Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): A reunião foi longa, mesmo assim aprendi muito. - The meeting was long, even so I learned a lot.

In Portuguese foi is the third-person singular of both ser and ir in the pretérito perfeito simples (simple past). In this sentence it’s from ser (“The meeting was long”). We use the pretérito perfeito to describe a completed action or state in the past.

Why does longa end in -a? Shouldn’t it be longo?

Adjectives in Portuguese agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify. reunião is feminine, so the adjective takes the feminine form longa. If the noun were masculine (e.g. o evento), you’d say evento longo.

Why is there no subject pronoun eu before aprendi?

Portuguese is a pro-drop language: subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb ending already indicates person and number. aprendi unambiguously means “I learned,” so eu is optional and usually left out.

What does mesmo assim mean and how is it used?

mesmo assim is a discourse connector meaning even so, nevertheless or still. It introduces a contrast between two clauses: “The meeting was long; even so, I learned a lot.” It typically appears at the beginning of the second clause, often after a comma.

Can we replace mesmo assim with apesar disso? Any nuance?

Yes. apesar disso (literally in spite of that) works the same way:
“A reunião foi longa, apesar disso aprendi muito.”
Nuance: apesar disso is slightly more formal, while mesmo assim feels more conversational.

Why is there a comma before mesmo assim?

In Portuguese, when you insert a conjunction or connector (like mesmo assim, porém, entretanto) at the start of a contrasting clause, you separate it with a comma. It signals a pause and highlights the shift in idea.

Why does muito come after aprendi? Could we say muito aprendi?

Here muito is an adverb modifying the verb aprendi (“I learned a lot”). The usual neutral order is verb + adverb: aprendi muito. Putting muito before the verb—muito aprendi—is grammatically correct but sounds more emphatic or poetic.

What tense and aspect is aprendi?

It’s the first-person singular pretérito perfeito simples of aprender. This tense describes a fully completed action in the past, with no direct implication of duration or repetition beyond that single event (the meeting).

How do you pronounce reunião?

Phonetically: [ʁe.uˈni.ɐ̃w̃].
A rough approximation is “heh-oo-NEE-own” with a nasal ão at the end (like “own” but nasal).

Why does reunião have a tilde on the ã?

The tilde (˜) marks nasalization of the vowel. In Portuguese ão endings (as in mão, pão, reunião) signal that the a is nasal, producing a sound like “own” but nasalized.