Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): O advogado aconselhou a família a não acusar ninguém em público durante o processo. - The lawyer advised the family not to accuse anyone in public during the case.

In Portuguese you normally need a definite article (o, a, os, as) before a singular, specific person or thing, even when English would drop the.

O advogado = the lawyer (a specific lawyer already known in the context).
Saying just advogado aconselhou… would sound incomplete or ungrammatical in standard Portuguese.

You would only drop the article in special contexts (headlines, labels, telegram style, etc.), not in a normal sentence like this.

What exactly is a família here? Is a a preposition, and could it be à família?

In aconselhou a família, the a is the definite article a (feminine singular), not the preposition a.

a família = the family (direct object of aconselhou).
aconselhou a família = he/she advised the family.

If you wrote aconselhou à família, that would mean:

aconselhar algo a alguém = to advise something to someone
e.g. O advogado aconselhou prudência à família.
The lawyer advised prudence to the family.

In your sentence the family is what was advised (direct object), not to whom something was advised (indirect object), so a família, not à família.

Why is there another a in aconselhou a família a não acusar? What does that second a do?

The second a is a preposition that introduces an infinitive clause.

The verb aconselhar often has this pattern:

aconselhar alguém a + infinitive
= to advise someone to + verb

So:

aconselhou a família a não acusar…
= (he/she) advised the family not to accuse…

First a = article (a família)
Second a = preposition (a + não acusar).

Could I say O advogado aconselhou que a família não acusasse ninguém… instead of using a não acusar?

Yes, that is grammatically correct, but it’s a bit different in structure and style.

aconselhou a família a não acusar ninguém
= verb aconselhar
- object (a família) + infinitive (a não acusar).
  This is very natural and common.
aconselhou que a família não acusasse ninguém
= verb aconselhar
- a que‑clause with the subjunctive (não acusasse).
  This sounds a bit more formal or bookish.

In everyday Portuguese (European and Brazilian), aconselhar alguém a + infinitivo is usually the most natural choice.

Why is não before acusar, but ninguém comes after it? Can I move ninguém or say something like ninguém acusar?

The neutral word order is:

não + verb + ninguém
→ a não acusar ninguém

Here:

não must come before acusar to negate the verb.
ninguém (nobody / no one) naturally comes after the verb in this pattern.

You can move ninguém to the beginning in some contexts, but the structure of the sentence would usually change, for example:

Ninguém deve acusar ninguém em público.
Nobody should accuse anyone in public.

But in your exact construction (aconselhar alguém a + infinitivo), the most natural form is a não acusar ninguém, not a ninguém acusar or a ninguém não acusar.

Is não … ninguém a “double negative” like in English, and is it correct in Portuguese?

Portuguese uses what English speakers call “double negatives” as the normal way to express a single negation.

não acusar ninguém literally looks like not accuse nobody,
but in Portuguese it means not accuse anybody / accuse no one.

Rule of thumb:

If the negative word (ninguém, nunca, nada, nenhum) comes after the verb, you usually also need não before the verb:
- não viu ninguém (didn’t see anyone)
- não disse nada (didn’t say anything)
If the negative word comes before the verb, não is often dropped:
- Ninguém viu nada. (No one saw anything.)

So não acusar ninguém is not incorrect; it is the standard pattern.

Why isn’t there a de after acusar here? I thought it was acusar alguém de alguma coisa.

You are right about the usual pattern:

acusar alguém de alguma coisa
= to accuse someone of something

Examples:

Acusaram o vizinho de roubo.
They accused the neighbour of theft.

In your sentence, the thing they might accuse of is not mentioned, only the act of accusing someone in public:

…a não acusar ninguém em público…
= not to accuse anyone in public (of anything, unspecified)

Since there’s no “of X” being specified, de is not needed. If you added a specific charge, you’d use de:

…a não acusar ninguém em público de nada.
not to accuse anyone in public of anything.

What does em público literally mean, and how is it different from ao público, no público, or publicamente?

em público = in public, literally “in (the) public” → in front of other people, not in private.
That is exactly the meaning you want here.

Other options have different meanings:

ao público = to the public (direction, target audience)
- apresentar algo ao público – present something to the public.
no público = in the audience (literally “in the public [audience]”), rare and specific:
- Havia muitas crianças no público. – There were many children in the audience.
publicamente = publicly, an adverb with the same basic meaning as em público, but a bit more formal or written style.
- You could say …a não acusar ninguém publicamente… as a stylistic alternative.

Why is it durante o processo and not durante processo? And can durante o processo go at the beginning of the sentence?

In Portuguese you normally keep the definite article after durante when you refer to a specific, known process:

durante o processo = during the (legal) proceedings / during the trial

Dropping the article (durante processo) would sound odd in standard speech; you might only find it in telegram style, headlines, or very fixed technical phrases.

Word order:

Current: …em público durante o processo.
Also correct and natural:
- Durante o processo, o advogado aconselhou a família a não acusar ninguém em público.

Moving durante o processo to the front just changes the emphasis slightly (highlighting the time frame).

Does processo always mean a legal trial? Is it a false friend with English process?

processo does not always mean a legal trial, but in legal contexts it often does:

o processo here = the legal case / the court proceedings.

In general Portuguese, processo can also mean:

a procedure or course of action
- processo de seleção – selection process
- processo de fabrico – manufacturing process

So it overlaps a lot with English process, but in a legal context processo usually means case / lawsuit / proceedings rather than an abstract method.

How would this sentence change if the lawyer were female, or if there were more than one lawyer or family?

You mainly change the article and the noun for gender/number; the verb aconselhou stays the same (past, 3rd person).

Female lawyer, one family:
- A advogada aconselhou a família a não acusar ninguém em público durante o processo.
Several male (or mixed) lawyers, one family:
- Os advogados aconselharam a família…
  (verb becomes plural: aconselharam)
Several female lawyers, one family:
- As advogadas aconselharam a família…
One lawyer, several families:
- O advogado aconselhou as famílias a não acusarem ninguém em público durante o processo.
  Here you’ll often also pluralise the infinitive (acusarem) to agree with as famílias in European Portuguese (personal infinitive).

Any key pronunciation tips for this sentence in European Portuguese?

Very briefly, syllable stress (stressed syllables in caps):

O ad-vo-GA-do a-con-se-LHOU a fa-MI-lia a NÃO a-CU-SAR nin-GUÉM em PÚ-bli-co du-RAN-te o pro-CE-sso.

Notes (European Portuguese):

lh in aconselhou and família is a palatal sound, like lli in million.
Final ‑ou in aconselhou sounds like English “oh”.
não has a nasal vowel; approximate it like “nowng” but shorter.
In normal speech, some vowels reduce and link, so durante o processo sounds close to durant-o processo.