Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Brazil): Esse momento de silêncio antes dos aplausos me deixa um pouco ansioso, mas logo fico calmo. - That moment of silence before the applause makes me a bit anxious, but soon I become calm.

este / esta / estes / estas – “this”, close to the speaker
esse / essa / esses / essas – “that”, close to the listener or already known in the conversation
aquele / aquela / aqueles / aquelas – “that (over there)”, far from both, or more distant in time

In modern Brazilian Portuguese, esse is often the default in everyday speech, even when traditional grammar might suggest este. So:

Esse momento de silêncio...
= That moment of silence (we both know which one we’re talking about).

Este momento would not be wrong, but it sounds a bit more formal or “bookish” in Brazil.
Aquele momento would suggest a more distant moment (in time or memory), like recalling a specific past event.

So esse feels natural here because it’s a familiar, identifiable situation the speaker and listener share (that usual moment right before the applause).

What does momento de silêncio literally mean, and why is de used there?

Momento de silêncio is literally “moment of silence”.

The preposition de is often used between two nouns in Portuguese to show a relationship similar to English “of”:

copo de água – glass of water
noite de verão – summer night
momento de silêncio – moment of silence

Here silêncio characterizes what kind of momento it is. You would not normally say momento silêncio; you need de to connect them.

Why is it antes dos aplausos and not antes de aplausos?

Antes de needs an object, and when that object is a specific noun, Portuguese usually uses the definite article.

antes dos aplausos = “before the applause” (the particular applause we are expecting)
de + os = dos (a mandatory contraction in standard Portuguese)

Saying antes de aplausos (without the article) is grammatically odd and sounds unidiomatic. It would feel like “before applause (in general)” rather than this concrete, expected applause from an audience.

You can compare:

antes do jantar – before the dinner
antes da prova – before the test
antes dos aplausos – before the applause

All use the preposition de + definite article.

What is going on with me deixa? Why not something like faz eu ficar ansioso?

Me deixa literally is “leaves me” or “makes me (become)”, and it’s a very common structure:

X me deixa [adjective] = X makes me [adjective]
- Esse momento de silêncio me deixa ansioso.
  (This moment of silence makes me anxious.)

Grammatically:

me is an unstressed object pronoun (“me”), referring to eu.
deixa is the verb deixar in the 3rd person singular (he/she/it leaves).

You could say faz eu ficar ansioso, and Brazilians do use fazer like this, but:

me deixa ansioso is shorter and more natural-sounding.
faz eu ficar ansioso is more informal and also slightly clunkier.

Often, Brazilian speakers would use me faz ficar ansioso instead:

Esse momento me faz ficar ansioso.

Both are understandable, but me deixa ansioso is very idiomatic and smooth.

Why does the pronoun go before the verb (me deixa) instead of after (deixa-me)?

In Brazilian Portuguese, the default in speech is to put object pronouns before the verb (proclisis):

me deixa, te vi, me ajudou, nos chamaram

The form with the pronoun after the verb (deixa-me) is:

more common in European Portuguese
used mainly in formal written Brazilian Portuguese, not much in everyday speech

So:

In Brazil, everyday speech: Esse momento me deixa ansioso.
In formal style or in European Portuguese: Esse momento deixa-me ansioso.

Both are grammatically correct; the choice is stylistic and regional. For Brazilian conversation, me deixa is the natural one.

What exactly does deixar mean in a structure like me deixa ansioso?

Literal deixar means “to leave” or “to let”, but with an adjective it functions similarly to “to make (someone) be in a certain state”.

Pattern:

deixar + object + adjective
- Esse filme me deixa triste. – This movie makes me sad.
- O calor me deixa cansado. – The heat makes me tired.
- Essa situação me deixa nervoso. – This situation makes me nervous.

So in me deixa um pouco ansioso:

The “state” is um pouco ansioso (a bit anxious).
deixar indicates causing or bringing about that state.

It’s an extremely common and natural way to talk about how things affect your emotions or condition.

What is the role of um pouco here? Why not um pouco de ansioso?

Um pouco means “a little / a bit”. How it behaves depends on what follows:

Before nouns, you usually use um pouco de:
- um pouco de água – a little (bit of) water
- um pouco de calma – a little calm
Before adjectives, you use um pouco without de:
- um pouco cansado – a little tired
- um pouco nervosa – a little nervous
- um pouco ansioso – a little anxious

In your sentence, ansioso is an adjective, so um pouco ansioso is correct.
um pouco de ansioso sounds wrong here.

You could place um pouco in a couple of natural positions:

me deixa um pouco ansioso (most natural)
me deixa ansioso um pouco (possible but less common and a bit clumsy in this case)

Why is it mas logo fico calmo and not mas logo eu fico calmo?

Portuguese is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns (eu, você, ele, etc.) can be omitted when the verb ending already shows the subject.

fico is 1st person singular, so it clearly means “I become / I get”.

Including eu is not wrong:

mas logo eu fico calmo – also correct

Difference in feel:

mas logo fico calmo – neutral, fluent, slightly lighter
mas logo eu fico calmo – adds a tiny bit of emphasis on eu (“but soon I get calm”), as if contrasting with others or highlighting yourself

In context with no special emphasis, leaving eu out is very natural.

Why use ficar in fico calmo instead of sou or estou?

Ficar has several uses; one of them is to express becoming / getting (a change of state):

ficar calmo – to become calm / to get calm
ficar nervoso – to get nervous
ficar triste – to become sad

Compare:

Sou calmo. – I am a calm person (general characteristic).
Estou calmo. – I am calm (right now).
Fico calmo. – I get/become calm (at that moment / as a result of something).

In your sentence:

mas logo fico calmo = “but soon I (end up) get(ting) calm / I calm down soon.”

It emphasizes the transition from anxiety to calmness, which is why ficar is the natural choice.

What does logo mean here? Is it like English “logo” or “therefore”?

Logo in this sentence means “soon / shortly afterwards”:

mas logo fico calmo – but soon I get calm

Common meanings of logo in Portuguese:

Soon / in a short while
- Ele chega logo. – He’s arriving soon.
- Logo depois do filme, fomos embora. – Right after the movie, we left.
Therefore / so (more formal, especially in logic/maths):
- Choveu muito, logo houve enchente. – It rained a lot, therefore there was flooding.

Here it is clearly sense 1: the anxiety doesn’t last long; calm comes soon after.

It has nothing to do with the English word “logo” (visual symbol).

Why are ansioso and calmo masculine? What if the speaker is a woman?

Adjectives in Portuguese agree in gender and number with the noun (or pronoun) they refer to.

Here, both ansioso and calmo refer to eu:

If the speaker is male:
- Eu fico ansioso. / Eu fico calmo.
If the speaker is female:
- Eu fico ansiosa. / Eu fico calma.

So a woman would say:

Esse momento de silêncio antes dos aplausos me deixa um pouco ansiosa, mas logo fico calma.

The rest of the sentence stays the same; only the adjectives change.

Why are the verbs in the simple present (deixa, fico) if this seems like something that happens repeatedly?

In Portuguese, as in English, the simple present can describe:

general truths and facts
habitual or repeated actions
typical reactions or tendencies

Here:

Esse momento de silêncio... me deixa... ansioso
describes a typical, repeated effect that this kind of moment has on the speaker.
mas logo fico calmo
describes what usually happens next, as a habit.

So it’s like English:

“This moment of silence before the applause makes me a bit anxious, but I soon get calm.”

You don’t need a special tense for “usually” or “every time” – the simple present does that job.

Can I say Esse silêncio antes dos aplausos me deixa ansioso instead of Esse momento de silêncio antes dos aplausos?

Yes, you can, and it’s perfectly natural:

Esse silêncio antes dos aplausos me deixa um pouco ansioso, mas logo fico calmo.

Difference in nuance:

Esse momento de silêncio... – focuses on the moment as a unit of time, characterized by silence.
Esse silêncio... – focuses directly on the silence itself.

Both are idiomatic. The original version just draws attention to that specific time interval (“that moment”) when the silence happens; the alternative version focuses straight on the silence.