A Ana tem um namorado, e ele gosta de cozinhar aos domingos.

In Brazilian Portuguese, it is very common to use the definite article before a person's first name: a Ana, o Pedro.

So A Ana does not mean the Ana in natural English. It is just a normal Portuguese structure.

A few useful notes:

• a is used with feminine names
• o is used with masculine names
• some speakers and regions use the article more than others
• in writing, especially more formal writing, it may be omitted more often

So both A Ana tem um namorado and Ana tem um namorado can be possible.

Tem is the 3rd person singular present form of the verb ter (to have).

Here it matches A Ana, which is a singular subject:

• eu tenho = I have
• você/ele/ela tem = you/he/she has
• Ana tem = Ana has

So tem is the correct form for Ana.

Both are possible, but they are slightly different in feel.

• tem um namorado = has a boyfriend
• tem namorado = has a boyfriend / is seeing someone / is not single

Without the article, Portuguese can sound a little more like a general relationship status. With um, it sounds a bit more concrete: a boyfriend.

So this sentence is perfectly natural, and um is not required in every similar sentence, but it works well here.

Yes. Namorado means a male romantic partner: boyfriend.

It does not mean just a male friend. For a platonic male friend, Portuguese uses amigo.

Related forms:

• namorado = boyfriend
• namorada = girlfriend
• amigo = male friend
• amiga = female friend

Portuguese often leaves possession implicit when it is already clear from the sentence.

In A Ana tem um namorado, it is already obvious that the boyfriend is Ana’s, because Ana is the one who has him.

So Portuguese does not need to say her here.

If you wanted to make it explicit, you could say:

• o namorado dela = her boyfriend
• seu namorado = her boyfriend / his boyfriend / your boyfriend, depending on context

But in this sentence, that would be unnecessary.

Ele refers to um namorado.

So the structure is:

• A Ana tem um namorado
• e ele gosta de cozinhar aos domingos

That means the boyfriend is the one who likes cooking on Sundays, not Ana.

Using ele is helpful because there are two people in the sentence, and Portuguese wants to make the reference clear.

In Portuguese, subject pronouns are often omitted, but here keeping ele is the safest and most natural choice because it avoids ambiguity.

If you said:

• A Ana tem um namorado, e gosta de cozinhar aos domingos

that could sound unclear, because gosta could refer to Ana or to the boyfriend.

So ele is used to make it clear that the boyfriend is the one who likes cooking.

Gosta is the 3rd person singular present form of gostar (to like).

It matches ele:

• eu gosto = I like
• você/ele/ela gosta = you/he/she likes

So:

• ele gosta = he likes

Because gostar normally requires the preposition de.

This is just how the verb works in Portuguese:

• gostar de música = to like music
• gostar de filmes = to like movies
• gostar de cozinhar = to like cooking

So after gostar, you usually need de.

For an English speaker, it helps to learn gostar de as a single pattern.

Because after gostar de, Portuguese uses the infinitive when talking about an activity in general.

• cozinhar = to cook / cooking
• cozinha = cooks, or kitchen, depending on context

So:

• gosta de cozinhar = likes cooking

This is very similar to English using cooking in a general sense.

Aos domingos is a common time expression meaning on Sundays or every Sunday.

Aos is a contraction of:

• a + os = aos

The phrase is idiomatic, so it is best learned as a whole:

• aos domingos = on Sundays
• às segundas-feiras = on Mondays
• aos sábados = on Saturdays

The plural domingos helps show that this is a repeated, habitual action.

Usually:

• aos domingos = on Sundays / every Sunday
• no domingo = on Sunday, meaning one specific Sunday

Examples:

• Ele cozinha aos domingos. = He cooks on Sundays.
• Ele vai cozinhar no domingo. = He is going to cook on Sunday.

So the plural form often signals habit, while the singular usually points to one occasion.

The comma is there because the sentence joins two clauses, and the subject changes:

• A Ana tem um namorado
• ele gosta de cozinhar aos domingos

In Portuguese, a comma before e is often used when:

• the clauses are a bit longer, or
• the subject changes, as it does here

So the comma helps readability and makes the structure clearer.

You may also see sentences without that comma in less careful writing, but here the comma is perfectly natural.