Hoje de manhã, eu tomei café quente e depois fui ao mercado.

Hoje de manhã means this morning / today in the morning.

• hoje = today
• de manhã = in the morning

In Brazilian Portuguese, hoje de manhã is a very natural everyday way to say this morning.

The comma separates the time expression from the main part of the sentence.

Putting Hoje de manhã at the beginning sets the time first, and the comma marks that introductory phrase. In short sentences, the comma is sometimes optional, but it is very common and helps readability.

So:

• Hoje de manhã, eu tomei café... = very normal
• Hoje de manhã eu tomei café... = also possible

Not always. Portuguese often drops subject pronouns when the verb form already makes the subject clear.

So both are natural:

• Hoje de manhã, eu tomei café quente...
• Hoje de manhã, tomei café quente...

The form tomei already tells you the subject is I.
Using eu can add clarity, emphasis, or contrast.

Tomei is the 1st person singular preterite of tomar.

• tomar = to take / to drink / to have
• tomei = I took / I drank / I had

The preterite is used for a completed action in the past. Here, the speaker is talking about one finished event this morning.

Compare:

• tomei café = I had/drank coffee
• tomava café = I used to drink coffee / I was drinking coffee

In Portuguese, tomar is very commonly used for drinks, medicine, showers, and some meals.

So tomar café can mean to drink coffee.
It is very natural in Brazilian Portuguese.

Examples:

• tomar café = drink coffee
• tomar água = drink water
• tomar remédio = take medicine
• tomar banho = take a shower

Sometimes learners get confused because café appears in expressions related to breakfast.

Important distinction:

• tomar café = usually drink coffee
• tomar café da manhã = have breakfast

In this sentence, café quente clearly refers to hot coffee, not breakfast.

In Portuguese, adjectives usually come after the noun.

So:

• café quente = hot coffee
• mercado grande = big market
• casa bonita = beautiful house

Some adjectives can come before the noun for style or a change in meaning, but with quente, the normal order is noun + adjective.

Quente is an adjective with the same form for masculine and feminine singular nouns.

So you get:

• café quente
• comida quente

In the plural, it changes only in number:

• cafés quentes
• comidas quentes

Depois means afterwards / then / later.

It shows the sequence of events:

1. eu tomei café quente
2. depois fui ao mercado

So the sentence is saying one thing happened first, and the trip to the market happened after that.

Because they do slightly different jobs:

• e = and
• depois = then / afterward

Together, e depois sounds very natural when narrating events in order.

Compare:

• tomei café e fui ao mercado = I had coffee and went to the market
• tomei café e depois fui ao mercado = I had coffee and then went to the market

The second version emphasizes the sequence a bit more clearly.

Yes. Fui can be the preterite of both ir (to go) and ser (to be).

That is completely normal in Portuguese. Context tells you which verb it is.

Here, fui ao mercado clearly means I went to the market, so fui is from ir.

Compare:

• Ontem fui ao mercado. = Yesterday I went to the market.
• Ontem fui feliz. = Yesterday I was happy.

Ao is a contraction of:

• a
  • o = ao

Here:

• ir a = to go to
• o mercado = the market

So:

• fui ao mercado = I went to the market

This kind of contraction is very common in Portuguese.

Other examples:

• a + a = à
• de + o = do
• em + o = no

Both can be possible, but ir ao mercado is a very common and natural way to say go to the market.

In Brazilian Portuguese:

• ir a / ao / à often sounds a bit more standard or traditional
• ir para / pro / pra is also very common in speech

So these are both natural:

• fui ao mercado
• fui para o mercado
• fui pro mercado (very common spoken contraction)

The sentence you were given uses the more textbook-friendly form ao mercado.

Portuguese often uses definite articles where English may or may not use them.

Here, ao mercado literally means to the market. This is the normal Portuguese structure.

Portuguese frequently says:

• vou ao banco = I’m going to the bank
• fui ao supermercado = I went to the supermarket
• cheguei à escola = I arrived at school

Yes.

You could say:

• Hoje de manhã, eu tomei café quente e fui ao mercado.

That still means the speaker had coffee and went to the market.
Adding depois just makes the order more explicit: coffee first, market second.

Manhã can be tricky for English speakers because of the nasal sound.

A rough guide:

• ma = like mah
• nh = like the ny sound in canyon
• final ã = nasal vowel, so the sound comes partly through the nose

So it sounds roughly like ma-NYAN, but with a nasal ending rather than a clear English n.

Also, de manhã is pronounced smoothly together in normal speech.

It is neutral and very natural.

It is not especially formal, but it is also not slangy. A Brazilian speaker could easily say this in conversation.

In very casual speech, you might also hear forms like:

• Hoje de manhã, tomei um café quente e depois fui pro mercado.

That sounds more informal because of pro = para o.