A despesa total aumentou.

Because despesa is a feminine noun in Portuguese, so it takes the feminine singular definite article a.

• a despesa = the expense
• o gasto = the expense/the spending

In Portuguese, the article must match the noun’s grammatical gender.

Because total is one of those adjectives that has the same form for masculine and feminine in the singular.

So you get:

• o custo total
• a despesa total

Both use total. The gender difference is shown by the article and noun, not by changing the adjective. In the plural, you get totais:

• as despesas totais

In Portuguese, adjectives often come after the noun, much more often than in English.

So despesa total is the normal order for total expense or overall expense. Putting total before the noun here would sound unnatural.

This noun + adjective order is especially common in formal, financial, and technical language.

Aumentou is the pretérito perfeito form of aumentar. Here it is the 3rd person singular form.

It is usually translated as:

• increased
• sometimes has increased, depending on context in English

So grammatically it is a completed past action or change: the total expense went up.

The infinitive is aumentar.

Aumentou is singular because the subject is singular: a despesa total.

Even if that total is made up of many individual items, the sentence treats it as one single amount, so the verb stays singular.

Compare:

• A despesa total aumentou. = one total figure increased
• As despesas totais aumentaram. = several total expenses increased

In normal Portuguese, especially in a full sentence, the article a is the natural choice: A despesa total aumentou.

Leaving it out can happen in:

• headlines
• tables
• report labels
• note-style writing

So Despesa total aumentou might appear in a headline or a chart, but in ordinary sentence-style Portuguese, A despesa total aumentou sounds more complete and natural.

They are related, but not identical.

• despesa = expense, often in financial/accounting contexts
• gasto = spending, expense, often a bit more general or everyday
• custo = cost

So despesa often sounds slightly more formal or financial than gasto.

For example:

• A despesa total aumentou. = formal/accounting-style
• O gasto total aumentou. = possible, but slightly different tone
• O custo total aumentou. = the total cost increased, which is not always exactly the same idea as expense

A rough European Portuguese pronunciation is:

uh dsh-PAY-zuh too-TAHL ow-men-TOH

A few useful points:

• despesa: the s before a consonant sounds like sh in European Portuguese
• total: the final l is a dark l
• aumentou: the stress is on the last syllable

A more IPA-style version is approximately:

/ɐ d(ɨ)ʃˈpezɐ tuˈtaɫ awmẽˈto/

If you want to sound more European Portuguese, remember that unstressed vowels are often reduced.

Yes, but it does not mean exactly the same thing.

• A despesa total aumentou = the total expense, seen as one overall figure, increased
• As despesas totais aumentaram = the total expenses increased, referring to multiple expenses or categories

So the original sentence focuses on one combined amount. The plural version focuses on multiple items.

It is active, not passive.

The verb aumentar can be used intransitively, meaning to increase or to go up by itself.

So:

• A despesa total aumentou. = The total expense increased.

If you used a passive idea, it would suggest that someone caused the increase, for example:

• A despesa total foi aumentada. = The total expense was increased.

That is grammatical, but it gives a different meaning and is less natural unless you specifically want to stress an external cause.