Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Depois de tu leres este capítulo, escreve um pequeno resumo. - After you read this chapter, write a short summary.

Infinitive: ler (to read)
Personal infinitive:
- eu ler
- tu leres
- ele/ela/você ler
- nós lermos
- vós lerdes
- eles/elas/vocês lerem

We use the personal infinitive after prepositions, like depois de, when we want to show who is doing the action:

Depois de tu leres este capítulo… = After you read this chapter…

So leres is correct; the ending -es is the normal 2nd person singular ending in the personal infinitive. There is no form lereses in Portuguese.

Why do we say “depois de tu leres” instead of “depois que tu leres”?

In European Portuguese, when “after” is followed by a verb, the normal pattern is:

depois de
- infinitive / personal infinitive
  - Depois de leres este capítulo…
  - Depois de ler o texto, conversa com o colega.

In Brazilian Portuguese, it’s more common to see:

depois que
- verb (usually in the present or future subjunctive)
  - Depois que você ler este capítulo…

So:

Portugal Portuguese:
- Depois de tu leres este capítulo… (very natural in PT‑PT)
Brazilian Portuguese:
- Depois que você ler este capítulo… (more natural in PT‑BR)

Using “depois que” in Portugal is understood, but it sounds more Brazilian.

Is “leres” here a future subjunctive or a personal infinitive? How can I tell?

Formally, “leres” could be either future subjunctive or personal infinitive – the forms look the same:

Future subjunctive:
- quando tu leres (when you read)
Personal infinitive:
- depois de tu leres (after you reading / after you read)

To know which one it is, look at the structure before the verb:

If there is a preposition (like depois de, antes de, sem, para, por, ao), the verb after it cannot be a subjunctive form. Prepositions are followed by infinitive forms in Portuguese.
So after depois de, the only possible analysis is: personal infinitive.

Therefore, in “Depois de tu leres este capítulo”, leres is personal infinitive, not future subjunctive.

Can I just say “Depois de leres este capítulo” without “tu”? Is there any difference?

Yes, and that’s actually more common.

Depois de leres este capítulo, escreve um pequeno resumo.
Depois de tu leres este capítulo, escreve um pequeno resumo.

Both are correct in European Portuguese.

Difference:

Without tu:
- More neutral and natural in everyday speech and writing.
- Subject is understood from the verb ending -es in leres.
With tu:
- Adds emphasis or contrast, as in:
  - Depois de tu leres este capítulo (e não outra pessoa), escreve um pequeno resumo.
- Can be used to make the subject explicit, for clarity.

So you can safely omit “tu” unless you really want the emphasis.

Why is it “escreve” and not “escreves” or “escreva”?

Escreve is the imperative form for tu (2nd person singular) in European Portuguese.

For the verb escrever in the present tense and imperative:

Present indicative (statement):
- tu escreves (you write)
Imperative (command):
- (tu) escreve! (write!)

So:

Escreves um pequeno resumo. = You write a short summary. (statement)
Escreve um pequeno resumo. = Write a short summary. (order/instruction)

Escreva is the formal or polite command (for você):

(você) escreva um pequeno resumo. = Please write a short summary. (formal / polite)

In your sentence, because it’s addressing tu informally, escreve is the correct imperative form.

Could I say “Depois de leres este capítulo, escreva um pequeno resumo”?

Grammatically, Portuguese allows mixing tu‑forms and você‑forms in a sentence, but in real usage it is considered awkward or wrong to mix them in the same address to the same person.

Depois de leres este capítulo, escreve um pequeno resumo.
- All tu forms: leres, escreve → consistent, informal.
Depois de você ler este capítulo, escreva um pequeno resumo.
- All você forms: você ler, escreva → consistent, more formal/polite.

But:

Depois de leres este capítulo, escreva um pequeno resumo.
- leres (tu) + escreva (você) → mixing systems → sounds wrong in normal European Portuguese.

So keep the pronoun system consistent: either all tu or all você.

Why is there a comma before “escreve”?

Because “Depois de tu leres este capítulo” (or “Depois de leres este capítulo”) is an adverbial clause that comes before the main clause.

Structure:

Subordinate clause (time): Depois de (tu) leres este capítulo,
Main clause (command): escreve um pequeno resumo.

In both Portuguese and English, we usually put a comma after an initial time clause:

Depois de leres este capítulo, escreve um pequeno resumo.
After you read this chapter, write a short summary.

If the time clause came after, the comma would be optional:

Escreve um pequeno resumo depois de leres este capítulo. (no comma needed)

Why is “pequeno” placed before the noun in “um pequeno resumo”? I thought adjectives usually go after the noun in Portuguese.

You’re right that most adjectives normally come after the noun:

um resumo interessante (an interesting summary)
um resumo curto (a short summary)

But some very common adjectives often appear before the noun, especially in neutral or “default” meanings:

pequeno (small)
grande (big)
bom (good)
mau (bad)
velho (old)
novo (new)

With pequeno:

um pequeno resumo = a brief / short summary (neutral, common)
um resumo pequeno can sound a bit more descriptive, almost like you’re physically evaluating its size (although the difference isn’t huge).

In your sentence, “um pequeno resumo” is the most natural order, similar to English “a short summary”.

Does “um pequeno resumo” mean “a short summary” or “a small summary”? Is there any nuance?

In this context, “um pequeno resumo” is best translated as “a short summary” rather than “a small summary”.

Nuance:

pequeno here refers to length/extent of the writing (few lines, not very long), not the physical size of the paper.
So the teacher is asking for something brief, not detailed.

If you specifically wanted to emphasise brevity and contrast with a long summary, you could also say:

um resumo curto = a short summary

But “um pequeno resumo” is very idiomatic in Portuguese and perfectly clear.

Could I say “Depois de ler este capítulo, escreve um pequeno resumo” without “leres”? Is that still correct? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say either:

Depois de ler este capítulo, escreve um pequeno resumo.
Depois de leres este capítulo, escreve um pequeno resumo.

Both are grammatically correct and natural in European Portuguese.

Difference:

Depois de ler… (impersonal infinitive):
- More neutral and slightly more general.
- Could be understood as “after reading this chapter” (not explicitly marking who is doing the reading, though context usually makes it obvious).
Depois de leres… (personal infinitive):
- Explicitly marks the subject as tu.
- Matches the 2nd person imperative escreve more clearly.

In practice, with escreve (tu), both forms are understood as referring to you. The version with leres just makes that grammatical link more explicit.

How would this sentence change in Brazilian Portuguese?

A natural Brazilian Portuguese version (using você) would be:

Depois que você ler este capítulo, escreva um pequeno resumo.

Explained:

Depois que
- verb (future subjunctive):
  - depois que você ler este capítulo…
Imperative for você:
- escreva um pequeno resumo.

Informally, some Brazilians would also say:

Depois de ler este capítulo, escreva um pequeno resumo.
Depois que você ler este capítulo, escreva um pequeno resumo.

But the structure with depois que + future subjunctive is especially characteristic of Brazilian Portuguese, while depois de + (personal) infinitive is more typical of European Portuguese.

What is the difference in meaning between the Portuguese sentence and the English “After you have read this chapter, write a short summary”?

Functionally, they mean the same thing: first you read the chapter, then you write the summary.

Depois de (tu) leres este capítulo, escreve um pequeno resumo.
≈ After you (have) read this chapter, write a short summary.

Nuance:

Portuguese uses depois de
- infinitive/personal infinitive to show that one action must be completed before the next starts.
English can say:
- After you read this chapter… (present form, future meaning)
- After you have read this chapter… (present perfect)

Both are equally well matched by “Depois de tu leres este capítulo…”. The key idea is the same: sequence of actions – first reading, then writing.