Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): O Pedro anda a exagerar no café e depois não consegue dormir. - Pedro has been overdoing the coffee and then he can’t sleep.

You can say Pedro without the article, especially in more formal contexts or lists (e.g. on a form), but in everyday speech O Pedro is very normal in Portugal.

What does anda a exagerar literally mean? Is it “walks to exaggerate”?

Literally, anda a comes from the verb andar (“to walk / to go around”), but in this construction it does not mean physical walking.

andar a + infinitive often means:

someone has been doing something repeatedly / habitually / lately, often with a slightly disapproving or complaining tone.

So:

O Pedro anda a exagerar no café ≈ “Pedro has been overdoing it with coffee (lately).”

It suggests an ongoing pattern, not just one single time.

What’s the difference between anda a exagerar, está a exagerar, and exagera?

All three are present tense but with different nuances:

anda a exagerar
- “has been exaggerating / has been overdoing it (recently, habitually)”
- Focus on a repeated or ongoing pattern over a period of time.
- Often with a touch of criticism: “he keeps doing this”.
está a exagerar
- “is exaggerating / is overdoing it (right now, at the moment)”
- Like English present continuous; focus on this moment or this specific situation.
exagera
- “(he) exaggerates / overdoes it” (general statement).
- Neutral present: habit in general, not necessarily “lately”.

In this sentence, anda a exagerar suggests: Recently, he’s been drinking too much coffee repeatedly, not just once.

Does no café mean “in the café (place)” or “with coffee (the drink)”?

In this sentence, no café means “with coffee / in terms of coffee consumption”, not the physical place.

exagerar no café = to overdo it with coffee (drink too much coffee)
Here, no = em + o (“in/on the”), but idiomatically this structure is used like “overdo it on X” in English:
- exagerar no sal – overdo it on salt (too much salt)
- exagerar no álcool – overdo it on alcohol

So you should understand: He’s been overdoing it with coffee, not “He’s been exaggerating in the café (location).”

Could I say exagerar com o café instead of exagerar no café?

You can say exagerar com o café, and people will understand you, but:

exagerar no café is the more natural and idiomatic choice in this “overdo it on X” meaning.
exagerar com o café is possible, but it sounds a bit less fixed/idiomatic; it can feel more like “go too far with coffee” in a broader sense (context will clarify).

For a very explicit, “textbook” version, you could also say:

O Pedro anda a exagerar no consumo de café.
(“Pedro has been overdoing his coffee consumption.”)

Why is depois used here? Could I use então or por isso instead?

depois literally means “afterwards / then (after that)” and simply indicates time sequence:

He overdoes it with coffee, and afterwards he can’t sleep.

Alternatives:

então – often “so/then”, more about result / consequence in speech:
- O Pedro anda a exagerar no café e então não consegue dormir.
  (OK in speech; sounds very informal.)
por isso – “therefore / so”, explicitly marks cause and effect:
- O Pedro anda a exagerar no café e por isso não consegue dormir.
  (Stresses the causal link.)

In the original, e depois is quite conversational and paints a little “story”: first this happens, then that happens.

Why is não placed before consegue? Could it go somewhere else?

In Portuguese, the basic rule is:

Negation particle não comes right before the conjugated verb.

Here, the conjugated verb is consegue, so:

não consegue dormir – “(he) can’t manage to sleep / can’t sleep”

You cannot say:

✗ consegue não dormir – this changes the meaning to “manages not to sleep” (he succeeds in staying awake).

So for plain negation of ability (“can’t”), keep:

não + [conjugated verb] + [infinitive]
- não consegue dormir

What’s the difference between não consegue dormir, não pode dormir, and não dorme?

They all translate to “can’t / doesn’t sleep” in some contexts, but they’re not the same:

não consegue dormir
- Literally “doesn’t manage to sleep”.
- Focus on difficulty / inability, often physical or psychological (e.g. because of too much coffee, stress, noise).
- Very natural here.
não pode dormir
- “Is not allowed / not able to sleep.”
- Often suggests external restriction (doctor’s orders, work, rules) or objective impossibility.
não dorme
- “He doesn’t sleep.”
- Simple present fact; could mean habitually doesn’t sleep or just doesn’t sleep (in that situation) depending on context.
- Less precise about why.

In this sentence, because coffee prevents him from sleeping, não consegue dormir is the most natural.

Why is dormir in the infinitive after consegue? Is that always the case?

Yes, this is normal. In Portuguese:

Verbs like conseguir, querer, poder, saber (can/know how), gostar de (“like to”), etc., are often followed by an infinitive.

Pattern:

[conjugated verb] + [infinitive]
- Ele consegue dormir. – He manages to sleep.
- Ele não consegue dormir. – He can’t manage to sleep.

You don’t add a preposition here:

✗ consegue de dormir – incorrect.
✓ consegue dormir – correct.

Could I drop O Pedro and just say Anda a exagerar no café e depois não consegue dormir?

Yes, you can. Portuguese is a pro-drop language: you often omit the subject when it’s clear from context.

Anda a exagerar no café e depois não consegue dormir.
- Could mean “He/She has been overdoing it with coffee and then can’t sleep,” if the person is known from context.

However:

Including O Pedro makes it explicit who you’re talking about, and in an isolated sentence (like in exercises or examples) it’s clearer.
In a conversation where Pedro has already been mentioned, dropping the name is very natural.

What tense/aspect does anda a exagerar correspond to in English? Is it exactly “is exaggerating”?

It doesn’t map 1:1 to a single English tense. Depending on context, anda a exagerar often feels closest to:

“has been overdoing it”
or “keeps overdoing it” / “goes around overdoing it”

It suggests:

an action that is repeated or continuous over a period, usually recently, often with a slightly critical flavour.

So the whole sentence could naturally be translated as:

“Pedro has been overdoing it with coffee, and then he can’t sleep.”