Depois da palestra sobre saúde, deixei um comentário positivo na página do hospital.

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Questions & Answers about Depois da palestra sobre saúde, deixei um comentário positivo na página do hospital.

Why is it da palestra and not de a palestra or just depois de palestra?

In European Portuguese:

  • de + a (preposition + feminine singular definite article) contracts to da.
  • So depois de a palestra is never written that way; it must be depois da palestra.

About depois de vs. depois da:

  • depois de is the basic preposition: “after”.
  • When it is followed by a specific noun with a definite article, it usually contracts:
    • depois da palestra = after the lecture (a specific one)
    • depois do filme = after the film
  • You use bare depois de before:
    • a verb in the infinitive: depois de jantar = after having dinner
    • a noun without an article (more generic): depois de palestras = after lectures (in general)

So depois da palestra is the natural way to say “after the lecture” in this specific context.

What tense is deixei, and what does it tell us about the subject?

Deixei is:

  • Verb: deixar (“to leave”, “to let”)
  • Tense: pretérito perfeito simples (simple past)
  • Person/number: 1st person singular (“I”)

So deixei means “I left” / “I have left” (for a completed past action).

Portuguese is a pro‑drop language, so the subject pronoun eu is often omitted:

  • (Eu) deixei um comentário positivo…
    The ending -ei already shows that the subject is eu (I).
Why do we use deixar um comentário here? Could I also say fazer or escrever um comentário?

Yes, all are possible, but they have slightly different feels:

  • deixar um comentário
    • Very common online, especially for things like websites, Facebook, YouTube.
    • Emphasises that you left a comment there (and it stays there after you leave the page).
  • fazer um comentário
    • More general: “to make a comment / remark” (spoken or written).
    • Can be used online too, but doesn’t highlight the idea of “leaving” it on a page as strongly.
  • escrever um comentário
    • Focuses on the act of writing the comment.
    • Good if you want to emphasise the writing itself.

In this sentence, deixei um comentário positivo na página do hospital sounds very natural for “I left a positive comment on the hospital’s page.”

Why is it palestra sobre saúde and not palestra de saúde?

Sobre is the most direct way to say “about / on (the subject of)”:

  • palestra sobre saúde = “a lecture about health”

de saúde is also possible, but the nuance changes:

  • palestra de saúde can sound more like:
    • a health‑themed lecture
    • or a lecture that “belongs to” the area of health
  • In many contexts both are acceptable, but:
    • sobre + topic is the default way to specify what something is about:
      • livro sobre história = book about history
      • filme sobre política = film about politics

So sobre saúde is the clearest, most neutral way to say “about health” here.

What exactly does palestra mean, and how is it different from aula?

In European Portuguese:

  • palestra = a talk / lecture, usually:
    • one‑off or occasional
    • given by a speaker (sometimes a guest)
    • often more formal or public
  • aula = a lesson / class, usually:
    • part of a course
    • regular (e.g. every week)
    • given by a teacher to students

So a hospital might organise uma palestra sobre saúde (a talk on health).
A teacher in school gives aulas (classes), not usually palestras.

Why is the adjective after the noun in um comentário positivo and not um positivo comentário?

The default order in Portuguese is:

  • noun + adjective

So:

  • um comentário positivo = a positive comment
  • um livro interessante = an interesting book
  • uma página oficial = an official page

Putting the adjective before the noun (e.g. um positivo comentário) is:

  • rare,
  • very literary or stylistic,
  • and can slightly change the nuance (often more emotional / subjective emphasis).

In everyday Portuguese, you should almost always say um comentário positivo, not um positivo comentário.

Does positivo agree in gender and number with comentário?

Yes. In Portuguese, adjectives agree with the noun they modify:

  • comentário is masculine singular
  • So the adjective is also masculine singular: positivo

Other forms:

  • comentários positivos (masculine plural)
  • opinião positiva (feminine singular)
  • opiniões positivas (feminine plural)

In the sentence, um comentário positivo is consistent:
comentário (m.sg.) + positivo (m.sg.).

What do na and do mean in na página do hospital?

They are contractions of preposition + definite article:

  • na = em + a
    • em = in / on / at
    • a = the (feminine singular)
    • na página = “on the page”
  • do = de + o
    • de = of / from
    • o = the (masculine singular)
    • do hospital = “of the hospital” / “the hospital’s”

So na página do hospital literally = “on the page of the hospital” = “on the hospital’s page”.

In normal Portuguese, you must use the contractions; you don’t say em a página or de o hospital.

Why is it do hospital and not da hospital?

Because of gender:

  • hospital is masculine in Portuguese:
    • o hospital = the hospital
  • de + odo
    So: do hospital = of the hospital

If the noun were feminine, we’d have:

  • a páginada página (de + a)
  • a clínicada clínica

In this sentence, we have:

  • a palestra (feminine) → da palestra
  • a página (feminine) → na página
  • o hospital (masculine) → do hospital
What are the genders of the main nouns here: palestra, saúde, comentário, página, hospital?

They are:

  • a palestra (lecture) – feminine
  • a saúde (health) – feminine
  • o comentário (comment) – masculine
  • a página (page) – feminine
  • o hospital (hospital) – masculine

Patterns (with many exceptions, but useful as a guide):

  • Nouns ending in -a are often feminine: palestra, página
  • Nouns ending in -o are often masculine: comentário
  • Many words ending in -de can be either; saúde happens to be feminine.
  • Words ending in -al are quite often masculine: hospital, animal, jornal.
Could the word order around na página do hospital be different?

Yes, Portuguese allows some flexibility, although the original order is the most neutral:

  • Original:
    • Depois da palestra sobre saúde, deixei um comentário positivo na página do hospital.
  • Possible alternative:
    • Depois da palestra sobre saúde, na página do hospital deixei um comentário positivo.

Both are correct. The alternative slightly emphasises na página do hospital by moving it earlier, but the meaning is the same. The standard, most natural version is the original one.

How would this sentence be pronounced in European Portuguese (roughly)?

In IPA (European Portuguese):

  • Depois da palestra sobre saúde, deixei um comentário positivo na página do hospital.
    /dɨˈpojʃ dɐ pɐˈlɛʃtɾɐ ˈsobɾɨ saˈuðɨ, dɐjˈʃɐj ũ kõmẽnˈtaɾju puziˈtivu nɐ ˈpaʒinɐ du oʃpiˈtal./

Very rough English‑style approximation (not exact):

  • Depois ≈ “dɨ-POYSH”
  • da ≈ “dɐ”
  • palestra ≈ “pɐ-LESH-trɐ”
  • sobre ≈ “SO-bɾɨ”
  • saúde ≈ “sa-U-dɨ”
  • deixei ≈ “day-SHAY”
  • um ≈ nasal “oo(m)”
  • comentário ≈ “koo-mẽ-TA-ryoo”
  • positivo ≈ “poo-zi-TEE-voo”
  • na ≈ “nɐ”
  • página ≈ “PA-zhin-ɐ”
  • do ≈ “du”
  • hospital ≈ “oosh-pi-TAL” (with a soft initial “osh/ush” sound)

Spoken naturally, many vowels are reduced, especially e and a in unstressed syllables.