Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Ela enviou a candidatura para um curso de verão em Espanha. - She sent the application for a summer course in Spain.

It corresponds most closely to the English simple past: she sent.
In Portuguese: Ela enviou a candidatura... = She sent the application...

Note that Portuguese pretérito perfeito is often used where English might also use the present perfect:

Ela enviou a candidatura. = She sent the application / She has sent the application.

The Portuguese present perfect (tem enviado) usually means a repeated or ongoing action up to now (she has been sending), so it would not be used in this sentence.

Could we leave out Ela and just say Enviou a candidatura...?

Yes. European Portuguese often drops subject pronouns when the verb form already shows who the subject is.

Ela enviou a candidatura... – neutral, explicit subject.
Enviou a candidatura... – perfectly correct if the subject is clear from context (for example, if you were already talking about her).

You generally keep ela if:

You are introducing the subject for the first time.
You want to contrast or emphasize (Ela enviou, não ele).

Why is it a candidatura and not just candidatura with no article?

Portuguese uses definite articles much more than English, including with abstract nouns.

a candidatura = the application (a specific one).
Just candidatura (without article) would sound incomplete in this sentence.

Here, you’re talking about a particular application (hers, for that course), so a candidatura is natural.
English often says sent off an application or sent her application, but Portuguese tends to keep the article: enviou a candidatura.

Why is candidatura feminine (a candidatura)?

In Portuguese, every noun has grammatical gender, and candidatura is feminine.

Clues:

Many nouns ending in -ura are feminine: a candidatura, a leitura, a abertura, a estrutura.
The article must agree: a (feminine singular) + candidatura.

By contrast:

curso is masculine, so you get um curso (not uma curso).

What is the difference between candidatura and inscrição?

Both can relate to signing up, but they are not the same:

candidatura – an application to be accepted or selected.
- Enviar a candidatura para um curso = apply (maybe there is selection).
inscrição – enrolment/registration, often after you have already been accepted, or for something that doesn’t involve selection.
- Fazer a inscrição no curso = enroll/register in the course.

So candidatura is the step where you ask to be accepted; inscrição is when you sign up (often after being accepted).

Why is it para um curso de verão and not a um curso de verão?

Here para expresses destination or purpose: the application is for a course.

enviar algo para
- destination / purpose
  - Enviar a candidatura para um curso de verão – Send the application for a summer course.

Using a um curso de verão after enviar would normally sound like physical direction:

Ela foi a um curso de verão – She went to a summer course.

So:

para um curso – for a course (purpose of the application).
a um curso – to a course (going/attending physically).

Why is it curso de verão and not curso do verão?

De verão here works like an adjective, describing the type of course.

curso de verão = summer course (a course that happens in summer).

You use de + noun in Portuguese where English often uses an adjective:

curso de verão – summer course
curso de línguas – language course
sapatos de desporto – sports shoes

Curso do verão (with do) would sound like the course of the summer, which is a more specific and unusual meaning, not the standard name of this type of course.

Should verão start with a capital letter, like Verão?

No. In Portuguese, the seasons are normally written with lowercase:

primavera, verão, outono, inverno

So the standard spelling is curso de verão, not curso de Verão, unless it’s part of an official name or title (e.g. the brand name of a program).

Why is it em Espanha and not na Espanha?

In European Portuguese, most country names, including Espanha, are normally used without the definite article:

Portugal, Espanha, França, Itália – no article in standard European usage.

So after em, you usually get:

em Espanha – in Spain
em Portugal – in Portugal

You only get forms like no / na when the country normally takes an article:

no Brasil (because o Brasil)
no México (because o México)

In Brazilian Portuguese, speakers often say na Espanha, because they more commonly use a Espanha with an article. The sentence you have follows the European pattern: em Espanha.

What is the difference between em Espanha and para Espanha?

em Espanha = in Spain (location).
- um curso de verão em Espanha – a summer course in Spain.
para Espanha = to Spain (direction/destination).
- Ela viajou para Espanha – She travelled to Spain.

In your sentence, the course takes place in Spain, so em Espanha (location) is correct.

Why is it um curso de verão and not o curso de verão?

Um curso is the indefinite article (a/an), used when the thing is not uniquely identified or is just one among many:

um curso de verão – a summer course (one such course, not a specific one already known to the listener).

You would use o curso (definite article) if both speaker and listener already know exactly which course:

Ela enviou a candidatura para o curso de verão de Coimbra.
– She sent the application for the Coimbra summer course (a specific, previously mentioned course).

Could we replace a candidatura with a pronoun and say Ela enviou-a?

Yes, if a candidatura is already known from the context and you don’t want to repeat it, you can use the direct object pronoun a (feminine singular):

Ela enviou-a para um curso de verão em Espanha. – She sent it for a summer course in Spain.

Key points:

In a normal affirmative sentence, the pronoun comes after the verb with a hyphen: enviou-a (enclisis).
If there is a negation or some other word that attracts the pronoun, it goes before the verb:
- Ela não a enviou. – She didn’t send it.

In your original sentence, using the full noun a candidatura is more natural because it’s the first time it appears.

How do you pronounce enviou and candidatura?

Approximate European Portuguese pronunciation (simplified for English speakers):

enviou: /ẽ-vi-Ô/
- en-: nasal e, like French en but shorter.
- -vi-: like vee.
- -ou: like the o in go.
- Stress on the last syllable: en-vi-OU.
candidatura: /kan-di-da-TU-ra/
- can-: like cun (short a), kan.
- -di-: like jee (soft d before i, similar to English j in many accents of PT-PT).
- -da-: like duh.
- -tu-: too, stressed: can-di-da-TU-ra.
- -ra: light ra at the end.

Stress patterns:

enviou – stress on the last syllable.
candidatura – stress on tu: can-di-da-TU-ra.