Desviámo-nos na bifurcação depois do ribeiro.

Because the verb here is desviar-se, a very common pronominal form. In this use, it means something like to turn off, to deviate, or to go off the route.

• nos = ourselves / we
• So desviámo-nos is literally we deviated / we turned off

Without the pronoun, desviar often means to divert something, to move something aside, or in some contexts even to embezzle.

It is the 1st person plural of the pretérito perfeito simples.

That is the normal tense for a completed past action:

• we turned off
• we deviated
• we went off the route

It presents the action as a finished event in the past.

In European Portuguese, that accent helps mark the past form and distinguish it from the present form.

• desviamo-nos = present, we turn off / we deviate
• desviámo-nos = past, we turned off / we deviated

So the accent is very useful here because it separates two forms that would otherwise look very similar.

Because European Portuguese normally uses enclisis in a simple affirmative main clause. That means the object/reflexive pronoun comes after the verb and is linked with a hyphen.

So:

• Desviámo-nos is the normal neutral form in European Portuguese.

This is one of the things that often feels different from English, and also from colloquial Brazilian Portuguese, where pronouns are often placed differently.

This is because of a spelling rule with enclitic pronouns.

The base verb form is desviámos. When nos is attached, the final -s of the verb drops:

• desviámos + nos → desviámo-nos

The same thing happens with vos after many verb forms ending in -s.

By itself, it can be either.

It usually means that the group left the main route or changed direction. Context tells you whether that was:

• intentional, like following directions
• or accidental, like taking the wrong turning

So the verb suggests a departure from the original path, but not necessarily a mistake.

na is a contraction of em + a.

So:

• na bifurcação = at the fork / at the junction / at the split

It indicates the place where the action happened. In this sentence, it tells you where the group turned off.

Not exactly.

bifurcação is specifically a split into two branches, so it is often best understood as:

• a fork
• a branching point
• a junction where the road/path divides

A crossroads is more like an intersection where roads cross each other. Bifurcação usually suggests one route splitting into two.

Because depois is followed by de, and de + o contracts to do.

So:

• depois de + o ribeiro → depois do ribeiro

These contractions are standard and very common in Portuguese.

Because Portuguese often uses the definite article with specific nouns where English might not.

Here, o ribeiro refers to a specific stream known in the situation, so do ribeiro sounds natural. Portuguese is generally more article-friendly than English in this kind of context.

Ribeiro usually means a small stream, brook, or creek.

It is smaller than a rio. So if you picture the landscape, ribeiro suggests a relatively small watercourse rather than a large river.

Yes. Portuguese allows some flexibility.

For example, you could also say:

• Depois do ribeiro, desviámo-nos na bifurcação.

That version puts the time/location sequence first. The original sentence is still very natural; it just presents the action first and then adds the location details.

The main stressed syllables are:

• des-vi-Á-mo-nos
• bi-fur-ca-ÇÃO
• ri-BEI-ro

In European Portuguese, unstressed vowels are often reduced, so the sentence may sound more compressed than the spelling suggests. The stress pattern is a very helpful guide when reading it aloud.