Eu li o contrato de trabalho hoje.

Li is the 1st person singular preterite form of ler, which means to read.

So:

• ler = to read
• eu li = I read

In this sentence, li means read in the sense of a completed past action.

Yes, it can be omitted.

Portuguese often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb form already shows who the subject is. Since li clearly means I read, you can say:

• Eu li o contrato de trabalho hoje.
• Li o contrato de trabalho hoje.

Both are correct.
Using eu can add clarity, emphasis, or contrast.

Li is in the pretérito perfeito of the indicative, often called the simple past or preterite in English grammar discussions.

It shows a completed action in the past:

• Eu li = I read / I did read

In this sentence, it means the reading happened and was completed today.

O is the masculine singular definite article, meaning the.

So:

• o contrato = the contract

Portuguese uses articles more regularly than English does, so it is very normal to include o here.

Contrato just means contract, but contrato de trabalho is a more specific expression meaning employment contract or work contract.

The phrase de trabalho tells you what kind of contract it is.

So:

• contrato = contract
• contrato de trabalho = employment contract

Literally, de trabalho means of work or for work, but in natural English the full phrase is usually translated as employment contract.

This is a common Portuguese structure:

• X de Y = X related to Y / X for Y / X of Y

Here, trabalho helps classify the noun contrato.

Because de trabalho describes the type of contract, not a specific work/job.

• de trabalho = work-related / employment-related
• do trabalho = of the work or of the job

So:

• contrato de trabalho = employment contract
• contrato do trabalho would suggest something different and is not the normal expression for employment contract

Putting hoje at the end is very natural in Portuguese. It gives the sentence a simple subject + verb + object + time order:

• Eu = subject
• li = verb
• o contrato de trabalho = object
• hoje = time expression

But Portuguese is flexible, so you could also say:

• Hoje eu li o contrato de trabalho.

That version puts more focus on today.

Yes.

Both are correct:

• Eu li o contrato de trabalho hoje.
• Hoje eu li o contrato de trabalho.

The difference is mostly one of focus:

• ... hoje = neutral, natural ending
• Hoje ... = emphasizes today

No.

Hoje works by itself as a time adverb, so you simply say:

• hoje = today

Unlike some time expressions in other languages, you do not need a preposition here.

Li is pronounced roughly like lee in English.

A simple pronunciation guide for the whole sentence is:

• Eu = roughly eh-o / yo depending on accent
• li = lee
• o = oo or a short unstressed u
• contrato = kon-TRA-tu
• de = jee or djee in many Brazilian accents when before t? Not here, so more like dji/dee depending on accent, but often reduced
• trabalho = tra-BA-lyu
• hoje = OH-zhee

Exact pronunciation varies by region in Brazil.

Mostly yes.

This sentence follows a very familiar pattern:

• Eu = I
• li = read
• o contrato de trabalho = the employment contract
• hoje = today

So it is basically:

subject + verb + object + time

That is one reason this sentence feels straightforward for English speakers.

In Portuguese, Eu li... hoje normally just means I read... today as a completed action.

English sometimes uses either:

• I read the employment contract today
• I have read the employment contract today

But in Portuguese, the normal form here is still eu li.

Trabalho is masculine: o trabalho.

In this sentence, though, it appears after de, so you do not see the article:

• de trabalho

The gender matters more when the noun appears with an article or adjective:

• o trabalho
• um trabalho novo

You might hear that in English, but the most natural translation is usually:

• employment contract
• work contract in some contexts

So if you are learning the Portuguese phrase, employment contract is the safest equivalent.

Yes.

You can say:

• Eu li o contrato de trabalho.

That simply means I read the employment contract.

Adding hoje gives extra information about when the action happened.