Meu sogro fala pouco, mas me deu um abraço depois do jantar.

Meu sogro is the normal way to say my father-in-law in Portuguese.

Portuguese often uses possessives like meu, minha, seu, nossa without an article, especially in Brazilian Portuguese. So:

• meu sogro = my father-in-law
• minha mãe = my mother
• meu amigo = my friend

You may also hear o meu sogro, which is possible in Portuguese, but in Brazil the article is often omitted in many contexts. Both can be correct depending on region, style, and sentence.

Sogro means father-in-law.

Related family words:

• sogra = mother-in-law
• genro = son-in-law
• nora = daughter-in-law

So meu sogro is specifically my spouse’s father.

Portuguese often drops subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear.

Here:

• Meu sogro fala pouco = My father-in-law speaks little / doesn’t talk much

Because meu sogro is already the subject, adding ele would usually be unnecessary:

• Meu sogro fala pouco is the natural version.

Portuguese does this much more than English.

Fala pouco literally means speaks little, but in natural English it usually means:

• doesn’t talk much
• is not very talkative
• speaks very little

Here:

• falar = to speak / to talk
• pouco = little / not much

So meu sogro fala pouco suggests he is a quiet person or simply not very talkative.

Because fala is the conjugated form of the verb falar.

• falar = infinitive = to speak / to talk
• fala = he/she talks, you talk (formal você), or it talks

In this sentence, the subject is meu sogro, so the verb must be in the third person singular:

• meu sogro fala = my father-in-law talks

Mas means but.

It connects two contrasting ideas:

• Meu sogro fala pouco = My father-in-law doesn’t talk much
• mas me deu um abraço = but he gave me a hug

So the contrast is something like: He is quiet, but he still showed affection.

Be careful not to confuse mas with mais:

• mas = but
• mais = more

Me is an object pronoun, meaning me. In Brazilian Portuguese, object pronouns often come before the verb in everyday language:

• me deu = gave me

So:

• Ele me deu um abraço = He gave me a hug

In European Portuguese, pronoun placement is often different, and you may more often see:

• deu-me

But in Brazilian Portuguese, me deu is the normal everyday order.

Deu is the preterite form of the verb dar (to give).

Conjugation of dar in the preterite:

• eu dei = I gave
• você/ele/ela deu = you/he/she gave
• nós demos = we gave
• vocês/eles/elas deram = you/they gave

So in this sentence:

• me deu = gave me

Because meu sogro is third person singular, we use deu.

Both are possible, but they are slightly different expressions.

• me deu um abraço = literally gave me a hug
• me abraçou = hugged me

Both are natural, but dar um abraço is a very common Portuguese expression. It can sound warm and idiomatic.

Compare:

• Ele me deu um beijo. = He gave me a kiss.
• Ele me beijou. = He kissed me.

So me deu um abraço is not strange or overly literal in Portuguese—it is a standard way to express the action.

Um is the indefinite article a/an.

So:

• um abraço = a hug

Portuguese usually includes the article here, just as English does:

• dar um abraço = to give a hug

You normally would not say just me deu abraço in standard Portuguese.

Depois do jantar means after dinner.

The key part is do, which is a contraction:

• de + o = do

So:

• depois de o jantar becomes depois do jantar

This contraction is very common in Portuguese.

Other examples:

• antes do almoço = before lunch
• depois da aula = after class
• perto do carro = near the car

Here, jantar is being used as a noun, meaning dinner.

Here, jantar is a noun and means dinner.

Portuguese has:

• jantar = to have dinner / to dine (verb)
• o jantar = dinner (noun)

In this sentence:

• depois do jantar = after dinner

So even though jantar can be a verb, here it is clearly a noun because it follows do and means the meal.

It is understandable, but in natural English you would usually say:

• My father-in-law doesn’t talk much, but he gave me a hug after dinner.

A few notes:

• talks little is grammatically possible, but less natural in everyday English than doesn’t talk much
• English usually repeats he in the second clause: but he gave me...
• In Portuguese, repeating the subject is often unnecessary if it is already clear

Yes, but the meaning would change.

• fala pouco = he doesn’t talk much / he is not very talkative
  This sounds like a general trait or usual behavior.

• falava pouco = he used to talk little / he was speaking little
  This gives an imperfect, ongoing, or background sense.

• falou pouco = he talked little
  This refers to one completed occasion.

So fala pouco is best if the idea is that the father-in-law is generally quiet.

Yes, a couple of things are especially typical of Brazilian Portuguese:

1. Pronoun placement

   • me deu is very natural in Brazil.
   • European Portuguese more often prefers deu-me in many contexts.

2. Natural everyday phrasing

   • dar um abraço is a very common, everyday way to say to give someone a hug.

3. Possessive without article

   • meu sogro is very normal in Brazil.
   • Some varieties of Portuguese use articles with possessives more often.

So the sentence sounds very natural in Brazilian Portuguese.