Ele tentou roubar o carro.

Tentou is the simple past (also called the preterite) of the verb tentar = to try.

So:

• eu tentei = I tried
• ele/ela tentou = he/she tried

In Ele tentou roubar o carro, tentou means he tried.

In Portuguese, after tentar (to try), you normally use the next verb directly in the infinitive.

So the pattern is:

• tentar + infinitive

Examples:

• tentar fazer = to try to do
• tentar abrir = to try to open
• tentar roubar = to try to steal

So Ele tentou roubar o carro is the normal structure.

Because Portuguese often uses the infinitive by itself after certain verbs.

In English, we say:

• He tried to steal the car

In Portuguese, after tentar, you just say:

• Ele tentou roubar o carro

Here, roubar already means to steal in dictionary form, so no extra word is needed.

In this sentence, roubar o carro means to steal the car.

A useful rule:

• steal + thing
• rob + person/place

Portuguese roubar can cover both ideas depending on the object:

• roubar o carro = steal the car
• roubar uma loja = rob a store
• roubar alguém = rob someone

So in this sentence, since the object is o carro, the best English meaning is steal.

O means the, so o carro = the car.

Portuguese uses definite articles very naturally and often more than English does. In this sentence, o carro refers to a specific car, so the car is the normal form.

Compare:

• roubar o carro = steal the car
• roubar um carro = steal a car

So if you want the meaning the car, you need o carro.

Yes, but the meaning changes.

• Ele tentou roubar o carro = He tried to steal the car
• Ele tentou roubar um carro = He tried to steal a car

Use o when talking about a specific car, and um when it is not specific.

Yes, often you can.

Portuguese is a language where the subject pronoun is often omitted if the verb form already makes the subject clear.

So these can both work:

• Ele tentou roubar o carro.
• Tentou roubar o carro.

The version with ele is more explicit. It may be used for clarity, contrast, or emphasis.

Even though Portuguese often omits subject pronouns, speakers still use them when they want to:

• make the subject clear
• contrast with someone else
• emphasize who did the action
• avoid ambiguity

So Ele tentou roubar o carro may simply be clearer in context than just Tentou roubar o carro.

The structure is:

• Ele = subject
• tentou = main verb in the past
• roubar = infinitive complement
• o carro = direct object of roubar

So it follows a very common pattern:

• subject + tried + infinitive + object

Examples:

• Ela tentou abrir a porta.
• Nós tentamos encontrar a chave.

Because roubar takes a direct object.

That means the thing being stolen comes directly after the verb:

• roubar o carro
• roubar dinheiro
• roubar uma bolsa

No preposition is needed between roubar and the thing stolen.

A rough English-friendly pronunciation is:

EH-lee ten-TOH hoh-BAR oo KAH-hoo

A few notes:

• tentou sounds roughly like ten-TOH
• roubar in Brazil usually begins with an h-like sound: hoh-BAR
• carro has a strong h-like sound for rr in most of Brazil: KAH-hoo
• final o often sounds like oo

This is only an approximation, but it helps at the beginning.

The infinitive is tentar.

So:

• tentar = to try
• tentou = tried

This is very useful because dictionaries list verbs under the infinitive form.

Yes. That is a perfectly valid translation.

• Ele tentou roubar o carro = He tried to steal the car
• Ele tentou roubar o carro = He attempted to steal the car

Attempted is a bit more formal in English, but the meaning is the same.

The difference is very important:

• Ele tentou roubar o carro = He tried to steal the car
  
  • We do not know if he succeeded.
• Ele roubou o carro = He stole the car
  
  • He succeeded.

So tentou roubar shows an attempt, not necessarily a completed action.