-friendly approximation is es-ko-LYEE, but the real Portuguese sound is smoother and more connected.

Yes.

That is a very natural translation of the same idea.

The Portuguese sentence focuses on the choice plus the role:

Escolhi meu amigo como apresentador.

Possible translations include:

• I chose my friend as presenter.
• I chose my friend as the presenter.
• I selected my friend to be the presenter.
• I picked my friend to be the host.

The best English version depends on context and style.