Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Ela é um pouco tímida, mas ouve com atenção quando alguém fala. - She is a bit shy, but she listens carefully when someone speaks.

um pouco tímida = a bit / somewhat shy
- This softens the adjective and is neutral: she is shy, but only a little.
pouco tímida (without um) = not very shy / hardly shy
- This often implies the opposite idea: she is not very shy.

So:

Ela é um pouco tímida → She is a bit shy.
Ela é pouco tímida → She is not very shy / She’s hardly shy.

For the meaning you have, um pouco tímida is the natural choice.

Why is é (from ser) used and not está (from estar)?

Portuguese uses:

ser for more permanent or characteristic qualities.
estar for temporary states or situations.

Timidez (shyness) is seen here as part of her personality, not just a temporary mood. So:

Ela é um pouco tímida.
→ She is (by nature) a bit shy.

If you said:

Ela está um pouco tímida.
→ She is a bit shy right now (for example, today, at this party), suggesting it’s temporary or unusual for her.

What exactly is ouve, and why isn’t ela repeated before it?

Ouve is:

the 3rd person singular (he/she/it) form of ouvir (to hear / listen)
present indicative: (ela) ouve = she hears / she listens.

Portuguese is a pro-drop language: subject pronouns (like eu, tu, ele/ela) are often omitted when the verb ending already shows the subject.

Here, the subject of both verbs is the same:

Ela é um pouco tímida, mas (ela) ouve com atenção...

Repeating ela is not necessary and would sound slightly heavier. You can say:

Ela é um pouco tímida, mas ela ouve com atenção...

This is grammatically fine, but normally you only repeat ela if you want emphasis (for example, to contrast with someone else).

What’s the difference between ouvir and escutar in this context?

In European Portuguese:

ouvir literally = to hear, but very often also means to listen to.
escutar = to listen (carefully, attentively), sometimes with a stronger sense of paying attention.

In everyday EP, ouvir is extremely common, even when English would say listen:

Ouvir música = to listen to music
Ouvir o professor = to listen to the teacher

The phrase ouvir com atenção already adds the idea of careful listening. You could also say:

Ela é um pouco tímida, mas escuta com atenção...

Both are correct, but ouvir com atenção is very natural and idiomatic.

Why is it com atenção instead of an adverb like atentamente?

Both are possible, but there’s a nuance:

com atenção = with attention / carefully
- Very common in spoken and informal written Portuguese.
atentamente = attentively
- Slightly more formal or literary; less typical in everyday speech in this sentence.

So:

...mas ouve com atenção...
sounds completely natural and colloquial.
...mas ouve atentamente...
is correct but a bit more formal or “written-sounding” in this context.

Why is there no article before atenção (why not com a atenção)?

In Portuguese, many abstract or “mass” nouns take no article after com when they describe a general way or state:

com atenção – with attention
com cuidado – with care
com medo – afraid
com fome – hungry
com pressa – in a hurry

If you say com a atenção, you are specifying some particular attention, for example:

com a atenção dos alunos – with the students’ attention
com a atenção de todos – with everyone’s attention

In ouve com atenção, we mean attention in general, as a manner, so no article is used.

In quando alguém fala, why is it just fala and not está a falar?

Portuguese present simple (fala) can express:

general or habitual actions:
- Quando alguém fala, ela ouve com atenção.
  → Whenever someone speaks, she listens carefully. (general habit)
ongoing actions in descriptions of scenes or commentary.

If you say:

Quando alguém está a falar, ela ouve com atenção.

this shifts the focus to a more concrete ongoing situation, like:

While someone is speaking (at that moment), she listens carefully.

So:

For a general trait / habit, quando alguém fala is more natural.
quando alguém está a falar would usually refer to a specific time frame or situation.

Why is alguém used instead of something like as pessoas or os outros?

Alguém is an indefinite pronoun meaning someone / anybody.

quando alguém fala → when someone speaks / when anybody speaks
This sounds neutral and general, like “whenever a person is speaking”.

Alternatives would change the nuance:

quando as pessoas falam – when people speak (more collective idea)
quando os outros falam – when others speak (contrasting her with other people)

The original sentence highlights that she listens attentively to whoever speaks, so alguém is a natural choice.

Why does tímida end in -a? What would it look like for a man or for plural?

Adjectives in Portuguese normally agree in gender and number with the noun/pronoun they describe.

Ela (she) is feminine singular → tímida
Ele (he) is masculine singular → tímido

Examples:

Ela é um pouco tímida.
Ele é um pouco tímido.

Plural:

Elas são um pouco tímidas. (they, all female)
Eles são um pouco tímidos. (they, mixed or all male)

Many adjectives have this -o / -a / -os / -as pattern. Others (like feliz, interessante) don’t change for gender, only for number.

Is the comma before mas necessary, and how is mas used and pronounced?

Yes, in standard Portuguese you normally put a comma before mas when it links two clauses:

Ela é um pouco tímida, mas ouve com atenção...

Mas means but, just like in English.

Pronunciation in European Portuguese:

mas is usually /maʃ/ (the final s often sounds like English “sh”).

Be careful not to confuse it with:

mais (more), pronounced /maɪʃ/ in many accents.

Could we say Ela é um bocadinho tímida instead of um pouco tímida? Is that more European Portuguese?

Yes, very much so. In European Portuguese:

um bocadinho = a little / a bit, often more colloquial and very common.
um pouco = a little / somewhat, slightly more neutral or general.

So:

Ela é um bocadinho tímida, mas ouve com atenção quando alguém fala.

is perfectly natural EP and sounds very everyday and friendly. The meaning is practically the same; um bocadinho feels just a bit more informal.

Could we change the word order to ...mas quando alguém fala, ouve com atenção? Is that okay?

Yes, both orders are grammatically correct:

...mas ouve com atenção quando alguém fala.
- Slightly more common; the focus is on how she listens.
...mas, quando alguém fala, ouve com atenção.
- A bit more emphasis on the condition when someone speaks.

Word order is fairly flexible here. Both options are natural; the difference is very subtle and mostly about which part you want to highlight.