Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Brazil): Este capítulo é curto, mas o autor explica tudo de um jeito interessante. - This chapter is short, but the author explains everything in an interesting way.

este – “this”, close to the speaker / the thing you are currently in or about to mention
esse – “that”, close to the listener or just mentioned / something a bit more distant in discourse
aquele – “that (over there)”, far from both speaker and listener (physically or in time)

In a book context, este capítulo is natural when you mean this current chapter (the one we’re in).

In real Brazilian Portuguese, though, people often use esse instead of este, so you will also hear esse capítulo a lot. The sentence with este capítulo follows the more “textbook” distinction and emphasizes “this (current) chapter”.

Why is it este capítulo (masculine) and not esta capítulo?

Nouns in Portuguese have grammatical gender. Capítulo ends in -o and is masculine, so any word that needs to agree with it must also be masculine:

este capítulo (this chapter)
o capítulo (the chapter)
um capítulo (a chapter)
capítulo curto (short chapter)

If it were feminine, like página (page), you’d say:

esta página (this page)
a página
uma página
página curta

You generally have to memorize gender word by word, but the -o → masculine / -a → feminine pattern is common and often works (with exceptions).

Why do we say é curto and not está curto here?

Both ser (é) and estar (está) can translate as “to be”, but:

ser is usually for more permanent or inherent characteristics.
estar is usually for temporary states or conditions.

A chapter’s length is seen as a fixed characteristic of that chapter. So we describe it with ser:

Este capítulo é curto. – This chapter is short. (That’s how it was written; it doesn’t change.)

Está curto could be used in some contexts with a more “temporary / relative” idea, but not naturally for a chapter’s basic length. You might hear está curto for clothes (“these pants are short on me now”) or for “time is short” in a particular situation.

Could we say pequeno instead of curto? What’s the difference?

You can say este capítulo é pequeno, and people will understand you. The nuance is:

curto = short in length, duration, extension
pequeno = small in size or quantity, more physical or general

For texts, films, trips, etc., curto is more idiomatic:

um filme curto – a short movie
um texto curto – a short text
um capítulo curto – a short chapter

Pequeno sounds a bit more like “small” as an object, not as natural for chapters, although it isn’t “wrong”.

Why is there a comma before mas?

Mas means “but” and introduces a contrast. In Portuguese, when mas connects two full clauses (each with its own verb), we normally put a comma before it:

Este capítulo é curto, mas o autor explica tudo de um jeito interessante.
(Clause 1: Este capítulo é curto / Clause 2: o autor explica tudo…)

If mas were linking only short phrases without separate verbs, you might see it without a comma, but with full sentences like here, the comma is standard.

Why is it o autor and not um autor?

The difference is definite vs indefinite, like “the author” vs “an author”:

o autor = the author (a specific one, known from context – usually the author of this book)
um autor = an author (not specific, just some author)

In the sentence, we are clearly talking about the known author of the chapter/book, so o autor is appropriate.

How does explica work here? Why not explicar or explicou?

Explica is the verb explicar (to explain) in 3rd person singular, present tense:

eu explico – I explain
você / ele / ela explica – you / he / she explains
nós explicamos – we explain
eles / elas explicam – they explain

Here, the subject is o autor, so we use:

o autor explica – the author explains

Explicar by itself is the infinitive (“to explain”), so it cannot be the main verb without another verb before it (like vai explicar, “is going to explain”).

Explicou is past tense (preterite): “explained”. That would mean “the author explained” rather than “explains”. The original sentence is describing the chapter in a general, atemporal way, so explica (present) is natural.

What exactly does de um jeito mean? Why de and not em?

De um jeito literally is “of a way”, but it corresponds to English “in a … way” or “in a … manner”.

Structure:

de + um jeito + adjective = in a [adjective] way
- de um jeito interessante – in an interesting way
- de um jeito claro – in a clear way
- de um jeito simples – in a simple way

In Portuguese, this type of expression usually uses de, not em:

✅ de um jeito estranho – in a strange way
❌ em um jeito estranho – unnatural

The whole phrase de um jeito interessante works as an adverbial phrase modifying explica (how he explains).

What’s the difference between jeito, maneira, and forma?

All three can mean “way” or “manner”:

jeito – very common in speech, neutral and everyday
maneira – a bit more formal than jeito, common in both speech and writing
forma – more formal/technical (“form”, “format”, “shape”, “way”)

You could say:

de um jeito interessante (very natural, everyday)
de uma maneira interessante (natural, slightly more formal)
de uma forma interessante (also natural, perhaps a bit more abstract or formal)

In this sentence, jeito helps keep the tone informal and conversational, which matches talking casually about a chapter.

Why does interessante stay the same form? Shouldn’t it change with gender or number?

Interessante is one of many adjectives that end in -e and have the same form for masculine and feminine:

um capítulo interessante – an interesting (masculine) chapter
uma aula interessante – an interesting (feminine) class

For the plural, you just add -s:

capítulos interessantes – interesting chapters
aulas interessantes – interesting classes

So the adjective interessante doesn’t change for gender; it only changes for singular/plural.

Why is it jeito interessante and not interessante jeito?

In Portuguese, adjectives usually come after the noun:

jeito interessante – interesting way
capítulo curto – short chapter
autor famoso – famous author

Putting the adjective before the noun is possible but:

much less common in everyday speech, and
often adds a special nuance (emphasis, literary style, or a slightly different meaning).

So um interessante jeito would sound very unusual, bookish, or poetic. Um jeito interessante is the normal, neutral order.

What does tudo do in o autor explica tudo? Is it like todo?

Tudo means “everything” and here it is the direct object of explica:

o autor explica tudo – the author explains everything

Compare that with todo, which means “all” / “every”, and usually comes before a noun and agrees with gender/number:

todo o capítulo – the whole chapter
todas as páginas – all the pages

So:

explica tudo – explains everything (no noun after tudo)
explica todo o capítulo – explains the whole chapter

They’re related but not interchangeable in form: tudo stands alone; todo/toda/todos/todas goes with a noun.