Que sorte! A médica tinha um horário livre para hoje à tarde.

Que sorte! is a very common exclamation meaning something like How lucky! or What luck!

In Portuguese, que + noun is often used to express emotion:

• Que pena! = What a shame!
• Que surpresa! = What a surprise!
• Que sorte! = How lucky!

You do not need an article here, so Que sorte! is the natural form.

Portuguese often uses the definite article before nouns much more than English does, including with professions when referring to a specific person.

So:

• A médica = the doctor
• O médico = the male doctor

In this sentence, a médica refers to a specific female doctor already understood from the situation, so the article sounds natural and expected.

They are the feminine and masculine forms of doctor:

• médica = female doctor
• médico = male doctor

Portuguese adjectives and many profession words change form depending on gender. Here, the sentence is specifically talking about a woman, so médica is used.

Tinha is the imperfect form of ter and teve is the preterite form.

Here, tinha um horário livre means had an open time slot / had availability. The imperfect is common because it presents the availability as a situation or background fact, not as a completed event.

Compare:

• A médica tinha um horário livre = The doctor had a free slot / was available at that time
• A médica teve um horário livre = The doctor had a free slot at some point (more event-like, less natural here)

In this kind of context, tinha sounds much more natural in Brazilian Portuguese.

Literally, it means a free time or a free slot, but in context it usually means:

• an available appointment time
• an opening in the schedule

So A médica tinha um horário livre is a natural way to say the doctor had an open appointment slot.

Also, horário is not the same as hora:

• hora = hour / time
• horário = time slot / schedule time / scheduled time

In Portuguese, many adjectives come after the noun.

So:

• um horário livre = a free time slot
• uma mesa grande = a big table
• um carro novo = a new car

Putting the adjective after the noun is the default pattern. Sometimes adjectives can come before the noun, but that often changes the tone or meaning. Here, horário livre is the normal order.

Para hoje à tarde means for this afternoon.

In this sentence, para indicates the time the appointment slot is intended for:

• um horário livre para hoje à tarde = an open slot for this afternoon

This is very natural in Portuguese when talking about availability, appointments, plans, or deadlines.

Compare:

• para amanhã = for tomorrow
• para segunda-feira = for Monday
• para hoje à tarde = for this afternoon

The à is a contraction of:

• a = the preposition at/to
• a = the feminine article the

So:

• a + a tarde = à tarde

That grave accent marks crase, the fusion of those two as.

Common time expressions:

• de manhã = in the morning
• à tarde = in the afternoon
• à noite = at night / in the evening

This is why you see à tarde and à noite, but not à manhã in the standard expression.

In Brazil, both hoje à tarde and hoje de tarde can be heard, depending on region and style. But hoje à tarde is generally the more standard and widely accepted form in careful written Portuguese.

So in a textbook-style sentence, para hoje à tarde is the safest and most natural choice.

Yes. It is a complete exclamation.

Portuguese often uses short exclamatory expressions as full utterances:

• Que bom! = Great!
• Que pena! = What a shame!
• Que sorte! = How lucky!

Even though it is very short, it functions as a complete statement of reaction.

Not usually in this context.

In English, had some free time usually means the person was not busy. But ter um horário livre in this kind of sentence usually refers to a free appointment slot in the doctor’s schedule.

So the best idea is:

• The doctor had an opening
• The doctor had an available appointment time
• The doctor had a free slot

That captures the intended meaning much better.

The stress is on rá:

• ho-RÁ-rio

The written accent in horário shows that stressed syllable.

A rough English-friendly approximation is:

• oh-RAH-ree-oh

But in Brazilian Portuguese, the sounds are smoother and more connected than in English. The important thing for learners is to stress rá, not the first or last syllable.