Eu sinto saudade do meu filho quando ele está longe.

Portuguese usually does not use one direct verb that matches English to miss in this context.

Instead, it commonly uses the expression:

sentir saudade de alguém = literally something like to feel saudade for someone

So:

• Eu sinto saudade do meu filho = I miss my son

Another very common option is:

• Eu tenho saudade do meu filho = also I miss my son

Both are natural in Brazilian Portuguese, though sentir saudade can sound a bit more emotional or literary depending on context, while ter saudade is extremely common in everyday speech.

Saudade is one of the most famous Portuguese words because it has no perfect one-word equivalent in English.

In this sentence, it means something like:

• missing someone
• longing for someone
• feeling the absence of someone

Depending on context, saudade can carry warmth, affection, nostalgia, sadness, or emotional distance.

So here, saudade do meu filho means the speaker feels the emotional absence of their son when he is away.

Do is a contraction of:

• de + o = do

Here, saudade normally takes de:

• saudade de alguém

When that de comes before o meu filho, it usually contracts:

• de o meu filho → do meu filho

So:

• Eu sinto saudade do meu filho

That is the normal form.

You may also see de meu filho in some styles, especially in more formal or literary language, but do meu filho is the standard, natural everyday choice in Brazilian Portuguese.

In Brazilian Portuguese, possessives like meu, minha, seu, nosso can appear with or without the definite article, depending on region, style, and sentence structure.

So both can exist:

• meu filho
• o meu filho

In this sentence, do meu filho is very natural in Brazil.

If you said:

• do meu filho
• do meu filho is neutral and common

You may also hear:

• do meu filho much more often than de meu filho
• and in some contexts do meu filho rather than trying to include an extra article separately

The key point is that with the contraction do, the structure already feels complete and natural.

Yes. Portuguese often drops subject pronouns when the verb already shows who the subject is.

So these both work:

• Eu sinto saudade do meu filho quando ele está longe.
• Sinto saudade do meu filho quando ele está longe.

Both mean the same thing.

Including Eu can add emphasis, contrast, or clarity. Without it, the sentence sounds very natural and normal.

Because estar is used for states or conditions, while ser is used more for identity, inherent characteristics, and definitions.

Here, longe means far away / away, which is treated as a temporary or situational state:

• ele está longe = he is away / he is far away

Using ser here would sound wrong in standard Portuguese.

Compare:

• A escola é longe. = The school is far.
  Here, people do often use ser with distance in this kind of expression.
• Meu filho está longe. = My son is away / far away.
  Here we use estar because it describes where he is at the moment.

Quando means when.

It introduces the time condition for the feeling:

• Eu sinto saudade do meu filho quando ele está longe.
• I miss my son when he is away.

So the sentence means the speaker feels that emotion during the periods when the son is not nearby.

Portuguese often uses the simple present for:

• general truths
• repeated situations
• habitual reactions
• things that regularly happen

So this sentence does not necessarily mean right now, at this exact moment only.

It means something like:

• Whenever he is away, I miss him
• I miss my son when he is away

So:

• sinto = I feel / I miss
• está = he is

Both are present because the sentence describes a general emotional pattern.

Yes, absolutely. That is very natural Brazilian Portuguese.

Both are common:

• Sinto saudade do meu filho quando ele está longe.
• Tenho saudade do meu filho quando ele está longe.

Very roughly:

• sentir saudade can sound a bit more directly emotional
• ter saudade is extremely common and everyday

In most situations, either one is fine.

Because saudade is normally used as an uncountable feeling in this context.

So Portuguese says:

• sinto saudade
• tenho saudade

not usually saudades in this exact structure.

However, saudades also exists and is very common in other uses, especially in messages, greetings, or affectionate expressions:

• Saudades! = Miss you! / Thinking of you!
• Muitas saudades = I miss you very much / lots of longing

In your sentence, singular saudade is the standard choice.

Longe means far or away.

In this sentence:

• ele está longe

it means he is away or he is far away.

It is not an adjective that changes for gender or number here. It stays longe.

Examples:

• Ela está longe. = She is away.
• Eles estão longe. = They are far away.

So longe is fixed in form.

This is the most straightforward and natural order:

• Eu = subject
• sinto = verb
• saudade do meu filho = what is felt / who is being missed
• quando ele está longe = time clause

Portuguese word order is often similar to English in basic statements.

You could move parts around for emphasis, for example:

• Quando ele está longe, eu sinto saudade do meu filho.

That still sounds natural, but it emphasizes the time condition first.

The accent in está is a written stress mark.

It helps show pronunciation and distinguishes the verb form clearly:

• está = is

The word ele does not need an accent because its spelling and stress already follow normal pronunciation rules.

So:

• ele = no accent
• está = accent required

This is just part of standard Portuguese spelling.

A careful Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation would be roughly:

eh-ooh SEEN-too sow-DAH-jee doo meh-oo FEE-lyoo KWAN-doo EH-lee es-TAH LON-zhee

A few useful notes:

• Eu often sounds like eh-ooh or even more compressed in fast speech.
• sinto has a nasal sound in the first syllable.
• saudade in Brazil usually sounds like sow-DAH-jee.
• filho has the lh sound, similar to ly in million, but not exactly the same.
• longe in Brazilian Portuguese often sounds like LON-zhee or LON-jee, depending on accent.

Natural speech may reduce sounds a bit, but that pronunciation guide is a good starting point.

It works in both Brazilian and European Portuguese.

The grammar and wording are correct in either variety:

• Eu sinto saudade do meu filho quando ele está longe.

The main differences would be:

• pronunciation
• rhythm
• some preferences in everyday usage

But the sentence itself is perfectly understandable and natural across the Portuguese-speaking world.