Com o tempo, a ansiedade diminui, e a candidata passa a confiar mais no esforço dela.

Yes. Com o tempo is a very common expression meaning over time, with time, or as time goes by.

Literally, it is with the time, but in natural English that usually becomes over time.

You will hear it often in Portuguese in sentences like:

• Com o tempo, tudo melhora.
• Com o tempo, você aprende.

So it is a useful chunk to memorize as a whole expression.

In this expression, o is part of the normal, idiomatic phrasing. Portuguese often uses definite articles in places where English does not.

So:

• com o tempo = over time / with time

If you say com tempo, that usually means something more like having time available or with enough time, depending on context, not the same idea as over time.

Compare:

• Com o tempo, ela melhorou. = Over time, she improved.
• Hoje eu fiz isso com tempo. = Today I did that without rushing / with time to spare.

Because Com o tempo is an introductory phrase placed before the main clause. In Portuguese, it is very common to separate this kind of opening expression with a comma.

So the structure is:

• Com o tempo, = introductory time phrase
• a ansiedade diminui = main clause

This is similar to English punctuation in a sentence like:

• Over time, anxiety decreases.

Portuguese often uses definite articles more than English does. So a ansiedade is perfectly natural and often more idiomatic than leaving the article out.

Here:

• a ansiedade = the anxiety grammatically
• but in English, we might simply say anxiety

Portuguese commonly uses articles before abstract nouns:

• A vida é curta.
• O amor muda tudo.
• A ansiedade diminui.

So even when English uses no article, Portuguese often does.

Diminui is the present tense of diminuir.

Here it is used to express a general process or typical result, not just something happening right now at this exact moment. Portuguese uses the present tense this way very often.

So a ansiedade diminui can mean something like:

• anxiety decreases
• anxiety tends to decrease
• anxiety goes down

It sounds like a general statement about what happens as time passes.

Passar a + infinitive is a very common structure meaning:

• to begin to
• to start to
• to come to
• to end up doing something as a new stage

So:

• passa a confiar = starts to trust / comes to trust

This is slightly different from just confia mais:

• confia mais = trusts more
• passa a confiar mais = starts to trust more / comes to trust more over time

The sentence is emphasizing a change of state. At first, the candidate is less trusting; later, she becomes more trusting.

The verb confiar often uses the preposition em when it means to trust in something or someone.

So the full structure is:

• confiar em o esforço dela

But in Portuguese, em + o contracts into no:

• em + o = no

So:

• confiar no esforço dela = trust in her effort

Other common contractions are:

• em + a = na
• em + os = nos
• em + as = nas

Examples:

• Ela confia no professor.
• Ele confia na equipe.

Here mais means more.

So confiar mais means to trust more.

It does not necessarily mean comparison with a specific person. It can simply show an increase:

• before: less trust
• now: more trust

In this sentence, mais works naturally with the idea of gradual change created by com o tempo and passa a.

Dela is often used to avoid ambiguity.

In Portuguese, seu / sua can mean:

• his
• her
• your
• sometimes even refer back to another person depending on context

Because of that, seu esforço could be unclear.

So o esforço dela makes it very clear that the effort belongs to the female candidate.

Compare:

• seu esforço = her effort / his effort / your effort, depending on context
• o esforço dela = her effort, clearly

This is extremely common in Brazilian Portuguese, especially when speakers want to be precise and avoid confusion.

Both are possible, but dela avoids repeating a candidata and sounds more natural.

Compare:

• a candidata passa a confiar mais no esforço dela
• a candidata passa a confiar mais no esforço da candidata

The second version is grammatically correct, but it sounds repetitive. Using dela is smoother and more natural.

Yes. Candidata is the feminine form, and candidato is the masculine form.

So:

• o candidato = the male candidate
• a candidata = the female candidate

In Brazilian Portuguese, using the feminine form here clearly tells you the person referred to is a woman.

Esforço most directly means effort. In context, it can also suggest:

• the work she has put in
• her dedication
• her personal effort

So confiar mais no esforço dela means she starts trusting more in what she herself has done and how much energy she has invested.

It is a little broader than just one single action. It points to her own work and commitment.

Yes, diminui can look strange to English speakers.

In Brazilian Portuguese, it is roughly pronounced like:

• jee-mee-NOO-ee in very loose English-style approximation

More carefully, it comes from di-mi-nu-i, with the stress on nu.

A key point: the ending -ui is pronounced as two vowel sounds, not as one English-style sound.

So do not try to say it like English dimmy-nwee. Keep the vowels separate:

• di-mi-NU-i

Sometimes, yes, but the meaning and tone change a bit.

• passa a confiar mais = comes to trust more / starts to trust more as a new stage
• começa a confiar mais = begins to trust more
• vai confiando mais = gradually goes on trusting more, depending on context

In your sentence, passa a confiar mais is very natural because it nicely expresses a gradual transition over time. It pairs well with Com o tempo.

It can be understood either way depending on context, but the grammar suggests a specific candidate or a candidate already known in the discussion, because of a candidata.

In Portuguese, the definite article often points to a known or identifiable person:

• a candidata = the candidate

But in real usage, Portuguese sometimes uses the definite article where English might use a in a more general sense. So context matters.

Still, the most immediate reading is that we are talking about a particular female candidate in a known situation.

Because each verb agrees with its subject:

• a ansiedade diminui
  Subject: a ansiedade → singular

• a candidata passa a confiar mais...
  Subject: a candidata → singular

Even though the sentence has two clauses joined by e, each clause has its own singular subject and singular verb.

So the pattern is:

• [a ansiedade] diminui
• [a candidata] passa a confiar

That is why both verbs are in the third-person singular.