É difícil se separar de alguém quando ainda há carinho.

Portuguese often uses é + adjective + infinitive phrase to make general statements:

• É difícil entender isso. = It’s hard to understand that.
• É bom descansar. = It’s good to rest.

In É difícil se separar de alguém..., the idea se separar de alguém works like the subject of the sentence. Portuguese does not need isso here.

Se separar de alguém means to separate from someone, to split up from someone, or very often to break up with someone.

In many contexts, especially with emotional words like carinho, it suggests the end of a relationship. But it can also be broader than that: becoming emotionally or physically separated from someone.

The se is part of the pronominal/reflexive form of the verb.

• separar can mean to separate something
  
  • Ela separou os livros. = She separated the books.
• se separar means to separate oneself / to split up / to break up

So in this sentence, se helps show that the person is the one becoming separated, not separating other objects.

Because the verb requires the preposition de when you say who or what someone is separating from.

• se separar de alguém = to separate from someone
• se afastar de alguém = to move away from someone

So de alguém is not optional here; it is the natural pattern used with this meaning.

Both are possible, but in Brazilian Portuguese se separar is much more common in everyday speech.

• É difícil se separar de alguém... = very natural in Brazil
• É difícil separar-se de alguém... = also correct, but sounds more formal or literary

A learner should recognize both, but se separar is the version you will hear more often in Brazil.

Alguém means someone or somebody.

It is used when the person is indefinite or unspecified:

• Vi alguém na porta. = I saw someone at the door.
• É difícil se separar de alguém... = It’s hard to separate from someone...

If you were talking about a specific person, you would usually name them or use another expression instead.

Word by word:

• quando = when
• ainda = still
• há = there is / there exists
• carinho = affection / fondness / tenderness

So the clause literally means something like:

when there is still affection

That is very close to the natural English meaning.

Há is from the verb haver, and here it means there is or there are.

So:

• há carinho = there is affection
• há problemas = there are problems

In this use, haver is impersonal, so it stays in the singular:

• há carinho
• há pessoas
• not hão pessoas

In spoken Brazilian Portuguese, people often use tem instead of há:

• quando ainda tem carinho

But há is very standard and common in writing.

This is a very common learner question.

• há with an accent is a verb form of haver
  • Há carinho. = There is affection.
• a without an accent can be an article or a preposition
  • a casa = the house
  • vou a São Paulo = I’m going to São Paulo

So in this sentence, há must have the accent because it is a verb.

Ainda means still here.

Compare:

• quando há carinho = when there is affection
• quando ainda há carinho = when there is still affection

The word ainda adds the idea that the affection has not disappeared yet. That makes the sentence more emotional: the separation is difficult because the feeling remains.

Not exactly.

Carinho usually means affection, fondness, tenderness, or warm caring feeling. It is softer and broader than amor.

• amor = love
• carinho = affection / tenderness / fondness

You can feel carinho for a romantic partner, a friend, a child, a family member, or even a pet. In this sentence, carinho suggests that affectionate feelings are still there, even if the relationship is ending.

Because carinho is being used in a general, abstract sense.

• há carinho = there is affection
• há amor = there is love

Portuguese often leaves out the article with abstract nouns in this kind of statement.

If you added an article, the meaning would shift:

• há um carinho sounds more like there is a certain affection/a fond feeling
• há o carinho would refer to a specific affection already known from context

So há carinho is the most natural choice here.

Yes. In many contexts, that is probably the most natural interpretation.

Because of se separar de alguém plus ainda há carinho, many speakers will understand something like:

It’s hard to break up with someone when there’s still affection.

Even though the structure is broader than just romantic breakup, that emotional reading is very strong here.

A rough Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation would be:

eh dee-FEE-sew see seh-pah-RAHR djee aw-GUÉM KWAHN-doh ah-EEN-dah ah kah-REEN-yoo

A few notes:

• É sounds like eh
• difícil in Brazil often sounds close to dee-FEE-sew
• de alguém often sounds like djee aw-GUÉM in many Brazilian accents
• carinho has the nh sound, similar to the ny in canyon

The stress falls mainly on:

• diFÍcil
• separAR
• alguÉM
• caRInho

Yes, in casual spoken Brazilian Portuguese, many people would say:

É difícil se separar de alguém quando ainda tem carinho.

That sounds natural in conversation. But there is a small difference in register:

• há carinho = more standard, a bit more formal/written
• tem carinho = more conversational

Both are understandable, but the original sentence sounds polished and natural.