Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Agora estamos a ler um romance recente que foi traduzido para português. - Now we are reading a recent novel that was translated into Portuguese.

In European Portuguese, estar a + infinitive (here: estamos a ler) is the most common way to express an action that is happening right now – it corresponds to the English present continuous (we are reading).

Agora estamos a ler = Right now we are reading (ongoing action at this moment).
Agora lemos is grammatically correct, but it usually sounds more like a habit or general fact than an action happening right now (e.g. These days we read a recent novel as a routine).

So in this context, estamos a ler is the natural choice in Portugal to match the English are reading.

What exactly is the a in estamos a ler? Is it a preposition?

Yes. In European Portuguese, the structure estar a + infinitive uses the preposition a together with the infinitive:

estar a ler – to be reading
estar a comer – to be eating
estar a estudar – to be studying

This is a fixed grammatical pattern that functions as the present continuous. You don’t translate the a directly into English; it’s just part of the construction that means to be doing something (right now) in European Portuguese.

Would Brazilians say Estamos a ler um romance recente in the same way?

No. In Brazil, the usual form is estar + gerúndio (present participle), not estar a + infinitive.

European Portuguese: Agora estamos a ler um romance recente.
Brazilian Portuguese: Agora estamos lendo um romance recente.

The meaning is the same, but the continuous form is different. In Brazil, estamos a ler sounds odd and non-native.

Could I say Agora lemos um romance recente instead of Agora estamos a ler um romance recente?

You can say Agora lemos um romance recente, and it’s grammatically correct, but the nuance changes:

Agora estamos a ler – emphasizes an action in progress right now.
Agora lemos – tends to sound like a more general or habitual statement (e.g. Nowadays we read a recent novel as part of our routine).

If you want to mirror English Right now we are reading…, estamos a ler is the better choice in European Portuguese.

Does romance in Portuguese mean a love story, like English romance?

No. In Portuguese, um romance usually means a novel (a long work of fiction), regardless of whether it’s romantic or not.

um romance policial – a crime novel
um romance histórico – a historical novel

If you want to say romantic relationship or love story, you’d normally use words like história de amor or talk about um casal romântico etc. So in this sentence, um romance recente means a recent novel, not necessarily a romantic story.

What’s the difference between um romance recente and um romance novo?

Both can be translated as a new novel, but the focus is slightly different:

um romance recente – suggests the novel was published recently (focus on recency in time).
um romance novo – can just mean the copy is new (not old/used), or simply a novel that is new to you. It can also mean recently published, but that’s not as specific.

In this context, romance recente is clearer if the idea is about a recently published work.

Why is it um romance recente and not um recente romance?

In Portuguese, most adjectives usually come after the noun:

um romance recente – a recent novel
um livro interessante – an interesting book

You can sometimes put an adjective before the noun (um recente romance), but that sounds more formal or literary and may slightly change the emphasis or style. The neutral, everyday order is noun + adjective, so um romance recente is the most natural.

What does que refer to in um romance recente que foi traduzido para português?

In this sentence, que is a relative pronoun meaning that/which, and it refers back to um romance recente.

So:

um romance recente – a recent novel
que foi traduzido para português – that was translated into Portuguese

Together: um romance recente que foi traduzido para português = a recent novel that was translated into Portuguese.

Why is the passive form foi traduzido used instead of an active form like alguém traduziu?

The passive foi traduzido (was translated) is used because:

The focus is on the state or result of the novel (that it’s available in Portuguese),
The agent (the person who did the translation) is not important or is unknown.

You could say Alguém traduziu o romance para português (Someone translated the novel into Portuguese), but that emphasizes the person/action more than the result. In this sentence, the passive keeps the novel as the main topic.

Why is it traduzido and not something like traduzida or traduzidos?

The past participle traduzido has to agree in gender and number with the noun it refers to:

o romance (masculine singular) → traduzido
a obra (feminine singular) → traduzida
os romances (masculine plural) → traduzidos
as obras (feminine plural) → traduzidas

Here, romance is masculine singular, so the correct form is traduzido:
um romance recente que foi traduzido para português.

Why does the sentence use para português instead of em português?

With the verb traduzir, the most common and natural preposition for the target language is para:

traduzir para português – to translate into Portuguese
traduzir para inglês – to translate into English

em português usually describes the language of the final product, not the process:

O livro está em português. – The book is in Portuguese.

So in foi traduzido para português, para marks the direction: translated into Portuguese.

Could you also say foi traduzido para o português? When do you use the article with language names?

Yes, foi traduzido para o português is also correct. With language names, you can often use:

without article: para português, para inglês
with article: para o português, para o inglês

Both are acceptable, and usage varies by region and style. In many contexts, especially in brief expressions like this, dropping the article (para português) is common and natural.

You must use the article when the language is modified, e.g.:

para o português europeu – into European Portuguese
para o português do Brasil – into Brazilian Portuguese

Does agora always mean “now”? How is it different from já or neste momento?

Agora usually means now / at this moment, and here it clearly marks that the action is happening in the present:

Agora estamos a ler… – Now we are reading…

Comparisons:

já can mean already / yet / now depending on context; it doesn’t automatically mean right now.
neste momento is similar to agora, but a bit more explicit/formal: at this (very) moment.

All of these could work in slightly different nuances, but agora is the most straightforward everyday choice here.

Could we say que está traduzido para português instead of que foi traduzido para português?

You can say que está traduzido para português, but it has a slightly different focus:

que foi traduzido para português – focuses on the past action that happened: that was translated into Portuguese.
que está traduzido para português – focuses more on the current state/result: that is (now) translated into Portuguese.

In practice, both would be understood similarly here, but foi traduzido is the more standard wording to talk about a work that has been translated.