Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Depois do exame, a Ana ainda está ansiosa à espera do resultado. - After the exam, Ana is still anxious waiting for the result.

You can say just Ana, and it’s not wrong, but a Ana is very typical in European Portuguese. In Brazilian Portuguese, using the article with names is much less common and can sound regional or informal.

What is the difference between “depois de” and “depois do”?

depois de = after
When depois de comes before a noun with a definite article, de
- o/a/os/as contracts:
- de + o exame → do exame
- de + a aula → da aula
- de + os exames → dos exames
- de + as aulas → das aulas

So:

depois de o exame is grammatically possible but in practice it’s always contracted to
➜ depois do exame.

The contraction is compulsory in standard written and spoken Portuguese.

Why is it “ainda está ansiosa” and not “ainda é ansiosa”?

Portuguese distinguishes between:

estar – temporary states, emotions, conditions
ser – permanent or defining characteristics

Being anxious about an exam result is a temporary emotional state, so you use estar:

a Ana ainda está ansiosa – Ana is still anxious (right now, because of the result).

É ansiosa would suggest she is, in general, an anxious person by nature, which is not what this sentence is saying.

Why “ansiosa” and not “ansioso”?

Adjectives in Portuguese agree with the gender and number of the noun:

Ana is feminine singular → ansiosa (feminine singular)
A male person would be ansioso:
- O Pedro ainda está ansioso à espera do resultado.

Plural examples:

As alunas estão ansiosas.
Os alunos estão ansiosos.

What exactly does “ainda” mean here? Could I leave it out?

ainda means “still” in this context:

a Ana ainda está ansiosa – Ana is still anxious (she remains anxious).

If you remove ainda:

A Ana está ansiosa à espera do resultado.

This is still correct but loses the idea of continuation over time. With ainda, the sentence implies that some time has passed since the exam, but her anxiety continues.

What is the difference between “a” and “à” in “à espera”?

In à espera, à is a contraction:

a (preposition) + a (feminine article) = à (with a grave accent)

So literally:

à espera = a (to/at/in) + a espera (the wait) → “in the wait / in the act of waiting”.

The grave accent ( ` ) only appears on à / às / àquele / àquela, etc., and it always signals this contraction of a + a (or related forms). It’s not a change of pronunciation, just a grammatical mark.

Why do we say “à espera do resultado” instead of something like “esperando o resultado”?

Portuguese (especially in Portugal) often avoids the gerund -ando / -endo where English uses -ing.

Instead, it uses fixed expressions like:

estar à espera de
- noun/pronoun
estar à espera de
- verb in the infinitive

Here:

à espera do resultado uses the noun espera (the wait) with the preposition de:
- literally: “(being) in the wait of the result”.

In Brazil, you could say:

está esperando o resultado (using the gerund)

In Portugal, está à espera do resultado is much more natural and idiomatic.

Why is it “à espera do resultado” and not “à espera de o resultado” or “à espera pelo resultado”?

de o → do
- As before, de + o contracts to do:
  - de o resultado → do resultado
- So you must write à espera do resultado, not à espera de o resultado.
de vs por
The expression is estar à espera de (to be waiting for):
- Estou à espera de ti. – I’m waiting for you.
- Estamos à espera do autocarro. – We’re waiting for the bus.

You can also use esperar por with the verb esperar:

Espero pelo resultado. – I’m waiting for the result.

So:

à espera do resultado (with the noun espera)
esperar pelo resultado (with the verb esperar
- por)

Both are correct, but they belong to different structures.

Can I change the word order and say “A Ana ainda está ansiosa depois do exame”?

Yes, that is also grammatically correct:

Depois do exame, a Ana ainda está ansiosa …
A Ana ainda está ansiosa depois do exame …

Both are fine. Differences:

Depois do exame at the beginning puts more emphasis on the time context (after the exam).
At the end, it sounds slightly more neutral and is often more typical in spoken language.

The original version is very natural in both speech and writing.

Why is the verb in the present tense (“está”) if the exam is already over (“depois do exame”)?

The time expressions refer to different things:

depois do exame – the exam is in the past.
a Ana ainda está ansiosa – her emotional state is now, in the present.

So the sentence means: Now (in the present), after the exam, she is still anxious.

Using the present tense está is correct because it describes her current state, not the time of the exam.

Is “ansiosa” always negative, like English “anxious”, or can it mean “excited” too?

ansioso / ansiosa can be:

Negative – worried, nervous:
- Está ansiosa com o exame. – She is anxious about the exam.
Positive / neutral – eager, can’t wait for something:
- Está ansiosa pelas férias. – She is eager for the holidays.

In context with exame and resultado, it usually leans more towards worry / nervousness, which matches the English “anxious” well.

Is “a Ana” more informal? When might I drop the article with names in European Portuguese?

In European Portuguese:

Using the article with names (a Ana, o João) is standard and very common, especially in spoken language.
Dropping the article (Ana, João) is also correct and tends to sound:
- slightly more formal, or
- more neutral/written, e.g. in official lists, headlines, CVs, formal documents.

In an everyday sentence like this, with friends or family, a Ana is completely natural and probably more frequent than just Ana.

How is “exame” pronounced, especially the “x”?

In European Portuguese:

exame is pronounced approximately: [eˈzɐm(ɨ)]
- e – like e in bed (though slightly tenser)
- x before a vowel often sounds like /z/ → “ezame”
- final e is often a very reduced sound [ɨ], sometimes almost inaudible.

So you don’t say it with an English “gz” or “ks” sound. Think more like “ez-A-m(uh)”.