A Maria distrai-se facilmente com qualquer notificação.

Maria gets distracted easily by any notification.

Breakdown of A Maria distrai-se facilmente com qualquer notificação.

• Maria: Maria
• com: with
• qualquer: any
• distrair-se: to get distracted
• facilmente: easily
• a notificação: the notification

Questions & Answers about A Maria distrai-se facilmente com qualquer notificação.

Why is there an A before Maria? Do you always put an article before people’s names in European Portuguese?

In European Portuguese, it is very common to use the definite article before a person’s name, especially in informal speech:

• A Maria = Maria
• O João = João

It often sounds more natural and colloquial with the article.

You can drop the article (Maria distrai-se facilmente…) and that is also correct, but it tends to sound:

• a bit more formal, written, or neutral; or
• like a name mentioned in a list, title, or official context.

So in everyday European Portuguese, A Maria distrai-se… is completely normal and idiomatic.

What does distrai-se mean exactly, and why is it reflexive?

The verb is distrair-se, a reflexive / pronominal verb meaning:

• distrair-se = to get distracted, to become distracted

Compare:

• A Maria distrai-se.
  Maria gets distracted.

versus

• O barulho distrai a Maria.
  The noise distracts Maria. (here distrair is not reflexive; it has a direct object)

So:

• distrair = to distract (someone/something)
• distrair-se = to get distracted (oneself)

In distrai-se, -se shows that the action “comes back” to the subject (Maria is both the person acting and the person affected).

What is -se in distrai-se? Is it a pronoun?

Yes. Se is a clitic pronoun, specifically the 3rd person reflexive pronoun.

It can correspond to himself / herself / itself / themselves / oneself, depending on context. In A Maria distrai-se, it’s roughly:

• distrai-se ≈ distracts herself → gets distracted

You’ll see se attached to many verbs that are:

• truly reflexive:
  
  • lavar-se – to wash oneself
  • vestir-se – to get dressed
• pronominal in meaning but not always strongly “reflexive”:
  
  • lembrar-se – to remember
  • queixar-se – to complain
  • esquecer-se – to forget

In all these, se is written together with the verb when it follows it: lava-se, lembra-se, esquece-se, distrai-se.

Why is it distrai-se and not se distrai? Can the pronoun go before the verb?

European Portuguese prefers placing clitic pronouns after the verb in many main clauses. This is called ênclise (enclisis).

Here, the verb starts the clause and there is no “attracting word” (like não, que, se, etc.), so the default is:

• A Maria distrai-se facilmente…

If there is a “trigger word” that attracts the pronoun to the left, you get proclisis (before the verb):

• A Maria não se distrai facilmente.
  (Maria doesn’t get distracted easily.)

So:

• In a simple affirmative sentence starting with the subject:
  ✅ A Maria distrai-se.
  ❌ A Maria se distrai. (sounds Brazilian, not European)

The “se + verb” order is typical of Brazilian Portuguese; in Portugal, that order is restricted and usually triggered by specific words (like não, já, que, etc.).

Could I say A Maria está a distrair-se facilmente… instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

• A Maria distrai-se facilmente com qualquer notificação.
  → General habit/trait: Maria is easily distracted (as a general tendency).

• A Maria está a distrair-se facilmente com qualquer notificação.
  → Ongoing or more temporary situation: Maria is getting distracted easily (these days / right now).

In European Portuguese:

• Presente simples (distrai-se) = general truth, habit, or characteristic.
• Estar a + infinitivo (está a distrair-se) = action in progress or a temporary tendency.

In this sentence, the original version with distrai-se emphasizes Maria’s general tendency to be easily distracted.

Can facilmente go somewhere else in the sentence?

Yes, adverbs like facilmente (easily) have some flexibility in Portuguese. All of these are possible, with slight differences in emphasis or style:

• A Maria distrai-se facilmente com qualquer notificação.
  (Most natural, neutral.)

• A Maria facilmente se distrai com qualquer notificação.
  (More emphasis on “easily”, and note se distrai is more Brazilian.)

• Facilmente, a Maria se distrai com qualquer notificação.
  (Fronted for strong emphasis on “easily”; again, word order sounds Brazilian with se distrai.)

In European Portuguese, keeping facilmente after the verb phrase (distrai-se facilmente) is the cleanest and most natural option here.

Why is it com qualquer notificação? Could it be por qualquer notificação or something else?

Com here expresses the cause or stimulus that triggers the distraction:

• distrair-se com algo = to get distracted by/with something

So:

• A Maria distrai-se com qualquer notificação.
  Maria gets distracted by any notification.

Using por here would not be idiomatic; por is not used in this context to mean “by” in the sense of “distracted by”.

Some common patterns:

• ficar distraído com – to be/get distracted by
• brincar com – to play with
• preocupar-se com – to worry about

So com is the natural preposition with distrair-se in this sense.

What does qualquer mean here, and how is it different from todo(a) or qualquer um(a)?

In this sentence:

• qualquer notificação ≈ any notification (at all)

Nuance:

• qualquer before a singular noun suggests “any… whatsoever”, no matter which:
  
  • qualquer notificação – any notification (even a trivial one)

Compare:

• toda a notificação – every notification (more collective, rarer in this context)
• todas as notificações – all notifications
• qualquer uma das notificações – any one of the notifications (choosing one from a known set)

You may also see:

• uma notificação qualquer – some notification or other / some random notification
  (post‑positioned qualquer adds a “random” or “unremarkable” nuance)

Here, qualquer notificação emphasizes that the specific notification doesn’t matter; any will distract her.

Why is qualquer notificação singular? Wouldn’t English say “any notifications” (plural)?

Portuguese often uses singular + qualquer where English would use plural “any”:

• qualquer notificação = any notification / any notifications
• qualquer pessoa = any person / anyone
• qualquer dia = any day

The formal plural of qualquer is quaisquer:

• quaisquer notificações

But in modern everyday Portuguese, quaisquer is relatively rare and can sound formal or legalistic.
In most spoken and informal written contexts, people say:

• qualquer notificação (singular)
  even when the meaning is “any notifications” in general.

Is the tense here the same as English present simple? Could it also be translated as “Maria gets easily distracted” or “Maria is easily distracted”?

Yes. Distrai-se is present simple (presente do indicativo), and it covers both:

• Maria gets easily distracted…
• Maria is easily distracted…

Portuguese present simple is quite flexible and often covers:

• habits: A Maria distrai-se facilmente.
• general characteristics: A Maria é muito distraída.

So your English translations:

• Maria gets easily distracted by any notification.
• Maria is easily distracted by any notification.

are both natural ways of rendering the Portuguese A Maria distrai-se facilmente com qualquer notificação.