Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Finalmente, deitei‑me no sofá, apoiei a cabeça no travesseiro e li o jornal. - Finally, I lay on the sofa, rested my head on the pillow and read the newspaper.

In European Portuguese, affirmative main clauses without intervening words that “pull” the pronoun tend to use enclisis—that is, the pronoun sticks to the end of the verb. Since there’s no negative word or subordinating conjunction in front of deitei, you attach ‑me after it, giving deitei‑me.

Could I say me deitei or deitei me instead?

In Portugal, me deitei is not the standard word order in an affirmative clause—enclisis is preferred. Deitei me (with a space instead of a hyphen) is orthographically incorrect, because enclitic pronouns must be joined to the verb with a hyphen. In Brazilian Portuguese, however, proclisis (me deitei) is very common in everyday speech.

Why do we use a hyphen in deitei‑me?

Whenever you place a pronoun after a verb (enclisis), the orthography rule is to link them with a hyphen. So deitei + me becomes deitei‑me. If the pronoun were before the verb (proclisis), there would be no hyphen.

Why is it no sofá instead of em o sofá?

Portuguese contracts certain prepositions with definite articles. Here em + o merges into no. Saying em o sofá is grammatically correct but very rare in normal speech or writing; you almost always hear no sofá.

Why is there an acute accent on the á in sofá?

Sofá is an oxytone (stress on the last syllable) ending in a vowel. Portuguese orthography requires an acute accent on the final vowel of oxytones ending in a, e or o. Without the accent it would be misread as a paroxytone.

What exactly does apoiei a cabeça no travesseiro mean, and how does apoiar work here?

Apoiar here means “to rest” or “to lean.” The structure is: verb (apoiei) + direct object (a cabeça) + prepositional phrase (em + o travesseiro, contracted to no travesseiro). So you’re literally “leaning your head on the pillow.”

What’s the difference between travesseiro and almofada?

A travesseiro is the larger pillow you use on a bed to sleep. An almofada is a smaller decorative cushion, often found on sofas or chairs. If you meant “I rested my head on a sofa cushion,” you’d more naturally say apoiei a cabeça na almofada.

Why does the sentence use li o jornal? Why li (no accent) and why include o?

Li is the first‐person singular preterite of ler (“to read”) in European Portuguese, and it’s irregular, so it has no accent. The definite article o before jornal is used just as in English “I read the newspaper”; Portuguese normally keeps the article with publications.

Why are commas used between the verbs deitei‑me, apoiei and li?

Portuguese, like English, separates coordinate actions in a sequence with commas. Here you have three actions: lying down, resting your head, and reading. The commas clarify that these are three distinct but sequential activities.