Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Eu estava cansado, mas no final fiquei satisfeito com o exame. - I was tired, but in the end I was satisfied with the exam.

estar cansado = to be tired (right now / at that time, a temporary condition)
ser cansado is unusual and would mean something like “to be a tiring person/thing” or “to be easily tired” (a more permanent characteristic).

As for the tense:

estava is the imperfect past tense. It describes a background state or situation that was ongoing at that time:
Eu estava cansado = I was (feeling) tired (that was my state during that period).
fui cansado is not natural here; ser
- cansado in the past would usually describe a characteristic, not how you felt at that moment.
era cansado would suggest a more permanent trait: I used to be a tired person / I was (by nature) tired, which doesn’t fit the context of a specific exam day.

So eu estava cansado is correct because it describes a temporary condition during that past situation.

Why is the subject pronoun Eu included? Isn’t Portuguese a “null subject” language where you can drop it?

Yes, Portuguese is a pro‑drop (null subject) language, so you can usually omit the subject pronoun when the verb ending already shows the person:

Estava cansado, mas no final fiquei satisfeito com o exame.

This would be perfectly natural in European Portuguese.

Including Eu here:

can add a bit of emphasis on “I was tired…”
may be used in written style for clarity, especially if the previous sentence talked about other people, or if the speaker wants to stress it was them, not someone else.

But grammatically, Eu is not needed; it’s optional.

Why is it no final instead of no fim, por fim or finalmente? Are they different?

All of these can relate to “in the end / finally”, but there are nuances.

no final literally = “in the end” / “at the end”
It often refers to the end of a process, situation, or period:
- No final, fiquei satisfeito com o exame.
  = In the end, I was satisfied with the exam.
no fim is very close in meaning and often interchangeable with no final in this context.
In many cases, no fim sounds slightly more colloquial, but both are common.
por fim = “finally / at last / in the end”
Often used to sequence points in a narrative or argument (like “lastly”):
- Primeiro… Depois… Por fim, fiquei satisfeito com o exame.
finalmente = “finally / at last”
Stronger sense of relief or something long‑awaited:
- Finalmente, fiquei satisfeito com o exame.
  (Suggests maybe it took effort or a long wait to be satisfied.)

In your sentence, no final works as a neutral “in the end, after everything that happened.” No fim would also be fine; por fim/finalmente slightly change the tone.

Why is it fiquei satisfeito and not estava satisfeito?

The verb ficar is often used to express a change of state: “to become, to get”.

fiquei satisfeito = I became satisfied / I ended up satisfied
It implies that before, you were not satisfied, and then your feelings changed.

If you said:

Eu estava cansado, mas no final estava satisfeito com o exame.

this would be grammatically correct, but it sounds more like two static descriptions:

I was tired,
and at the end I was (by then) satisfied.

You lose the clear idea of transition or result.
So fiquei satisfeito highlights the moment of becoming satisfied—good for a narrative contrast with being tired at the beginning.

What exactly does ficar mean here? I thought it meant “to stay”.

Ficar has several common meanings in Portuguese, depending on context:

To stay / remain / be located
- Fico em casa hoje. – I’m staying at home today.
- O restaurante fica ali. – The restaurant is (located) over there.
To become / to get (change of state – this is the meaning in your sentence)
- Fiquei satisfeito. – I became / ended up satisfied.
- Ela ficou zangada. – She got angry.

In “no final fiquei satisfeito”, it clearly has meaning (2): to become / end up.

Why is cansado and satisfeito in the masculine form? How would it change for a woman?

In Portuguese, adjectives agree with the gender and number of the subject.

For a male speaker:
- Eu estava cansado, mas no final fiquei satisfeito com o exame.
For a female speaker:
- Eu estava cansada, mas no final fiquei satisfeita com o exame.

Plural examples:

A group of men (or mixed group):
- Nós estávamos cansados, mas no final ficámos satisfeitos com o exame.
A group of women:
- Nós estávamos cansadas, mas no final ficámos satisfeitas com o exame.

So you must match cansado/cansada and satisfeito/satisfeita to the speaker’s gender (and number).

Why is it com o exame and not do exame? Which preposition goes with satisfeito?

With satisfeito, the most common preposition for “with” in the sense of “pleased with” is com:

satisfeito com algo = satisfied/pleased with something
- Estou satisfeito com o exame. – I’m satisfied with the exam.

do exame (de + o exame) would usually mean “of the exam”, not “with the exam”:

o resultado do exame = the result of the exam

So:

satisfeito com o exame = pleased with the exam (how it went, how it was)
resultado do exame = the exam’s result

In this sentence you need the idea of “pleased with”, so com is correct.

Could I say “Eu estava cansado, mas no final estava satisfeito com o exame” instead? Is it wrong?

It’s not wrong grammatically; it’s understandable.

However, stylistically and semantically:

fiquei satisfeito highlights that there was a change: at first not satisfied, later satisfied.
Using estava for both (estava cansado … estava satisfeito) is less dynamic; it just states how you were at different moments without emphasising the transition.

Native speakers typically prefer ficar here to narrate how feelings evolved, so the original version sounds more natural and expressive.

Is the comma before mas obligatory in Portuguese?

In standard written Portuguese, a comma before “mas” (meaning “but”) is usual and recommended, because mas introduces a coordinate clause that contrasts with the first clause.

So:

Eu estava cansado, mas no final fiquei satisfeito com o exame.

The comma marks the pause and the contrast.
In informal writing, you might sometimes see “Eu estava cansado mas no final…” (without the comma), but the version with the comma is the standard and more correct form.

Can I change the word order, like “Eu estava cansado, mas fiquei satisfeito no final com o exame”?

Yes, Portuguese word order is relatively flexible, and several variants are possible while staying natural. For example:

Eu estava cansado, mas no final fiquei satisfeito com o exame. (original)
Eu estava cansado, mas fiquei satisfeito no final com o exame.
Eu estava cansado, mas fiquei, no final, satisfeito com o exame. (slightly more formal/written)

All are understandable. The differences are mostly about rhythm and emphasis:

Placing no final earlier (mas no final fiquei…) puts more emphasis on the contrast “in the end”.
mas fiquei satisfeito no final is still fine; the focus shifts a bit to the final result.

The original version is probably the most neutral and natural in everyday use.

Is exame always masculine? How do articles work with it?

Yes, exame is a masculine noun in Portuguese:

o exame – the exam
um exame – an exam
os exames – the exams
uns exames – some exams

So in your sentence:

com o exame = with the exam

You must keep masculine agreement with any determiners or adjectives used with exame.