Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Ultimamente tenho tido dificuldade em me concentrar à noite. - Lately I have been having difficulty concentrating at night.

Tenho tido dificuldade… ≈ “I have been having difficulty…”
This highlights an ongoing or repeated situation over a recent period, up to now.
Tenho dificuldade… ≈ “I (generally) have difficulty…”
This sounds more like a permanent or habitual trait, not something that started recently.
Tive dificuldade… ≈ “I had difficulty…”
This refers to a finished situation at a specific time in the past (e.g. Ontem à noite tive dificuldade em me concentrar – “Last night I had difficulty concentrating”).

So tenho tido is used because the difficulty is relatively recent and has been happening repeatedly or continuously over some time, not just once and not necessarily as a permanent characteristic.

Is tenho tido basically the same as “I have been having” in English?

Functionally, here it’s very close:

Ultimamente tenho tido dificuldade…
≈ “Lately I’ve been having difficulty…”

But there is an important general difference between English and European Portuguese:

English present perfect (I have done…) is used very broadly (e.g. I’ve lived here for 5 years).
European Portuguese pretérito perfeito composto (ter + particípio, like tenho tido) is usually used for repeated or ongoing situations with multiple occurrences over a period leading up to now, not just any “since X until now” situation.

For example, English I’ve lived here for 5 years is not normally tenho vivido aqui há 5 anos in European Portuguese; it’s usually:

Vivo aqui há 5 anos.
or Estou a viver aqui há 5 anos.

So in this particular sentence, tenho tido lines up nicely with “have been having”, but you can’t always map the forms 1‑to‑1 in other contexts.

Why is the preposition em used with dificuldade: dificuldade em me concentrar?

In European Portuguese, the usual structure is:

ter dificuldade em + infinitive
e.g. Tenho dificuldade em falar em público.
Temos dificuldade em encontrar tempo.

So em is the normal preposition that links dificuldade to the verb in the infinitive.

Other prepositions:

dificuldade para + infinitive – heard, but in Portugal it often sounds more like “difficulty in order to…”, and can feel a bit less idiomatic in many cases.
dificuldade de + infinitive – possible in some varieties and more formal contexts, but em is the standard, most natural choice in everyday European Portuguese for this pattern.

For your sentence, dificuldade em me concentrar is the most typical and idiomatic European Portuguese phrasing.

Can I say dificuldades in the plural instead of dificuldade?

Yes, both are possible:

Tenho tido dificuldade em me concentrar à noite.
– More general: you’re reporting a general problem.
Tenho tido dificuldades em me concentrar à noite.
– Slightly stronger or more detailed: it can suggest various specific problems or repeated episodes (like “I’ve been having lots of difficulties…”).

The difference is subtle, and both would be understood the same way in most contexts. If you want to sound a bit more neutral and general, dificuldade (singular) is a very good choice.

Why is it em me concentrar and not em concentrar-me?

Both orders are possible in practice:

em me concentrar
em concentrar-me

The rules about pronoun placement in European Portuguese are complex, but for infinitives:

Traditional / more formal grammar prefers the pronoun after the infinitive:
- em concentrar-me à noite
In everyday spoken European Portuguese, especially influenced by Brazilian usage, em me concentrar is also very common and sounds natural.

In careful written European Portuguese (essays, exams, formal texts), teachers and style guides often prefer:

dificuldade em concentrar-me à noite

In informal speech or less formal writing, your original em me concentrar is widely used and understood.

Does concentrar always need to be reflexive here (with me)?

Most of the time, when you mean “to focus (yourself)”, Portuguese uses the reflexive form:

concentrar-se em alguma coisa – “to concentrate / focus on something”

Examples:

Não consigo concentrar-me no trabalho. – “I can’t concentrate on work.”
Eles não se conseguem concentrar. – “They can’t concentrate.”

Without the reflexive pronoun, concentrar usually means “to concentrate something (else)”:

concentrar esforços – “to concentrate efforts”
concentrar poder – “to concentrate power”

You might occasionally hear concentrar em without the pronoun in some speech, but the standard and safest form for “I can’t concentrate” is with the reflexive: não me consigo concentrar / tenho dificuldade em me concentrar.

What exactly does à noite mean here, and why is there an accent on à?

À noite literally comes from:

a (preposition “to/at”)
a (feminine definite article “the”)
= à (crasis) with a grave accent.

So à noite is “at night / in the evening(s)” in a general or habitual sense, not one specific night.

Compare:

à noite – “at night / in the evenings” (general time period)
de noite – also “at night”, often with a slight nuance of “during the night, as opposed to daytime”
na noite – “in the night / on the night (of…)”, referring to a specific night or event (na noite de Natal, na noite de sexta-feira).

In your sentence, à noite is the usual, natural way to say “at night / in the evenings” as a regular time when this difficulty happens.

Could I use something else instead of à noite, like de noite or à tarde?

Yes, the time expression can be changed:

de noite – also acceptable:
- Ultimamente tenho tido dificuldade em me concentrar de noite.
  (very similar meaning; sometimes feels a bit more like “during the night”.)
à tarde – “in the afternoon”:
- Ultimamente tenho tido dificuldade em me concentrar à tarde.
de manhã – “in the morning”:
- Ultimamente tenho tido dificuldade em me concentrar de manhã.

The grammar stays the same; you just swap the time expression according to what you want to say. The choice between à noite and de noite is mostly stylistic here; à noite is very common and smooth.

Where can I put ultimamente in the sentence? Are other words like recentemente possible?

Ultimamente (lately / recently) is usually placed at the beginning, but you do have options:

Most natural:

Ultimamente tenho tido dificuldade em me concentrar à noite.

Also possible:

Tenho tido, ultimamente, dificuldade em me concentrar à noite.
(More written / formal style, with commas.)
Tenho tido dificuldade, ultimamente, em me concentrar à noite.
Tenho tido dificuldade em me concentrar à noite ultimamente.
(Perfectly acceptable, especially in speech.)

Other similar adverbs/expressions:

Recentemente tenho tido dificuldade em me concentrar à noite. – “Recently I’ve been having difficulty…”
Nos últimos tempos tenho tido dificuldade em me concentrar à noite. – “In recent times I’ve been having difficulty…”

Ultimamente is slightly more colloquial and very common; recentemente can sound a bit more neutral/formal; nos últimos tempos is a bit longer and more descriptive.

How would this sentence typically look in Brazilian Portuguese, and is this version clearly European?

Your sentence is perfectly fine in European Portuguese and also fully understandable in Brazilian Portuguese. However, each variety has its preferences.

European Portuguese (as given, slightly more formal if you move the pronoun):

Ultimamente tenho tido dificuldade em concentrar-me à noite.

Typical Brazilian Portuguese alternatives might be:

Ultimamente tenho tido dificuldade para me concentrar à noite.
(In Brazil, dificuldade para + infinitive and dificuldade de + infinitive are very common.)
Ultimamente estou com dificuldade para me concentrar à noite.
Ultimamente tenho tido dificuldade de me concentrar à noite.

Pronoun placement:

In Brazil, me concentrar (before the infinitive) is the standard and most natural:
dificuldade para me concentrar.
In Portugal, concentrar-me is more traditional and formal, but me concentrar is widely heard in everyday speech.

So your original version fits European Portuguese well and does not sound “wrong” in Brazilian Portuguese; it just lands slightly closer to European usage, especially if you choose em concentrar-me.