Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): A juíza e o juiz ouvem com calma cada testemunha antes de tomar uma decisão. - The female judge and the male judge listen calmly to each witness before making a decision.

A juíza e o juiz = the female judge and the male judge (it explicitly mentions one woman and one man).
Os juízes = the judges (could be all male or mixed, but grammatically masculine plural).

The original sentence is explicitly highlighting that there is one female judge and one male judge, which is why it lists them separately in the feminine and masculine forms instead of using just the generic plural.

What’s the difference between juíza and juiz? How is the feminine form made?

Both words mean judge:

juiz = masculine form (a male judge)
juíza = feminine form (a female judge)

Juiz forms its feminine irregularly: instead of simply adding -a to make juiza, the spelling changes to juíza with an accent. This accent marks the stressed syllable: ju-Í-za.

Many profession nouns in Portuguese have masculine and feminine forms, often by adding -a, but some (like juiz → juíza, ator → atriz) are irregular.

Why is the verb ouvem and not ouve in this sentence?

Ouvem is the 3rd person plural form of ouvir in the present tense:

ele/ela ouve = he/she hears
eles/elas ouvem = they hear

The subject of the sentence is A juíza e o juiz (two people), so the verb must be plural:

A juíza e o juiz ouvem… = The female judge and the male judge hear…

If there were only one judge, you would say:

A juíza ouve…
O juiz ouve…

What exactly is ouvem in terms of verb tense and infinitive?

The infinitive is ouvir = to hear, to listen to.

Ouvem is:

person/number: 3rd person plural (eles/elas)
tense: Present indicative
form: eles/elas ouvem

Basic present-tense forms for ouvir:

eu ouço
tu ouves
ele/ela/você ouve
nós ouvimos
vocês/eles/elas ouvem

Could I use escutam instead of ouvem? What’s the difference between ouvir and escutar?

You could say:

A juíza e o juiz escutam com calma cada testemunha…

In practice, ouvir and escutar often overlap, but there is a subtle tendency:

ouvir = to hear (more neutral, can be passive perception)
escutar = to listen (often implies more active, attentive listening)

In this legal context, both are acceptable. Ouvem is very natural; escutam slightly emphasizes the active listening.

What does com calma literally mean, and why not just use an adverb like calmamente?

Com calma literally means with calm(ness).

It functions as an adverbial phrase, describing the manner in which they listen: they listen calmly / patiently.

Portuguese often uses com + noun instead of a derived adverb:

com calma (instead of calmamente)
com cuidado (instead of cuidadosamente)
com atenção (instead of atentamente)

You can say ouvem calmamente, and it is grammatically correct, but com calma is more common and sounds more natural in everyday Portuguese.

Can com calma go in a different place in the sentence?

Yes. You can move com calma without changing the meaning, as long as the sentence remains clear. For example:

A juíza e o juiz ouvem com calma cada testemunha… (original)
A juíza e o juiz ouvem cada testemunha com calma…
Com calma, a juíza e o juiz ouvem cada testemunha…

All of these are acceptable. The original placement is very natural and typical: verb + manner phrase (ouvem com calma) + object (cada testemunha).

Why is it cada testemunha and not todas as testemunhas?

Both are grammatical but they emphasize different things:

cada testemunha = each witness, one by one
- Focus on the individuality: they listen to them separately.
todas as testemunhas = all the witnesses
- Focus on the whole group, not on the idea of taking them one at a time.

The sentence wants to stress that the judges listen to each witness individually, hence cada testemunha.

Why is testemunha feminine? Can a male witness also be uma testemunha?

Yes. Testemunha is grammatically feminine regardless of the actual sex of the person. This happens with a number of nouns in Portuguese.

So you say:

uma testemunha = a witness (male or female)
a testemunha = the witness (male or female)
as testemunhas = the witnesses (mixed or not)

If you need to be very explicit about gender, you can add extra words:

uma testemunha masculina / feminina (a male/female witness)
but in most contexts testemunha on its own is enough.

Why is there no article before cada testemunha? Why not cada a testemunha?

In Portuguese, cada (each) does not take an article:

cada pessoa (not ✗ cada a pessoa)
cada livro
cada testemunha

So the pattern is cada + singular noun, with no article in between. This is a fixed rule.

Why does the sentence use antes de tomar and not antes de tomarem?

Portuguese has two options after prepositions like antes de:

Infinitivo impessoal (uninflected infinitive):
- antes de tomar uma decisão
  Here tomar is not marked for person or number. The subject is understood from context: the judges.
Infinitivo pessoal (personal infinitive):
- antes de tomarem uma decisão
  Here tomarem is marked for eles/elas and clearly refers to them (the judges).

In this sentence, both are grammatically correct:

A juíza e o juiz ouvem… antes de tomar uma decisão.
A juíza e o juiz ouvem… antes de tomarem uma decisão.

Using the uninflected form (tomar) is very common, especially when the subject is obvious from the main clause. Using tomarem just makes the subject even more explicit.

When do we use antes de + infinitive instead of antes que + a conjugated verb?

General rule:

Same subject in both actions → antes de
- infinitive
- A juíza e o juiz ouvem… antes de tomar/ tomarem uma decisão.
Different subjects → usually antes que
- subjunctive
- Os advogados falam antes que a juíza tome uma decisão.
  (The lawyers speak before the judge makes a decision.)

In modern European Portuguese, antes de + infinitive is much more common when the subject is the same.

Why is it uma decisão and not a decisão?

Uma decisão uses the indefinite article and can suggest:

any given decision in that context,
the idea of a decision as a type, not a specific one that’s already identified.

If you said a decisão, it would point more to a specific, already known decision:

antes de tomar a decisão = before making the decision (that we both know about)

In this sentence, uma decisão sounds more general and typical for describing what judges normally do.

Should there be a comma before antes de tomar uma decisão?

You can put a comma there, but it’s optional and depends on style:

Without comma (perfectly fine and very common):
- A juíza e o juiz ouvem com calma cada testemunha antes de tomar uma decisão.
With comma, giving a slightly clearer pause:
- A juíza e o juiz ouvem com calma cada testemunha, antes de tomar uma decisão.

In short sentences like this, European Portuguese often omits the comma. Both versions are grammatically acceptable.