Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Eu recebo uma notificação nova no telemóvel e distraio-me. - I receive a new notification on the cellphone and get distracted.

In European Portuguese, in most affirmative main clauses, unstressed object and reflexive pronouns (like me) normally go after the verb and are joined to it with a hyphen. This is called enclisis.

Correct in European Portuguese:
- Eu distraio-me. = I get distracted.
Not standard in European Portuguese (but common in Brazilian Portuguese):
- Eu me distraio.

So “distraio-me” is just the verb distrair-se (to get distracted) conjugated in the 1st person singular, with the reflexive pronoun me attached in the normal European position.

What is the role of “me” in “distraio-me”? Is this really reflexive?

Yes, “me” is the reflexive pronoun, corresponding to English “myself” in form, although in English we usually don’t say “I distract myself” in this context.

Verb: distrair-se = to get distracted, literally “to distract oneself”.
Eu distraio-me.
Literally: “I distract myself.”
Natural English: “I get distracted.”

So it’s grammatically reflexive, but idiomatically it just means “I get distracted”, not that you are somehow actively distracting yourself on purpose.

What does “recebo” express here? Is it like “I get” or “I am getting”?

Recebo is the present indicative of receber (to receive / get):

Eu recebo = I receive / I get.

In Portuguese, the simple present is often used for:

Habitual actions
- Eu recebo uma notificação nova no telemóvel e distraio-me.
  = I (usually / whenever it happens) get a new notification on my phone and I get distracted.
General truths / repeated events.

So in this sentence, recebo is best understood as a habitual action, roughly equivalent to English “whenever I get / when I get”, even though literally it’s just “I receive”.

Could I say “Estou a receber uma notificação nova…” instead of “Eu recebo…”?

You can, but it changes the meaning.

Eu recebo uma notificação nova no telemóvel e distraio-me.
→ Describes something that happens regularly or typically.
Whenever a new notification comes in on my phone, I get distracted.
Estou a receber uma notificação nova no telemóvel e distraio-me.
→ Describes an action that is happening right now (or around now).
I’m getting a new notification on my phone and I get distracted (right now).

In European Portuguese, the normal progressive form is estar a + infinitive (e.g. estou a receber), not estar recebendo.

Why is it “uma notificação nova” and not “um notificação nova” or “nova notificação”?

Two points here: gender agreement and adjective position.

Gender and article/adjective agreement

notificação is a feminine noun.
The indefinite article and any adjectives must agree in gender and number:
- uma notificação nova
  - uma: feminine singular article
  - notificação: feminine singular noun
  - nova: feminine singular adjective
You cannot say:
- um notificação nova (wrong: um is masculine)
- uma notificação novo (wrong: novo is masculine)

Adjective position

Both orders are grammatically possible:

uma notificação nova
uma nova notificação

In many cases, adjective after the noun (notificação nova) is a more neutral, descriptive order: a notification that is new.
Before the noun (nova notificação) can be a bit more evaluative or idiomatic, often used a lot in everyday language too. Here, both are natural; there’s no big difference in meaning, especially in this context.

What does “no telemóvel” mean literally, and what is the “no”?

No is the contraction of the preposition em (in / on / at) + the masculine singular definite article o (the):

em + o = no

So:

no telemóvel = em + o telemóvel
Literally: “in/on the mobile phone”
Natural English: “on my phone” (often we use “my” even though Portuguese just says “the”).

European Portuguese frequently uses “the” (o/a) where English would use “my” (my phone, my head, my hand, etc.) if the possessor is obvious.

Why “telemóvel” and not “celular” or “telefone”?

This is a European vs Brazilian Portuguese difference and also a difference in specificity:

telemóvel
- Standard word in European Portuguese (Portugal).
- Means mobile phone / cell phone.
celular
- Standard, everyday word in Brazilian Portuguese.
- In Portugal, “celular” sounds clearly Brazilian.
telefone
- General word for telephone.
- Can be mobile or landline; you often add a qualifier if needed:
  - telefone fixo = landline
  - telemóvel = mobile

In Portugal, to specifically say “cell phone / mobile phone”, telemóvel is the usual everyday choice.

Do I need to say “Eu” at the beginning, or can I just say “Recebo uma notificação nova…”?

You don’t have to say “Eu”. Portuguese verb endings already tell you the subject:

recebo clearly indicates 1st person singular (“I”).

So all of these are fine:

Recebo uma notificação nova no telemóvel e distraio-me.
Eu recebo uma notificação nova no telemóvel e distraio-me.

Using “eu” can add a bit of emphasis or contrast, e.g. “I (as opposed to other people) get distracted when I get a notification”. In neutral speech, many speakers would drop Eu here.

How is “distrair-se” conjugated in the present tense?

Distrair-se is slightly irregular. Present indicative:

eu distraio-me – I get distracted
tu distrais-te – you (singular, informal) get distracted
ele / ela distrai-se – he / she gets distracted
nós distraímo-nos – we get distracted
vocês distraem-se – you (plural) get distracted
eles / elas distraem-se – they get distracted

In affirmative, normal statements (as in your sentence), the reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, se) goes after the verb with a hyphen in European Portuguese.

Could I say “Eu fico distraído” instead of “Eu distraio-me”? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say it, but the nuance is slightly different:

Eu distraio-me.
- Uses the reflexive verb distrair-se.
- Very common, natural way to say “I get distracted”.
Eu fico distraído.
- Uses ficar (to become / to get) + adjective distraído (distracted).
- Literally: “I become distracted / I end up distracted.”

Both can describe the same situation. “Distraio-me” focuses on the action of getting distracted; “fico distraído” sounds slightly more like you end up in that state. In everyday speech, “distraio-me” is probably the more direct match to the English sentence given.