A injeção deixou o lugar vermelho, mas hoje já está melhor.

The injection left the spot red, but today it’s already better.

Breakdown of A injeção deixou o lugar vermelho, mas hoje já está melhor.

• estar: to be
• hoje: today
• mas: but
• melhor: better
• já: already
• deixar: to leave
• vermelho: red
• a injeção: the injection
• o lugar: the spot

Questions & Answers about A injeção deixou o lugar vermelho, mas hoje já está melhor.

Why is it a injeção and not just injeção?

Portuguese normally uses articles much more than English. A injeção means the injection (a specific one in the context). You can see injeção without an article in some contexts (headlines, notes, generic statements), but in everyday speech the article is very common: A injeção doeu. / A injeção deixou...

What does deixou mean here? Isn’t deixar “to leave”?

Yes, deixar can mean to leave, but it also very commonly means to cause / to make / to leave something in a state.
So A injeção deixou o lugar vermelho = The injection left the spot red / made the area red.
Pattern: deixar + object + adjective (or phrase). Example: Isso me deixou feliz. = That made me happy.

Why is it o lugar (“the place”)? What “place” is this?

Here o lugar means the spot / the area (on the body) where the injection was given. In Brazilian Portuguese it’s very normal to refer to a site on the skin as o lugar (or also o local).
You might also hear: o local da injeção = the injection site.

Why do we say vermelho and not vermelha (to match injeção, which is feminine)?

Because vermelho is describing o lugar, not a injeção.

• o lugar (masculine) → vermelho
  If you changed the noun, the adjective would change too:
• A área ficou vermelha. (área is feminine)

Could you use ficou instead of deixou?

Yes, but it changes the structure:

• A injeção deixou o lugar vermelho. = the injection caused the redness (agent/cause emphasized)
• O lugar ficou vermelho. = the spot became red (result emphasized; cause can be implicit)
  Both are natural; the original sentence highlights the injection as the cause.

What’s the role of mas?

Mas means but and links two contrasting ideas: it was red, but it’s better today. It’s the most common neutral way to say but in Portuguese.

Why is hoje placed where it is?

Hoje (today) is flexible in Portuguese, but it often appears near the start of the clause or right after the subject for emphasis and flow.
In mas hoje já está melhor, it sets the timeframe immediately: but today…

What does já mean here?

Já often means already in the sense of “by now / at this point.”
So hoje já está melhor = today it’s already better (i.e., improvement has happened sooner than before/than expected).
It can also mean “now” depending on context, but here already fits best.

What is the subject of está melhor? What is “it”?

The subject is implied (not repeated): it refers back to o lugar (the spot/injection site). Portuguese commonly omits repeated subjects when they’re clear from context.
Expanded version: ...mas o lugar hoje já está melhor.

Why use está and not é?

Estar is used for temporary states/conditions. Redness and improvement are temporary, so: está melhor.
Ser (é) is for more permanent characteristics/identity. Saying é melhor would usually mean “it is better” in a more general/definitional sense, not a temporary condition.

Is melhor an adjective or an adverb here?

In está melhor, melhor functions like an adjective complement meaning better (a comparative state). Portuguese uses the same form melhor whether you think of it as “better” generally—there’s no gender/number agreement for melhor (it doesn’t change to melhora/melhores in this structure).
You can also use it adverbially: Ele está se sentindo melhor. (feeling better)

Could you say bem melhor or muito melhor?

Yes, both are common intensifiers:

• hoje já está bem melhor = today it’s quite a bit better
• hoje já está muito melhor = today it’s much better
  Bem here means “quite/really,” not “well.”

Is there any difference between vermelho and avermelhado?

Often yes in nuance:

• vermelho = red (stronger, more direct)
• avermelhado = reddish (often milder/less intense)
  For an injection site, many people might say ficou vermelho or ficou meio avermelhado (kind of reddish).

Could this be said in the past, like “today it was already better”?

Yes, depending on when you’re speaking:

• Present (as in the sentence): ...mas hoje já está melhor. (it is better now)
• Past: ...mas hoje já estava melhor. (earlier today it was already better)
  Using estava implies you’re describing a past moment today (maybe later in the day you’re recounting it).

Why isn’t it deixou o lugar vermelho, with no preposition before vermelho?

With deixar meaning “to leave/make + state,” Portuguese typically goes directly to the adjective: deixar algo + adjective. No preposition is needed.
Compare: deixou o quarto limpo (left the room clean).