Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Eu bebo tanto café que fico nervoso. - I drink so much coffee that I become nervous.

… que estou nervoso.
→ … that I am nervous.
This just describes a current state, without clearly expressing that it is caused by drinking so much coffee.

If you used ser:

… que sou nervoso.
→ … that I am a nervous person (by nature).
This suggests a permanent characteristic, not a temporary reaction.

So ficar is the natural verb here because the sentence describes a resulting change (I end up nervous) caused by drinking too much coffee.

What exactly does tanto mean here, and how is it different from muito?

In this sentence, tanto is an intensifier meaning “so much”.

Eu bebo muito café.
→ I drink a lot of coffee. (large quantity, but no explicit result)
Eu bebo tanto café que fico nervoso.
→ I drink so much coffee that I get nervous.

So:

muito café = a lot of coffee (simple quantity)
tanto café que… = so much coffee that… (quantity + consequence)

The structure tanto… que… explicitly introduces a result or consequence clause after que.

What is the difference between tanto and tão in this kind of structure?

Both tanto and tão can be used in result structures, but with different types of words:

tão… que… is used with adjectives or adverbs
- Ele é tão alto que toca no teto.
  → He is so tall that he touches the ceiling.
- Ela fala tão depressa que não a entendo.
  → She speaks so fast that I don’t understand her.
tanto… que… is used with verbs (as in “do something so much”) or nouns (quantities of things)
- With a noun: Eu bebo tanto café que fico nervoso.
  → I drink so much coffee that I get nervous.
- With a verb: Ele trabalha tanto que adoece.
  → He works so much that he gets ill.

So you do not say “tão café”; with café (a noun), you use tanto café.

Why is there no article before café (why not “tanto o café” or “tanto do café”)?

Here café is a mass noun used in a general, indefinite way: coffee as a substance, not specific coffee.

tanto café = so much coffee (in general)
No article is needed for this generic, non‑specific quantity.

If you said:

tanto do café – this suggests “so much of the coffee”, referring to a specific coffee previously mentioned.
tanto o café – sounds unnatural here; it would suggest “so much the coffee”, which doesn’t work in this context.

So the natural and general way to say it is simply tanto café.

Is the Eu at the beginning necessary? Could I just say Bebo tanto café que fico nervoso?

In European Portuguese, subject pronouns (like eu) are often dropped because the verb ending already shows the subject.

Eu bebo tanto café que fico nervoso.
Bebo tanto café que fico nervoso.

Both are grammatically correct and natural.

Including eu can:

add a bit of emphasis (I drink so much coffee...)
help beginners or add clarity in complex sentences

But in everyday speech, it is very common just to say Bebo tanto café que fico nervoso.

What tense is bebo and what nuance does it give here?

Bebo is the present indicative, 1st person singular of beber.

In Portuguese, the present tense is commonly used for:

general habits:
- Bebo café todos os dias. → I drink coffee every day.
general truths
current states or ongoing actions (depending on context)

So Eu bebo tanto café que fico nervoso means:

I (generally) drink so much coffee that I (tend to) get nervous.

It describes a habitual pattern, not just a single event.

Could I say Eu bebo tanto café que estou nervoso? Is that wrong?

It’s not strictly wrong, but the nuance changes:

… que fico nervoso.
→ I get / become nervous (change of state as a result; more natural here).
… que estou nervoso.
→ I am nervous (current state; it doesn’t clearly express the idea of becoming nervous because of the coffee).

If you specifically want to emphasise the resulting change or typical reaction, ficar is the most idiomatic choice:

Eu bebo tanto café que fico nervoso.
is the standard, natural-sounding version.

Why is it nervoso and not something like nervoso-me or fico-me nervoso?

In Portuguese, adjectives typically follow ser / estar / ficar without a reflexive pronoun:

Fico nervoso. → I get nervous.
Estou cansado. → I am tired.
Ela ficou triste. → She became sad.

You don’t say nervoso-me; that looks like you’re trying to attach the pronoun me directly to the adjective, which is not how Portuguese works.

You might see ficar nervoso vs. ficar-se in other meanings of ficar (like “to stay put”), but with adjectives of emotional or physical state, the normal pattern is simply:

ficar + adjective
fico nervoso, ficas contente, ficam zangados, etc.

How does nervoso change for women or for other people?

Nervoso is an adjective that agrees in gender and number with the subject.

Basic forms:

Masculine singular: nervoso
Feminine singular: nervosa
Masculine plural: nervosos
Feminine plural: nervosas

Examples:

If a woman is speaking:
- Eu bebo tanto café que fico nervosa.
Talking about more than one person:
- Nós bebemos tanto café que ficamos nervosos. (a group of men or mixed)
- Nós bebemos tanto café que ficamos nervosas. (a group of women)

Can I use tomar instead of beber with café in Portugal?

In European Portuguese:

beber café is the default and most straightforward way to say “drink coffee.”
tomar café is also possible, especially in some expressions, but it’s less common than beber café for the simple act of drinking.

Nuance:

beber = to drink (any liquid)
- Bebo café, bebo água, bebo vinho, etc.
tomar = to take (medicine, a meal, etc.), and sometimes used with drinks or meals:
- tomar um café can sound more like “have a coffee (as an occasion)”
- tomar o pequeno-almoço = have breakfast

In your sentence, Eu bebo tanto café que fico nervoso is perfectly natural and probably the most common choice.

What is que doing in this sentence? Can it be omitted?

Here que is a conjunction introducing a result clause:

tanto café → so much coffee
que fico nervoso → that I get nervous

The whole structure is:

tanto [something] que [result]

You cannot omit que here.
Saying Eu bebo tanto café fico nervoso is incorrect; the sentence needs que to join the cause and the result:

Eu bebo tanto café que fico nervoso. ✅
Eu bebo tanto café fico nervoso. ❌

Can I change the word order, like Eu bebo café tanto que fico nervoso?

No, that kind of word order is not natural in Portuguese.

The idiomatic pattern is:

tanto + noun + que + clause
tanto café que fico nervoso

Breaking tanto away from café (as in café tanto) or moving tanto later in the sentence sounds wrong here.

Acceptable variations would keep tanto café together:

Bebo tanto café que fico nervoso.
Tanto café bebo que fico nervoso. (possible, but more emphatic / marked style)

But Eu bebo café tanto que fico nervoso is not how a native speaker would normally phrase it.

Is there anything important about the pronunciation of tanto and nervoso in European Portuguese?

Yes, a couple of points (for European Portuguese):

tanto:
- The final -o is often very reduced, almost like a weak “u” sound.
- The stress is on the first syllable: TAN-to.
nervoso:
- Stress on the middle syllable: ner-VÔ-so.
- The final -o is also reduced, not a full “oh” sound; it’s shorter and weaker than in English.

Also, in many European accents:

The e in ner- is quite short, almost like a brief “eh”.
The r in ner- is a single tap or a European r sound, not like English r.

Together, spoken naturally, the sentence may sound roughly like:

“Eu bêbu TAN-tu cafÉ que ficu ner-VÔ-su.” (approximate English-friendly transcription)