A menina disse que está com dor no peito e na garganta.

In Portuguese, it is very common to use the definite article before a noun, especially when talking about a specific person already identified in the context.

So A menina means the girl.

Using just menina by itself would usually sound incomplete here. Portuguese uses articles more often than English does.

Que introduces a subordinate clause and means that in this kind of sentence.

So:

• A menina disse = The girl said
• que está com dor... = that she has pain...

In English, that is often optional:

• The girl said she has pain...
• The girl said that she has pain...

In Portuguese, que is normally kept here.

This is a very common question.

• disse = said → past
• está = is → present

The sentence suggests that the girl said this, and the pain is still being presented as current or still true.

So it is like:

• The girl said that she has pain in her chest and throat.

If the speaker wanted to describe it more clearly as a past situation, Portuguese could also say:

• A menina disse que estava com dor no peito e na garganta.

That would mean:

• The girl said she was having pain in her chest and throat.

So both can exist, but they give slightly different time perspectives.

Because estar com is a very common way in Portuguese to express temporary physical states.

• estar com dor = to be in pain / to have pain
• estar com febre = to have a fever
• estar com sono = to be sleepy
• estar com medo = to be afraid

Literally, está com dor is something like is with pain, but that is just how Portuguese naturally expresses it.

You should learn estar com dor as a fixed pattern.

Portuguese uses estar for temporary states and conditions, especially health-related ones.

Pain is a temporary physical condition, so:

• está com dor = correct

Using ser here would be wrong because ser is used for more permanent identity or characteristics, not for a temporary condition like pain.

In the expression estar com dor, Portuguese normally does not use the article.

So the standard pattern is:

• estar com dor
• estar com dor de cabeça
• estar com dor no braço

Using com a dor would usually sound different, as if referring to a specific pain already identified in the conversation.

For a general statement of symptoms, com dor is the natural choice.

They are contractions:

• no = em + o
• na = em + a

So:

• no peito = in the chest
• na garganta = in the throat

These contractions are extremely common in Portuguese and you should get used to seeing them often.

Other examples:

• no carro = in the car
• na escola = at/in the school
• do = de + o
• da = de + a

Because the sentence refers to two different body parts, and Portuguese normally repeats the combination for clarity and naturalness:

• no peito e na garganta

This is like saying:

• in the chest and in the throat

Even though English often avoids repeating the preposition, Portuguese commonly keeps it.

This sounds more natural than trying to use just one before both nouns.

Here, peito means chest.

That is the normal meaning in a sentence about pain:

• dor no peito = chest pain

While peito can sometimes relate to the breast area depending on context, in health-related everyday speech this phrase is normally understood as chest.

The subject of está is understood to be a menina.

Portuguese often omits subject pronouns when the meaning is clear from the verb or context. This is called a null-subject or pro-drop feature.

So instead of saying:

• A menina disse que ela está com dor...

Portuguese naturally says:

• A menina disse que está com dor...

Adding ela is possible in some contexts, but it is often unnecessary and can sound less natural unless you want emphasis or contrast.

Yes, in many everyday contexts, falou que can also be used.

• disse que = said that
• falou que = said / told / mentioned that, depending on context

However, disse que is often the more direct and standard choice for reported speech.

So:

• A menina disse que está com dor... = very natural
• A menina falou que está com dor... = also natural in Brazilian Portuguese, especially in speech

Because nouns in Portuguese have grammatical gender, and garganta is a feminine noun.

That is why it takes:

• a garganta
• na garganta = em + a garganta

This grammatical gender does not mean the throat is biologically feminine; it is just part of how the noun behaves in Portuguese grammar.

Yes, absolutely.

Dor no peito is a very common health-related phrase meaning chest pain.

It is useful to learn these chunks as whole expressions:

• estar com dor
• dor no peito
• dor de cabeça
• dor de garganta
• dor nas costas

Memorizing them as set phrases will make your Portuguese sound much more natural.

Great question. These are two different structures.

• dor de garganta = sore throat / throat pain as a named type of pain
• dor na garganta = pain in the throat, focusing on the location

In your sentence, the structure is:

• está com dor no peito e na garganta

This means she has pain located in those places.

So de garganta and na garganta can both relate to throat pain, but they are not used in exactly the same structure.

The given sentence is already natural. In speech, pronunciation may become a bit smoother or reduced:

• está may sound closer to tá
• está com dor may sound more like tá com dor

So in casual speech, you might hear:

• A menina disse que tá com dor no peito e na garganta.

That is very common in spoken Brazilian Portuguese, but está is the fuller and more standard written form.