Breakdown of Apesar de estar cansado, vou continuar a estudar português hoje à noite.
Questions & Answers about Apesar de estar cansado, vou continuar a estudar português hoje à noite.
Apesar de means despite / in spite of.
Grammatically, in European Portuguese it’s followed by:
- a verb in the infinitive:
- Apesar de estar cansado, ... = Despite being tired, ...
- or a noun / pronoun:
- Apesar da chuva, fomos à praia. = Despite the rain, we went to the beach.
If you want a full clause with a conjugated verb, you normally use apesar de que:
- Apesar de que estou cansado, vou continuar a estudar.
(More formal / less common in everyday speech; usually subjunctive is preferred: Apesar de que esteja cansado...)
In everyday Portuguese, your sentence with apesar de + infinitive is the most natural way to say “Although I am tired…” in this context.
In Portuguese, when the subject of the main clause and the subordinate clause is the same, the subject is often omitted in the subordinate clause.
- Full version: Apesar de eu estar cansado, vou continuar a estudar.
- Typical spoken/written version: Apesar de estar cansado, vou continuar a estudar.
Both are correct. Adding eu makes the subject explicit or contrastive (e.g. Apesar de eu estar cansado, tu estás pior.), but it’s not needed here, so it’s dropped.
Portuguese uses:
estar + adjective for temporary or current states:
- Estou cansado. = I’m (feeling) tired (now).
- Ele está doente. = He is ill (at the moment).
ser + adjective for permanent or defining characteristics:
- Ele é alto. = He is tall.
- Ela é simpática. = She is nice (as a general trait).
Being tired is a temporary condition, so estar cansado is correct.
Also note the agreement:
- cansado for a man / masculine subject
- cansada for a woman / feminine subject
(e.g. Apesar de estar cansada, vou continuar a estudar.)
In Portuguese, subject pronouns (eu, tu, ele, etc.) are usually optional, because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is:
- Vou continuar a estudar. = I am going to continue studying.
- Nós vamos continuar a estudar. = We are going to continue studying.
You only add eu if you want to emphasize or contrast:
- Eu vou continuar a estudar, tu é que não vais.
I am going to keep studying; you are the one who isn’t.
Both are possible, but the nuance is different:
Vou continuar a estudar = I am going to continue studying
Uses the ir + infinitive future; it suggests a decision/plan about the (near) future:- Despite being tired, from now on / later tonight I’ll keep at it.
Continuo a estudar = I continue / I keep studying
Simple present; more about an ongoing habit or current situation:- Right now I am still studying and I’m not stopping.
In your sentence, vou continuar a estudar sounds like a deliberate choice about what you’re going to do later this evening, which fits the context hoje à noite.
In European Portuguese, the usual pattern is:
- continuar a + infinitive
Examples:
- Vou continuar a estudar. = I am going to continue studying.
- Eles continuaram a trabalhar. = They continued working.
Using continuar without the a before a verb is usually considered incorrect or, at least, non-standard in European Portuguese.
Note: In Brazilian Portuguese, you might also see continuar estudando (with the -ndo form), which is not how it’s typically said in Portugal.
In Portuguese:
- names of languages are not capitalized:
- português, inglês, francês, espanhol
- nationalities used as nouns or adjectives are also not capitalized:
- um português, uma inglesa, produtos franceses
So:
- Estudo português. = I study Portuguese (the language).
is correctly written with a lowercase p.
You would capitalize Português only if it’s, for example, the name of a subject in a school timetable or the title of a course (same way English might capitalize course names in some contexts).
With languages, Portuguese often omits the article after certain verbs, especially falar, estudar, aprender, saber:
- Estudar português = to study Portuguese (the language)
- Aprender inglês = to learn English
Using the article o português:
- Estudar o português is also grammatically possible, but sounds more formal or specific, like “the Portuguese language” as an object of study, not just “Portuguese” in general.
In everyday speech, estudar português is the most natural version here.
hoje à noite = tonight / this evening (specifically today’s night)
- Vou trabalhar hoje à noite. = I am going to work tonight.
à noite = at night / in the evenings, either:
- a general habit:
- Costumo estudar à noite. = I usually study at night / in the evenings.
- or a less precise reference to the coming night:
- Vou sair à noite. = I’m going out tonight (context usually clarifies it).
- a general habit:
In your sentence, hoje à noite makes it explicit it’s tonight (this particular night).
À is a contraction of:
- preposition a (to / at)
- article a (the, feminine singular)
So:
- a (prep.) + a (article) → à
This happens often in Portuguese:
- Vou a + a escola → Vou à escola. = I go to the school.
- Cheguei a + a cidade → Cheguei à cidade. = I arrived in the city.
In hoje à noite, it literally means today at the night, i.e. tonight.
If you wrote hoje a noite (without the accent), it would be considered a spelling mistake in standard Portuguese.
Yes, you can say:
- Vou continuar a estudar português esta noite.
Both hoje à noite and esta noite can mean tonight. The difference is subtle and varies by region and style:
- hoje à noite
Very common and clear: tonight (this evening). - esta noite
Also acceptable, sometimes a bit more neutral or formal; can mean this night (which might be tonight, or another night previously mentioned in context).
In everyday speech in Portugal, hoje à noite is probably the more frequent way to say tonight.
Yes, that sentence is correct:
- Embora esteja cansado, vou continuar a estudar português hoje à noite.
Here:
- Embora = although / even though
- It is followed by a conjugated verb in the subjunctive: esteja (from estar).
Difference in feel:
- Apesar de estar cansado (+ infinitive)
Slightly more neutral/colloquial structure. - Embora esteja cansado (+ subjunctive)
Sounds a bit more formal or written, and uses the subjunctive mood.
Both express the same idea: I will keep studying even though I’m tired.
Yes, you should include the comma:
- Apesar de estar cansado, vou continuar a estudar português hoje à noite.
The Apesar de clause is an introductory concessive clause (a kind of dependent clause), and in standard punctuation it’s separated from the main clause by a comma.
Without the comma, it’s not wrong in casual writing, but it’s less clear and less standard. In careful writing, keep the comma.
Vou continuar a estudar uses the periphrastic future:
- ir (present) + infinitive = going to + verb
- Vou continuar a estudar. = I’m going to continue studying.
Continuarei is the synthetic future tense:
- continuar → continuarei = I will continue.
Both are grammatically correct. In modern spoken European Portuguese:
- ir + infinitive (vou continuar a estudar) is much more common in everyday speech.
- The simple future (continuarei) sounds more formal or written, and is used often in official language, speeches, or more formal writing.
So your sentence chooses the most natural, conversational option.