O juiz chegou cedo.

O is the masculine singular definite article, meaning the.

So o juiz = the judge.

Portuguese uses definite articles very naturally before nouns, often more consistently than English does. In this sentence, it tells you we are talking about a specific judge, not just any judge.

• o juiz = the judge
• um juiz = a judge

Juiz means judge.

It is the masculine form. The feminine form is juíza.

Examples:

• O juiz chegou cedo. = The male judge arrived early.
• A juíza chegou cedo. = The female judge arrived early.

Notice that the feminine form has an accent: juíza.

In Brazilian Portuguese, juiz is pronounced roughly like joo-EEZ, with the stress on the last syllable.

A rough guide:

• ju sounds like zhoo or joo
• iz sounds like eez

So: ju-IZ

The final z is pronounced, unlike in some English words where final letters may weaken.

Chegou is the 3rd person singular of the verb chegar in the pretérito perfeito (the simple past in Portuguese).

• infinitive: chegar = to arrive
• ele/ela/você chegou = he/she/you arrived

So O juiz chegou cedo means The judge arrived early.

This tense is used for a completed action in the past.

Because the sentence is in the past.

• chega = arrives / is arriving depending on context
• chegou = arrived

Compare:

• O juiz chega cedo. = The judge arrives early / The judge comes early.
• O juiz chegou cedo. = The judge arrived early.

The ending -ou is a very common simple past ending for -ar verbs in the he/she/you form.

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

So instead of saying:

• O juiz chegou cedo.

you could also say:

• Ele chegou cedo. = He arrived early.

But if you already have the noun o juiz, adding ele would usually be unnecessary.

Portuguese is a language where dropping subject pronouns is very common.

Here, cedo is an adverb, meaning early.

It modifies the verb chegou, telling you when the judge arrived.

So:

• chegou cedo = arrived early

It does not change form for gender or number.

Yes. Cedo can be:

1. an adverb: early

   • Ele chegou cedo. = He arrived early.

2. part of the expression mais cedo, meaning earlier

   • Ele chegou mais cedo. = He arrived earlier.

There is also the expression cedo ou tarde, meaning sooner or later.

In your sentence, it simply means early.

No, because cedo is an adverb here, not an adjective.

In Portuguese:

• adjectives usually agree with the noun
• adverbs do not agree

Since cedo is describing how/when he arrived, it stays the same no matter who the subject is.

Examples:

• O juiz chegou cedo.
• A juíza chegou cedo.
• Os juízes chegaram cedo.
• As juízas chegaram cedo.

In all of these, cedo stays the same.

The normal, neutral order is:

O juiz chegou cedo.

That is:

• subject: O juiz
• verb: chegou
• adverb: cedo

Portuguese can change word order in some contexts, especially for style or emphasis, but this sentence is the most natural basic version.

For example, Chegou cedo o juiz is possible in some literary or emphatic contexts, but it is not the standard beginner pattern.

The main stress of each word is:

• O — very short and unstressed
• juiz — stress on the last syllable: ju-IZ
• chegou — stress on the last syllable: che-GOU
• cedo — stress on the first syllable: CE-do

So a rough rhythm is:

o ju-IZ che-GOU CE-do

Usually, no.

Um juiz chegou cedo can exist in some contexts, but it sounds less natural as a simple standalone sentence because um introduces a non-specific judge, while the sentence feels like it is talking about a particular known person.

Most naturally:

• O juiz chegou cedo. = The judge arrived early.

If you say:

• Um juiz chegou cedo.

it means A judge arrived early, which suggests one judge among others, or a new person being introduced into the conversation.

So both are grammatical, but they mean different things.

You would change the article, noun, and verb:

• O juiz chegou cedo. = The judge arrived early.
• Os juízes chegaram cedo. = The judges arrived early.

Changes:

• o → os
• juiz → juízes
• chegou → chegaram

Notice that cedo does not change.

The infinitive is chegar, meaning to arrive.

It is a very common verb in Portuguese.

Examples:

• Cheguei. = I arrived.
• Ela chegou. = She arrived.
• Chegamos cedo. = We arrived early.

It can also be used in expressions like:

• chegar a casa = to get home
• chegar tarde = to arrive late
• chegar cedo = to arrive early