A babá disse que a bebê adormeceu sem a chupeta.

The accents show which syllable is stressed.

• babá = stress on the last syllable: ba-BÁ
• bebê = stress on the last syllable: be-BÊ

In Portuguese, accents are often used to mark stress when it does not follow the most common pattern. They can also help distinguish pronunciation clearly for learners.

In this sentence, a is the feminine singular article, like the.

• a babá = the nanny
• a bebê = the baby

Babá is feminine here because the nanny is being referred to as female.

With bebê, the word itself can refer to a baby of either sex, but the article changes depending on the baby's gender:

• o bebê = the baby boy / a male baby
• a bebê = the baby girl / a female baby

So in this sentence, a bebê tells you the baby is female.

Disse is the preterite form of dizer (to say, to tell).

• ela disse = she said

The preterite is used for a completed action in the past. So A babá disse... means the nanny said something, and that act of speaking is presented as finished.

Adormeceu is also in the preterite.

It comes from adormecer, which means to fall asleep.

• ela adormeceu = she fell asleep

This is different from describing an ongoing state. It focuses on the completed event of falling asleep.

Because adormeceu means fell asleep, not was sleeping.

This sentence is talking about the moment or event when the baby went to sleep. If you wanted to say was sleeping, you would usually use dormia or estava dormindo, depending on context.

Compare:

• A bebê adormeceu. = The baby fell asleep.
• A bebê dormia. = The baby was sleeping / used to sleep.
• A bebê estava dormindo. = The baby was sleeping.

Here que means that.

• A babá disse que... = The nanny said that...

In Portuguese, que is very commonly used to introduce a subordinate clause after verbs like:

• dizer = to say
• achar = to think
• saber = to know
• ver = to see

So que a bebê adormeceu... is the content of what the nanny said.

Usually, Portuguese keeps que in this kind of sentence.

In English, you can say:

• The nanny said the baby fell asleep...

But in Portuguese, leaving out que here would sound unnatural or incorrect in standard usage. So:

• A babá disse que a bebê adormeceu... = natural
• A babá disse a bebê adormeceu... = not natural

Both can exist, but they are not exactly the same.

• sem a chupeta = without the pacifier
• sem chupeta = without a pacifier / without pacifier use

Using a makes it sound more specific, as if there is a particular pacifier in mind, or simply the pacifier that the baby normally uses.

In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, both versions are possible depending on context.

In Brazilian Portuguese, chupeta means pacifier.

This is an important regional vocabulary point, because Portuguese varies by country. A learner might see a different word in European Portuguese or other contexts, but in Brazil chupeta is the normal everyday word.

This is a very normal Portuguese sentence order:

• A babá = subject
• disse = verb
• que... = clause introduced by that
• a bebê = subject of the second clause
• adormeceu = verb
• sem a chupeta = prepositional phrase

So the structure is basically:

The nanny said that the baby fell asleep without the pacifier.

Portuguese word order is often similar to English in straightforward statements like this.

Yes, that is possible.

• sem a chupeta sounds more specific
• sem chupeta sounds a little more general

Both are natural depending on the situation. If the speaker is thinking of the baby's usual pacifier, sem a chupeta works very well.

In Brazilian Portuguese, disse is usually pronounced roughly like JEE-see or DJEE-see, depending on accent, but that is only an approximation.

A few key points:

• The di in many Brazilian accents sounds like jee before i
• ss gives a clear s sound
• Final e is not silent

So it does not sound like English dice. Portuguese spelling follows its own pronunciation rules.

Here que is usually pronounced like kee in Brazilian Portuguese.

That may surprise English speakers, because the spelling looks unusual at first. In que:

• the u is not pronounced
• the sound is basically k
  • e

So disse que a bebê... sounds roughly like JEE-see kee a be-BÊ...

Yes, Portuguese could use a pronoun if the context were clear:

• A babá disse que ela adormeceu sem a chupeta.

But that would be more ambiguous, because ela could refer to the nanny or the baby depending on context.

Using a bebê makes the meaning perfectly clear. Portuguese often repeats the noun when that helps avoid confusion.

Babá often corresponds to nanny, but in some contexts English speakers might also translate it as babysitter.

The exact English word depends on the situation:

• a regular caregiver employed by a family: often nanny
• someone watching the child temporarily: sometimes babysitter

In Portuguese, babá is the normal everyday word for someone who takes care of children in that kind of role.

Portuguese usually does not need an extra helping verb like English did for simple past statements.

English can say:

• The nanny said...
• The nanny did say... for emphasis

Portuguese normally just uses the past tense form itself:

• A babá disse...

If you want emphasis in Portuguese, you usually do it with intonation, context, or different wording rather than adding a helper verb like English did.

Not in natural English, but in Portuguese disse que is completely normal.

• disse que... literally lines up with said that...
• In English, we usually say said that..., not told that...

If Portuguese uses contou or disse para alguém, the translation choices may change, but here the best match is said that.