Breakdown of O Pedro está nervoso porque tem entrevista amanhã.
Questions & Answers about O Pedro está nervoso porque tem entrevista amanhã.
In European Portuguese, it’s very common to put the definite article (o, a, os, as) before people’s names:
- O Pedro, a Maria, o João, a Ana
It doesn’t change the basic meaning; it still just means “Pedro”. It often sounds more natural and conversational in Portugal.
In Brazilian Portuguese, using the article before names is much less common in standard speech, so you would more often hear simply Pedro.
So in European Portuguese:
- O Pedro está nervoso. = “Pedro is nervous.”
Both Pedro and o Pedro are grammatically possible, but in Portugal o Pedro is more typical in everyday spoken language.
Portuguese, like Spanish, uses two different verbs for “to be”:
- ser = more permanent or basic characteristics
- estar = temporary states, feelings, locations, ongoing situations
In this sentence:
- O Pedro está nervoso = Pedro is nervous right now, because of the interview. It’s a temporary emotional state.
If you said:
- O Pedro é nervoso
you would be describing his personality/character: “Pedro is (a) nervous/anxious person” in general, not just at the moment.
Both are possible, but they feel slightly different:
- tem entrevista amanhã
- tem uma entrevista amanhã
In European Portuguese, when talking about scheduled things like appointments, meetings, interviews, tests, it’s quite common to omit the article:
- Tenho entrevista amanhã. = I have (my) interview tomorrow.
- Tenho exame amanhã. = I have (my) exam tomorrow.
- Tenho reunião às três. = I have (my) meeting at three.
The idea is that it’s a specific interview already understood from context, a bit like English “I have the interview tomorrow” or just “I have an interview tomorrow” where “my interview” is implied.
Adding the article is still correct:
- O Pedro está nervoso porque tem uma entrevista amanhã.
This sounds a bit more like “he has an interview tomorrow” (introducing the fact) rather than “he has his interview tomorrow” (already known context). But in practice, both are very natural.
Portuguese often uses the present tense to talk about scheduled future events, especially when there is a time expression such as amanhã (tomorrow):
- Tem entrevista amanhã. = He has an interview tomorrow.
- O comboio chega às cinco. = The train arrives at five.
It’s similar to English sentences like:
- “The train leaves at six tomorrow.”
- “I have an exam next week.”
You could use a future form:
- Vai ter uma entrevista amanhã.
- Terá uma entrevista amanhã. (more formal/written)
…but tem entrevista amanhã is very natural and common in everyday speech for planned events.
Portuguese has several forms that look similar:
porque (one word, no accent)
- Means “because”.
- Used to introduce a reason.
- That’s what we have here:
- O Pedro está nervoso porque tem entrevista amanhã.
= Pedro is nervous because he has an interview tomorrow.
- O Pedro está nervoso porque tem entrevista amanhã.
por que (two words)
- Common in Brazilian Portuguese for “why” in questions, or “for which/that” in some structures.
- In European Portuguese written standard, por que is much rarer; we more often see porquê for “why” as a noun and porque for “why” in indirect questions.
porquê (one word, with accent)
- Used mainly as a noun or when “why” stands alone at the end of a question:
- Não percebo o porquê. = I don’t understand the reason/why.
- Estás nervoso, porquê? (EP, informal) = You’re nervous, why?
- Used mainly as a noun or when “why” stands alone at the end of a question:
In this sentence we are giving a reason, so it must be porque = because.
Yes, that sentence is correct:
- O Pedro está nervoso porque amanhã tem entrevista.
The meaning is the same. You’ve just moved amanhã to earlier in the clause.
Word order options here that are natural:
- O Pedro está nervoso porque tem entrevista amanhã.
- O Pedro está nervoso porque amanhã tem entrevista.
Both are fine. Placing amanhã after entrevista is probably slightly more neutral, but both are standard.
Yes. For example:
- Amanhã o Pedro tem entrevista.
- Amanhã, o Pedro tem entrevista. (with a comma, especially in writing)
Here you’re emphasizing “tomorrow” as the important time information. You could then add the rest:
- Amanhã o Pedro tem entrevista, por isso está nervoso.
= Tomorrow Pedro has an interview, so he is nervous.
So amanhã is quite flexible in position, as long as the sentence stays clear and natural.
You can definitely say:
- O Pedro tem entrevista amanhã, por isso está nervoso.
The meaning is very similar, but the structure is slightly different:
porque introduces a subordinate clause of reason:
- Está nervoso porque tem entrevista.
- He is nervous because he has an interview.
por isso literally means “for that (reason)” = “so / therefore”, and it introduces a result:
- Tem entrevista amanhã, por isso está nervoso.
- He has an interview tomorrow, so he is nervous.
So:
- porque → gives the cause
- por isso → gives the consequence
Both are very common and natural.
They overlap a lot. Entrevista can mean:
A job interview:
- entrevista de emprego = job interview
- In context, just entrevista can mean this, if it’s clear.
A media interview (TV, radio, newspaper):
- uma entrevista na televisão = a TV interview
In your sentence, without extra context, most learners (and Portuguese speakers) will assume:
- tem entrevista amanhã = “he has a (job) interview tomorrow”
But to be clearer, you could say:
- O Pedro está nervoso porque tem uma entrevista de emprego amanhã.
= Pedro is nervous because he has a job interview tomorrow.
Yes, quite often entrevista is followed by a preposition when you specify the type or purpose:
- entrevista de emprego = job interview
- entrevista para um emprego = interview for a job
- entrevista de trabalho (also used)
Examples:
- O Pedro tem uma entrevista de emprego amanhã.
- Amanhã tenho uma entrevista para um estágio. = I have an interview for an internship.
In the original sentence, it’s left general, but adding de emprego is very natural when you mean “job interview”.
Pronunciation tips (European Portuguese):
nh is like the “ny” sound in English “canyon” or the “gn” in Italian “lasagna”.
- So nh ≈ “ny” sound.
ã (with tilde) is a nasal vowel. You don’t fully pronounce an extra “n”; instead, you let air go through your nose:
- It’s somewhat like the vowel in French “sans” or “Jean”.
So amanhã roughly sounds like:
- [ah-ma-NYÃ] (with nasal final vowel)
Very approximate English-like version: “ah-ma-NYUH(n)”, but the final “n” isn’t really pronounced, it just nasalizes the vowel.
You can repeat it:
- O Pedro está nervoso porque ele tem entrevista amanhã.
That’s grammatically correct. But in Portuguese, when the subject is already clear, it’s very common to omit the pronoun (ele, ela, etc.):
- O Pedro está nervoso porque tem entrevista amanhã.
The verb form tem already shows it’s he/she/it (3rd person singular), and the context tells us it’s Pedro.
So repeating ele is usually only done:
- For extra emphasis, or
- To avoid ambiguity when it’s not clear who the subject is.
In this short sentence, it’s completely clear, so the pronoun is normally dropped.