Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): O Pedro está de bom humor hoje.

This article usually doesn’t change the meaning; it’s more a matter of natural, everyday style in Portugal. It can sound strange not to use it in many contexts.

In Brazilian Portuguese, people normally do not use the article before first names, so they would usually say:

Pedro está de bom humor hoje.

As a learner of European Portuguese, you should get used to hearing and using O/A + first name in casual and neutral speech.

Can I omit the article and just say Pedro está de bom humor hoje in Portugal?

You can, and people will understand you perfectly. However:

In European Portuguese, O Pedro is more typical in everyday speech, especially in informal situations.
Omitting it (saying Pedro está de bom humor hoje) can sound:
- more “bookish” or formal in some contexts, or
- influenced by Brazilian Portuguese.

It’s not wrong, but if you want to sound natural in Portugal, using O/A + name is a good habit to develop.

Why is it está and not é here?

Portuguese uses estar for temporary states, conditions, or moods, and ser for more permanent characteristics.

O Pedro está de bom humor hoje.
→ Pedro is in a good mood today (temporary state, can change).
O Pedro é simpático.
→ Pedro is nice (a more permanent personality trait).

Mood, health, weather, locations, and temporary situations usually take estar, not ser:

Ela está cansada. – She is tired.
Nós estamos em casa. – We are at home.

What does de do in de bom humor? Why not com bom humor?

The expression estar de bom humor is an idiomatic pattern:

estar de bom/mau humor = to be in a good/bad mood.

Here, de is part of a fixed construction. Literally, it’s like “to be of good mood”, but it’s best to treat it as a set phrase.

You can say estar com bom humor, and it’s understandable, but it sounds less idiomatic and natural than estar de bom humor. The version with de is the standard, common one.

Does bom agree with Pedro or with humor?

Bom agrees with humor, not with Pedro.

humor is a masculine singular noun → o humor.
So the adjective must also be masculine singular → bom.

If the noun were feminine, the adjective would change:

boa disposição (good disposition / good mood)
O Pedro está de boa disposição hoje.

Is estar de bom humor the most common way to say “in a good mood” in Portugal?

It’s very common and completely correct, but in Portugal you will also hear another very frequent expression:

O Pedro está bem disposto hoje. – Pedro is in a good mood today.

Some rough equivalents:

estar de bom humor – to be in a good mood
estar bem disposto – often also “to be in a good mood / to feel well / to be lively”

In everyday European Portuguese, estar bem disposto is extremely common when talking about someone’s mood or general state.

What is the difference between estar de bom humor and estar feliz or estar contente?

Subtle, but useful:

estar de bom humor
Focus on mood: cheerful, pleasant to be around, not grumpy.
estar feliz
Focus on happiness: genuinely happy, often for a specific reason.
estar contente
More like “to be pleased / satisfied / glad”.

Examples:

O Pedro está de bom humor hoje.
He’s in a good mood (maybe joking, smiling, not irritable).
O Pedro está feliz porque conseguiu o emprego.
He’s happy because he got the job.
Estou contente com o resultado.
I’m pleased with the result.

They overlap, but the nuance is slightly different.

Can hoje go at the beginning of the sentence, like in English?

Yes. Word order is flexible. All of these are correct:

O Pedro está de bom humor hoje.
Hoje o Pedro está de bom humor.
O Pedro hoje está de bom humor.

The most neutral are probably the first two.
Putting hoje at the beginning ( Hoje o Pedro… ) emphasizes “today” a little more, similar to English.

How would I say it in the negative: “Pedro is not in a good mood today”?

You just add não before the verb:

O Pedro não está de bom humor hoje.

Basic pattern:
[subject] + não + [verb] + …

Examples:

Eu não estou de bom humor hoje. – I’m not in a good mood today.
Eles não estão de bom humor hoje. – They are not in a good mood today.

How is this sentence pronounced in European Portuguese?

Approximate pronunciation in European Portuguese (IPA):

O Pedro está de bom humor hoje.
/u ˈpeðɾu ʃˈta ðɨ bõ uˈmoɾ ˈoʒ(ɨ)/

Some tips:

O = [u], like “oo” in food, but shorter.
Pedro = PE-dro, with a soft d and tapped r.
está = “shtá” [ʃˈta] (initial es often sounds like “sh”).
de = very reduced, close to [dɨ] or just a weak [də].
bom = “bõ” (nasal vowel; don’t fully pronounce an m).
humor = “u-MOR” with stress on the second syllable.
hoje = “OJ(zh)”, [ˈoʒ(ɨ)], often with a very weak or almost absent final vowel.

In fluent speech, sounds link together, and de can be very light.

Why is the verb está and not something like an English continuous form “is being in a good mood”?

Portuguese doesn’t need a continuous/progressive form here. Está is simple present of estar, but it can correspond to English:

is (simple present)
is being (present continuous)

In this context, está de bom humor naturally means “is (currently) in a good mood”, so there is no need for estar a estar or estar a ser — that would be ungrammatical.

Compare:

Ele está de bom humor hoje.
→ He is in a good mood today.

The context (“today”) already gives it a “current/temporary” meaning.

How would this change for different people (I, you, they)?

The expression estar de bom humor stays the same; only the verb form changes:

Eu estou de bom humor hoje. – I am in a good mood today.
Tu estás de bom humor hoje. – You (singular, informal) are in a good mood today.
Ele / Ela está de bom humor hoje. – He / She is in a good mood today.
Nós estamos de bom humor hoje. – We are in a good mood today.
Vocês estão de bom humor hoje. – You (plural) are in a good mood today.
Eles / Elas estão de bom humor hoje. – They are in a good mood today.