Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Quando estou de mau humor, sei que é melhor ficar calado durante uns minutos, mesmo que o dia esteja ótimo. - When I’m in a bad mood, I know it’s better to stay quiet for a few minutes, even if the day is great.

estar de + noun is a common pattern for temporary states:
- estar de mau humor – to be in a bad mood
- estar de bom humor – to be in a good mood
- estar de férias – to be on holiday
- estar de serviço – to be on duty

You would not say em mau humor in this context, and mau humor on its own would just mean bad mood as a noun phrase, not to be in a bad mood. The preposition de is simply part of the fixed expression.

What is the difference between mau and mal here, and why do we say mau humor and not mal humor?

In Portuguese:

mau is mainly an adjective = bad (opposite of bom).
mal is mainly an adverb = badly / poorly (opposite of bem), and can also be a noun in some cases.

Because humor is a noun, it needs an adjective to qualify it:

mau humor = bad mood (adjective + noun)

If you said mal humor, it would sound wrong to a native speaker, because mal doesn’t match the grammar role needed here. You need the adjective mau.

Compare:

um mau aluno – a bad student
ele canta mal – he sings badly

Why is it Quando estou de mau humor and not Quando eu estou de mau humor?

In Portuguese (especially in European Portuguese), subject pronouns like eu, tu, ele, etc. are often dropped because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

estou clearly indicates eu (I) from its ending.
So Quando estou de mau humor is natural and not ambiguous.

You can say Quando eu estou de mau humor, but:

With eu, it sounds slightly more emphatic: when *I am in a bad mood…*
In neutral, everyday speech, natives usually omit eu unless they want to emphasize contrast:
- Quando eu estou de mau humor, mas tu não estás… – When I am in a bad mood, but you aren’t…

Why sei que é melhor ficar calado and not sei que é melhor eu ficar calado?

Both are possible; they’re just stylistically different.

sei que é melhor ficar calado
- More compact and neutral.
- The subject of ficar is understood from the context (eu).
- Very common in speech and writing.
sei que é melhor eu ficar calado
- Adds an explicit subject (eu) to the infinitive.
- Can sound slightly more emphatic or slightly more informal/colloquial depending on context.

With expressions like é melhor, é bom, é importante, Portuguese often uses the infinitive alone:

É melhor esperar. – It’s better to wait.
É importante estudar. – It’s important to study.

So the version in the sentence is completely natural.

What exactly does ficar calado mean, and how is it different from estar calado or calar-me?

All three relate to being or becoming silent, but with different nuances:

ficar calado
- Literally to stay / remain / end up silent
- Often implies a decision or result:
  - É melhor ficar calado. – Better to keep my mouth shut.
- Focus on entering or staying in that state.
estar calado
- to be silent (state at a given moment)
- Describes the situation, not the decision:
  - Ele está calado. – He is quiet / not speaking.
calar-me (European Portuguese reflexive form)
- to shut up / to stop talking (action)
- More direct and can be stronger, depending on tone:
  - Vou calar-me. – I’m going to shut up.

In this sentence, ficar calado matches the idea of choosing to remain silent for a while rather than simply being silent.

Could we say ficar em silêncio instead of ficar calado? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say ficar em silêncio and it’s correct.

Nuance:

ficar calado
- Very common, everyday, slightly more colloquial.
- Directly about not talking.
ficar em silêncio
- Sounds a bit more neutral or formal, and slightly more descriptive.
- Can suggest an atmosphere of silence, not just not speaking.

In a natural, informal sentence like this, ficar calado feels more idiomatic; ficar em silêncio would be fine but slightly less casual.

Why durante uns minutos? Could we just say uns minutos, or use por uns minutos?

All three are possible:

durante uns minutos – during a few minutes / for a few minutes
uns minutos – a few minutes (time span, often without a preposition)
por uns minutos – for a few minutes

Nuances (in European Portuguese):

durante uns minutos
- Very natural, slightly more explicit about duration.
- Common in both speech and writing.
ficar calado uns minutos
- Also very natural, especially in speech.
- The duration is clear from context; many natives would say it this way.
por uns minutos
- Grammatically fine, understood by everyone.
- In Portugal, por with time is used, but durante or no preposition feels more neutral in this kind of sentence.

So, you could say:

…é melhor ficar calado (durante) uns minutos…
Both with or without durante are very idiomatic.

What does uns mean in uns minutos? Is it the same as alguns?

Here uns means a few / some:

uns minutos ≈ a few minutes / some minutes

Compare with alguns:

uns minutos and alguns minutos are both correct and often interchangeable.

Subtle nuance:

uns minutos
- Very frequent in spoken language.
- Often slightly more informal or vague: a few minutes, give or take.
alguns minutos
- Slightly more neutral or careful speech.
- Can feel a bit more precise: several minutes.

In most contexts, including this one, you can use either uns or alguns without changing the meaning significantly.

Why is it mesmo que o dia esteja ótimo and not mesmo que o dia está ótimo?

Because mesmo que is a conjunction that typically triggers the subjunctive mood in Portuguese.

mesmo que ≈ even if / even though

After mesmo que, you normally use the present subjunctive in this kind of general, hypothetical, or concessive situation:

mesmo que o dia esteja ótimo – even if the day is great

Using está (indicative) here would sound ungrammatical to native speakers.

Quick pattern:

Indicative: facts, certainties
- O dia está ótimo. – The day is great.
Subjunctive after mesmo que: concession / hypothesis
- Mesmo que o dia esteja ótimo… – Even if the day is great…

What exactly does mesmo que mean here? Is it like even if or even though?

In this sentence, mesmo que means even if / even though, expressing a concession:

…mesmo que o dia esteja ótimo.
– …even if the day is great.

It suggests:

The day being great does not change the speaker’s behaviour; they still prefer to stay quiet when in a bad mood.

Sometimes mesmo que can lean closer to even though (where the thing is actually true), or even if (more hypothetical). Context clarifies which nuance is intended.

Related expressions:

ainda que – also even if / even though (a bit more formal/literary)
mesmo se – more like even if (less common than mesmo que in European Portuguese in this structure)

Why is it ótimo and not ótima or ótimos? What is it agreeing with?

Ótimo is an adjective, and it must agree in gender and number with the noun it describes:

The noun here is o dia (masculine singular).
So the adjective must be masculine singular: ótimo.

Forms of ótimo:

Masculine singular: ótimo – o dia está ótimo
Feminine singular: ótima – a tarde está ótima
Masculine plural: ótimos – os dias estão ótimos
Feminine plural: ótimas – as noites estão ótimas

So mesmo que o dia esteja ótimo is the correct agreement.

Why mau humor but calado? How would these change for a woman speaking?

There are two different adjective–noun agreements happening:

mau humor
- humor is masculine singular (o humor).
- So its adjective is masculine singular mau.
- If the noun changed, the form could change:
  - uma má disposição – a bad disposition (feminine noun → má).
ficar calado
- calado agrees with the subject (here eu, assumed masculine).
- If a woman is speaking, she would say:
  - Quando estou de mau humor, sei que é melhor ficar calada…

Plural forms:

Group of men / mixed group: ficarmos calados
Group of women only: ficarmos caladas

Is the comma before sei que necessary? And what about the comma before mesmo que?

Portuguese punctuation here is similar to English, but slightly stricter with commas around clauses.

Comma after the first clause
- Quando estou de mau humor, sei que…
- A comma after an initial Quando-clause is standard and expected in writing.
Comma before mesmo que
- …, mesmo que o dia esteja ótimo.
- This introduces a subordinate concessive clause (even if the day is great).
- Writing it with a comma is the usual and recommended option.

So in standard written European Portuguese, both commas are natural and correct:

Quando estou de mau humor, sei que é melhor ficar calado durante uns minutos, mesmo que o dia esteja ótimo.