Quando a médica deu a boa notícia, as lágrimas vieram, mas minha mãe ficou com um sorriso no rosto.

In Portuguese, it is very common to use the definite article before nouns, including professions and family-related references in context.

So a médica means the doctor.
Leaving out the article and saying médica by itself would sound incomplete here.

This is one of the big differences from English:

• the doctor → a médica
• the news → a notícia
• the tears → as lágrimas

Because médica is the feminine form of doctor, used for a female doctor.

• o médico = the male doctor
• a médica = the female doctor

Portuguese nouns and articles usually show grammatical gender, and professions often change form depending on whether the person is male or female.

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

• dar = to give
• ela deu = she gave

In this sentence, deu refers to a completed action in the past: the doctor gave the good news at a specific moment.

This is different from the imperfect:

• deu = gave, a finished event
• dava = used to give / was giving, more ongoing or repeated

Portuguese often uses dar a notícia or dar uma notícia, literally to give the news.

That is a normal and natural expression:

• dar uma notícia = to give some news
• dar a boa notícia = to give the good news

Portuguese could also use verbs like:

• contar = to tell
• informar = to inform

But dar a notícia is very common and idiomatic.

Because the sentence is referring to a specific piece of good news, so Portuguese uses the article a.

• a boa notícia = the good news
• uma boa notícia = some good news / a piece of good news

Portuguese uses articles more often than English does, so learners need to get used to that.

In Portuguese, adjectives usually come after the noun, but some very common adjectives can appear before it, especially when they are closely tied to the noun or sound more natural that way.

So both are possible in some contexts:

• boa notícia
• notícia boa

But boa notícia is the standard, natural expression for good news.

Very often, adjective placement can affect style or emphasis:

• boa notícia sounds fixed and natural
• notícia boa can sound more marked or contrastive

Because the subject is as lágrimas (the tears), which is plural.

• a lágrima veio = the tear came
• as lágrimas vieram = the tears came

The verb must agree with the subject in number:

• singular subject → singular verb
• plural subject → plural verb

So vieram is the correct preterite form of vir for they came.

It is understandable literally, but it is also a natural emotional expression. It means something like:

• tears came
• she started to cry
• tears welled up

Portuguese often uses body-part or emotion-related expressions in a slightly more physical, vivid way.
So as lágrimas vieram sounds expressive and natural.

A few similar ideas:

• me vieram lágrimas aos olhos = tears came to my eyes
• ela chorou = she cried

Yes, vieram as lágrimas is grammatically possible, but as lágrimas vieram is the more neutral order.

Portuguese usually prefers:

• subject + verb

So:

• as lágrimas vieram = neutral, straightforward

If you say:

• vieram as lágrimas

it can sound more literary, dramatic, or stylistically marked, depending on context.

The comma separates the subordinate clause introduced by quando from the main clause.

Structure:

• Quando a médica deu a boa notícia, = when the doctor gave the good news
• as lágrimas vieram... = the tears came...

This is similar to English, where a clause beginning with when often takes a comma if it comes first.

Here ficou com means something like:

• ended up with
• was left with
• remained with

The verb ficar is extremely common and has many meanings depending on context.

In this sentence:

• minha mãe ficou com um sorriso no rosto

means that after hearing the news, my mother was left smiling or kept a smile on her face.

It does not literally mean she physically took possession of a smile. It is an idiomatic way to describe her expression.

Both are possible in Portuguese.

• minha mãe
• a minha mãe

In Brazilian Portuguese, possessives can appear with or without the definite article, depending on style, region, and level of formality.

So:

• minha mãe = my mother
• a minha mãe = my mother

In Brazil, omitting the article is very common and natural, especially in everyday speech.

Portuguese often uses noun-based expressions where English might prefer a verb or participle.

• com um sorriso no rosto = with a smile on her face
• English might also say smiling

This expression is very common and vivid in Portuguese. It focuses on the visible result: the smile on the face.

Related expressions:

• com lágrimas nos olhos = with tears in the eyes
• com cara de sono = looking sleepy
• com um ar preocupado = with a worried look

Because no is a contraction of:

• em + o = no

So:

• no rosto = on the face
• na mesa = on the table
• nos olhos = in the eyes
• nas mãos = in the hands

These contractions are required in standard Portuguese:

• em o rosto sounds wrong
• no rosto is correct

Yes, other words are possible, but they have different tones.

• no rosto = neutral, standard, very natural
• na cara = more informal, sometimes rougher depending on context
• na face = more formal or literary

So um sorriso no rosto is the safest and most natural general choice.

Mas means but. It connects two parts of the sentence and shows a contrast or balancing relationship.

Here the sentence presents two emotional reactions:

• as lágrimas vieram
• minha mãe ficou com um sorriso no rosto

The idea is not necessarily contradiction, but contrast between two visible responses: tears and a smile at the same time. That is very natural in emotional contexts.

Yes, but the meaning would change.

• ficou com um sorriso no rosto = she ended up with / she became left with a smile on her face
• estava com um sorriso no rosto = she was with a smile on her face / she had a smile on her face

So:

• ficou emphasizes the change of state after the news
• estava would simply describe her state

In this sentence, ficou is better because it shows her reaction to the moment.

It is neutral and natural. It works well in everyday Portuguese and also in written narrative.

Some parts sound slightly literary or expressive, especially:

• as lágrimas vieram
• um sorriso no rosto

But nothing in the sentence is strange, overly formal, or unnatural for Brazilian Portuguese.