Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Ultimamente, a minha prioridade tem sido dormir bem e estudar com calma. - Lately, my priority has been to sleep well and study calmly.

Leaving out the article (minha prioridade) is possible but sounds more marked, poetic, or influenced by Brazilian Portuguese. In everyday European Portuguese, the article is usually there.

So a minha prioridade is the standard, natural form in Portugal.

Why do we say tem sido instead of just é?

Tem sido is the present perfect tense: ter + past participle (here: tem + sido).

tem sido ≈ “has been” (up to now, over a recent period)

It suggests that this has been your priority over some time leading up to the present, not just a general permanent fact.

Compare:

A minha prioridade é dormir bem…
– “My priority is to sleep well…” (a general, present-time statement; could sound more permanent or timeless)
Ultimamente, a minha prioridade tem sido dormir bem…
– “Lately, my priority has been to sleep well…” (focus on a recent period that continues up to now)

Because the sentence starts with Ultimamente (Lately), tem sido fits very well: it describes a state that has held true over that recent period and may still be true now.

Could we say Ultimamente, a minha prioridade é dormir bem e estudar com calma instead? What would change?

Yes, that sentence is grammatically correct and understandable.

tem sido puts emphasis on the recent ongoing period:
“Lately, my priority has been…”
é is simple present:
“Lately, my priority is…”

With é, the link to a stretch of time up to now is weaker. Because Ultimamente itself already indicates recent time, many speakers prefer tem sido, which matches the idea of “has been (and still is, over this period).”

So:

Ultimamente, a minha prioridade tem sido… sounds a bit more natural and idiomatic.
Ultimamente, a minha prioridade é… is correct, slightly more neutral in aspect, and still fine in real use.

What is the difference between tem sido and something like está a ser?

Both describe ongoing situations, but the nuance is different:

tem sido (present perfect):
Focus on a state over a period up to now, often with a sense of repetition or consistency.
→ “has been (for some time)”
está a ser (present continuous):
Focus on what is happening right now or around now, often more temporary.
→ “is being (at the moment / these days)”

In this sentence:

Ultimamente, a minha prioridade tem sido dormir bem…
– best choice: your priority over this recent period, seen as a continuous state.
Ultimamente, a minha prioridade está a ser dormir bem…
– possible, but sounds more unusual and more explicitly temporary, almost as if it’s an odd, current phase. Native speakers would rarely phrase it this way here.

So tem sido is the more idiomatic option.

Why do we use dormir and estudar (infinitives) and not some form ending in -ndo, like English “sleeping” and “studying”?

In Portuguese, when you talk about activities in a general way (as “things to do”), you usually use the infinitive, not the gerund:

dormir bem = “to sleep well” / “sleeping well” (as an activity)
estudar com calma = “to study calmly / in a relaxed way”

The Portuguese gerund (forms in -ndo, like dormindo, estudando) is mainly used to express actions in progress (similar to English -ing with be, like “am studying”) or as adverbial clauses (“walking down the street, he saw…”).

Here we’re naming priorities (things, activities), so we use infinitives:

a minha prioridade tem sido [dormir bem e estudar com calma]

So dormir and estudar act almost like nouns (“sleeping” and “studying”), and the infinitive is the normal way to do that in Portuguese.

Why is it dormir bem and not dormir bom?

Because bem is an adverb, and bom is an adjective:

bem = “well” → modifies verbs: dormir bem, falar bem, comer bem
bom/boa = “good” → modifies nouns: um bom sono (“a good sleep”), um bom livro (“a good book”)

In this sentence, dormir is a verb, so you must use an adverb:

dormir bem = “to sleep well”

If you wanted to use bom, you’d need a noun:

ter um sono bom / ter um bom sono = “to have a good sleep”

But directly after dormir, only bem is correct.

What does com calma literally mean, and why not just calmamente?

Literally, com calma means “with calm / with calmness.” It’s a very common way to form an adverbial phrase in Portuguese: com + noun.

estudar com calma = “to study calmly / in a relaxed, unhurried way”

You can say calmamente (“calmly”), but:

com calma is much more common, natural, and colloquial.
calmamente can sound more formal, bookish, or emphatic, depending on context.

Portuguese often prefers com + noun instead of an adverb in -mente:

com cuidado (“carefully”)
com rapidez (“quickly”)
com atenção (“attentively”)

So estudar com calma is the most idiomatic choice here.

Could we drop com and say estudar calma?

No, estudar calma is not correct in this meaning.

calma as a noun needs com and usually an article: com calma (“with calmness”).
calma as an adjective must agree with a noun it describes: uma pessoa calma, uma abordagem calma.

After the verb estudar, we’re not describing the subject as calm; we’re describing how the action is done. So you either:

use com calma (with calmness), or
use an adverb like calmamente (calmly).

But estudar calma by itself doesn’t fit the grammar or the idiom.

Why is there a comma after Ultimamente? Is it required?

Ultimamente is an adverbial expression of time (“lately”). At the start of the sentence, it acts as an introductory phrase.

In Portuguese, it is very common and stylistically preferred to separate such introductory adverbials with a comma:

Ultimamente, a minha prioridade tem sido…

Is it absolutely mandatory? In informal writing, you may sometimes see it without the comma:

Ultimamente a minha prioridade tem sido…

But the comma:

makes the sentence clearer,
reflects the natural pause in speech,
and follows standard punctuation rules.

So Ultimamente, … with a comma is the recommended form.

Could we move the phrase and say: A minha prioridade, ultimamente, tem sido dormir bem e estudar com calma? Is that still correct?

Yes, that is also grammatically correct and natural.

Word order in Portuguese is fairly flexible for adverbs like ultimamente. You can place it:

at the beginning:
Ultimamente, a minha prioridade tem sido… (most common, very clear)
in the middle:
A minha prioridade, ultimamente, tem sido… (slightly more emphatic, highlighting “as for lately, as far as my priority is concerned”)
at the end (less usual here, but possible in some contexts):
A minha prioridade tem sido dormir bem e estudar com calma ultimamente.

Your original version (with Ultimamente at the start) is the most straightforward and usual, but the middle position with commas is perfectly acceptable and sounds natural in European Portuguese.