Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): O Pedro tem ciúmes do irmão quando ele recebe um prémio. - Pedro is jealous of his brother when he receives a prize.

In everyday speech in Portugal, with the article is usually more common than without it.
In more formal or written contexts (titles, official documents, etc.), the article is often dropped: Pedro tem ciúmes…
When you address someone directly, you do not use the article:
- Pedro, vem cá! (not O Pedro, vem cá!)

So O Pedro tem ciúmes… is perfectly normal, neutral European Portuguese narrative style.

What does the structure ter ciúmes de mean, and why this form instead of an adjective?

Ter ciúmes de alguém is a very common idiomatic structure in Portuguese and means to be jealous of someone:

O Pedro tem ciúmes do irmão.
→ Pedro is jealous of his brother.

Literally it is “to have jealousies of”, but you should just treat ter ciúmes de as the standard phrase for “to be jealous of”.

Related options:

estar com ciúmes de – also used, often a bit more “in the moment” or emotional:
- O Pedro está com ciúmes do irmão.
ser ciumento / ser ciumenta – an adjective describing a general character trait, not just a specific situation:
- O Pedro é muito ciumento. → Pedro is (a very) jealous (person).

In this sentence, tem ciúmes do irmão sounds neutral and idiomatic for a recurring feeling.

Why is ciúmes in the plural?

In Portuguese, ciúmes is normally used in the plural form when talking about the emotion jealousy:

ter ciúmes de alguém – to be jealous of someone
sentir ciúmes – to feel jealous

The singular ciúme exists, but it is:

Less common in everyday speech for this meaning, and
Often used in more abstract or set expressions, for example:
- O ciúme pode destruir uma relação. – Jealousy can destroy a relationship.
- Teve um acesso de ciúme. – He/she had a fit of jealousy.

But with ter in this everyday sense, you should learn the fixed pattern:

ter ciúmes de + pessoa

Why is it do irmão and not de o irmão or do seu irmão?

Two things are happening here:

Preposition + article contraction
The verb phrase ter ciúmes normally takes de:
- ter ciúmes de alguém
When de comes before the masculine singular article o, they contract:
- de + o = do
- So de o irmão → do irmão
Other common contractions:
- de + a = da
- de + os = dos
- de + as = das
Possessive often omitted with close family
In Portuguese, with close family members, the possessive (seu, dele, dela) is often left out when the owner is obvious from context:
- o irmão can mean his brother / her brother / the brother, depending on context.
So:
- tem ciúmes do irmão = “is jealous of his brother” (here, Pedro’s brother).

You could say:

tem ciúmes do seu irmão – grammatically correct, but seu is ambiguous (his/her/your).
tem ciúmes do irmão dele – very clear: “jealous of his brother”.

In natural European Portuguese, do irmão is enough here because the context is clear.

Who does ele refer to here: Pedro or the brother?

On its own, the sentence is formally ambiguous:

O Pedro tem ciúmes do irmão quando ele recebe um prémio.

In practice:

Many speakers will naturally understand ele as referring to o irmão (the brother) because:
- It is the closest masculine singular noun, and
- It fits the expected meaning: Pedro gets jealous when the brother receives a prize.

However, it could also be interpreted as Pedro (especially if the previous context makes that more logical).

To make it absolutely clear in Portuguese:

If you mean the brother receives the prize:
- O Pedro tem ciúmes do irmão quando o irmão recebe um prémio.
- O Pedro tem ciúmes do irmão quando este recebe um prémio. (more formal/literary)
If you mean Pedro receives the prize:
- O Pedro tem ciúmes do irmão quando recebe um prémio.
  (Here, dropping ele makes it more natural to read Pedro as the subject in both clauses.)

So as written, ele is ambiguous, but most readers will probably take it as the brother.

Could we leave out ele and just say quando recebe um prémio?

Yes, you can:

O Pedro tem ciúmes do irmão quando recebe um prémio.

Portuguese is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns (like eu, tu, ele) can be omitted when the subject is clear from context or verb form.

In this version:

The most natural reading is that the subject of recebe is still O Pedro, because:
- You did not introduce a new explicit subject in the second clause, and
- The language tends to keep the same subject if you don’t clearly change it.

So:

O Pedro tem ciúmes do irmão quando recebe um prémio.
→ Suggests: Pedro is jealous of his brother when Pedro gets a prize.

If you want “when the brother receives a prize” and you omit ele, you should repeat o irmão:

O Pedro tem ciúmes do irmão quando o irmão recebe um prémio.

Why is the present tense (tem, recebe) used here? Does quando mean whenever?

Yes: with the present tense, quando here is understood as “when(ever)” in a habitual sense:

O Pedro tem ciúmes do irmão quando ele recebe um prémio.
→ Pedro gets jealous of his brother whenever he receives a prize.

Portuguese uses the simple present to express:

Habits and repeated actions
- Ela lê quando tem tempo. – She reads when(ever) she has time.
General truths
- A água ferve a 100 graus.

So tem and recebe here describe a repeated pattern, not a single event.
If you wanted a single, one-time event, you would typically use the past or future, depending on the context:

O Pedro ficou com ciúmes do irmão quando ele recebeu um prémio.
– Pedro got jealous when he received a prize (that time).

What is the difference between ter ciúmes and ter inveja in this kind of sentence?

Both are negative feelings related to what someone else has, but they are not exactly the same:

ter ciúmes de alguém – to be jealous of someone
- Often involves fear of losing someone’s affection or attention
- Also used more broadly: resentment that someone is getting praise, affection, success, etc.
ter inveja de alguém – to be envious of someone
- Focus on wanting what the other person has (the prize, the success, the possessions)

In this sentence:

O Pedro tem ciúmes do irmão quando ele recebe um prémio.
→ Pedro feels jealous; maybe he feels less valued than his brother, or he resents the attention the brother gets.
O Pedro tem inveja do irmão quando ele recebe um prémio.
→ Emphasises that Pedro wants the prize or the success his brother has.

In everyday conversation, people sometimes mix them a bit, but the distinction above is the usual one.

Is prémio spelled differently in Brazilian Portuguese?

Yes.

In European Portuguese, the usual spelling is prémio.
In Brazilian Portuguese, the usual spelling is prêmio.

This reflects a difference in pronunciation of the stressed vowel:

EP: prémio – more like an open é sound
BP: prêmio – closer to a closed ê sound

So for Portuguese (Portugal), prémio is the standard spelling.

Can we also say O Pedro fica com ciúmes do irmão quando ele recebe um prémio? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, that sentence is correct and natural:

O Pedro fica com ciúmes do irmão quando ele recebe um prémio.

Difference in nuance:

tem ciúmes – describes the state of being jealous.
fica com ciúmes – focuses on the change: he becomes jealous at that moment.

So:

O Pedro tem ciúmes do irmão quando ele recebe um prémio.
→ More neutral: he is (feels) jealous in those situations.
O Pedro fica com ciúmes do irmão quando ele recebe um prémio.
→ Highlights the reaction: at the moment his brother gets a prize, he starts to feel jealous.

In many everyday contexts, both will be understood very similarly, but fica com ciúmes is a bit more dynamic (“gets jealous”), while tem ciúmes is more stative (“is jealous”).