Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): O Pedro anda a estudar para o exame à noite. - Pedro has been studying for the exam at night.

It does not mean the Pedro in the English sense; it is just how people normally refer to someone in the third person. It often suggests a familiar, concrete person that both speaker and listener know.

In more formal or neutral written Portuguese (titles, biographies, news headlines), the article is often dropped, so you also see Pedro anda a estudar…. In spontaneous speech, O Pedro… is extremely natural in Portugal.

Can I omit o and just say Pedro anda a estudar para o exame à noite?

Yes. Grammatically, both are correct:

O Pedro anda a estudar para o exame à noite.
Pedro anda a estudar para o exame à noite.

In Portugal:

With o: sounds very natural and typical of spoken language.
Without o: sounds a bit more formal, written, or “textbook-like”.

The meaning is the same; you are just choosing a slightly different style.

What exactly does anda a estudar mean here?

The structure andar a + infinitive expresses an activity that someone has been doing repeatedly or over a period of time, not necessarily at this exact moment.

So anda a estudar is closer to:

has been studying
goes around studying
keeps studying / is always studying (these days)

In this sentence, O Pedro anda a estudar para o exame à noite suggests that recently / around this period, Pedro’s routine is to study for the exam at night. It feels more “ongoing phase” or “habit these days” than a single moment.

What is the difference between anda a estudar and está a estudar?

Both use a kind of progressive aspect, but they are not the same:

está a estudar
- Focus: right now / at this specific time period.
- Closest to English is studying (now).
- O Pedro está a estudar para o exame. = Pedro is (currently) studying for the exam.
anda a estudar
- Focus: ongoing behaviour over some time, not just now.
- Closest to has been studying / goes around studying / keeps studying.
- O Pedro anda a estudar para o exame à noite. = he has been studying at night for the exam lately.

So if you walk past Pedro’s room, see him with his books open right now, you’d normally say:

O Pedro está a estudar.

If you’re talking about his recent routine over days or weeks:

O Pedro anda a estudar para o exame à noite.

When would I use anda a estudar instead of just estuda?

Compare:

O Pedro estuda para o exame à noite.
- Simple present: neutral habit/routine.
- Suggests a schedule like “this is what he regularly does”.
O Pedro anda a estudar para o exame à noite.
- Highlights a current phase or pattern.
- Often implies something a bit new, noticeable, or relevant now (e.g. because the exam is coming).

So:

If you mean a long‑standing, stable habit: estuda à noite.
If you mean a current or recent pattern, often temporary or particularly noticeable: anda a estudar à noite.

How is the structure andar a + infinitive formed, and can I use it with other verbs?

Yes, it’s a productive pattern. The formula is:

[conjugated andar] + a + [infinitive]

Present tense of andar:

eu ando
tu andas
ele / ela / você anda
nós andamos
eles / elas / vocês andam

Examples:

Ando a aprender português.
I’ve been learning Portuguese / I’m going around learning Portuguese.
Eles andam a trabalhar muito.
They’ve been working a lot.
A Ana anda a ver muitas séries.
Ana has been watching a lot of series.

You can also use other tenses:

andava a estudar – was going around studying / used to be studying (around that time)
tem andado a estudar – has been studying (even more clearly ongoing and repeated)

So andar a + infinitive is a general way to express a repeated or ongoing activity, not just with estudar.

Why is it para o exame and not something like por o exame or para exame?

In this context, para is the natural preposition because it expresses goal or purpose:

para o exame = for the exam (in order to prepare for that exam).

Using por here would be wrong or at least very strange; por is used more for cause, means, duration, etc., not for studying for an exam.

As for the article:

o exame = the exam (a specific exam both speakers have in mind).
para exame, without the article, would sound incomplete or odd here. It might work in fixed expressions or very generic contexts, but in normal speech, when we mean a concrete future exam, para o exame is what you say.

What does à noite mean here: at night or in the evening?

Noite in Portuguese covers both English evening and night. It generally means the period from roughly early evening (after sunset) until you go to bed.

So à noite can be translated as:

in the evening
at night

Which English version you pick depends more on natural English than on a strict boundary in Portuguese. In this sentence, both in the evening and at night are reasonable translations.

What is the grammar behind the à in à noite?

À is a contraction of:

preposition a (to / at)
feminine definite article a (the)

So, underlying form:

a + a noite → à noite

The grave accent (à) marks this specific contraction in writing. You see the same pattern with other feminine expressions of time:

à tarde – in the afternoon
à segunda-feira – on Mondays / on Monday
à uma hora – at one o’clock

For masculine nouns, you get ao instead of à (a + o):

ao fim de semana – at / on the weekend

Could I replace à noite with de noite? Is there any difference?

You can; both are correct:

O Pedro anda a estudar para o exame à noite.
O Pedro anda a estudar para o exame de noite.

They are very close in meaning. Rough nuance:

à noite – slightly more like in the evenings / at night as a usual time of day.
de noite – can sound a bit more like by night, when it’s dark, or be used when contrasting day and night:
- De dia trabalha, de noite estuda.
  By day he works, at night he studies.

In everyday conversation, many speakers use them almost interchangeably; in your sentence, à noite is the more typical choice.

Can I change the word order, for example O Pedro anda a estudar à noite para o exame?

Yes, Portuguese word order is fairly flexible, especially with adverbials like time and purpose. All of these are possible:

O Pedro anda a estudar para o exame à noite. (original)
O Pedro anda a estudar à noite para o exame.
À noite, o Pedro anda a estudar para o exame.

Differences are mainly in emphasis:

Original: slightly more neutral, with para o exame (purpose) close to estudar.
…à noite para o exame: gives a bit more weight to the fact it’s done at night.
À noite, o Pedro…: starts by highlighting the time frame at night.

All are grammatically correct.

If I want to say “Pedro is studying for the exam right now at night”, is anda a estudar still correct?

If you want to focus on right now, the more natural choice is está a estudar, not anda a estudar:

Agora, o Pedro está a estudar para o exame.
Right now, Pedro is studying for the exam.

If you, for some reason, need to mention that this is happening at night:

Agora, à noite, o Pedro está a estudar para o exame.
Esta noite, o Pedro está a estudar para o exame.

Anda a estudar would shift the focus away from this exact moment and back onto his ongoing behaviour over a period of time.

Is there any difference between using O Pedro and Ele in this sentence?

Yes; they are both third-person subjects, but they work differently in context:

O Pedro anda a estudar para o exame à noite.
- Introduces or re-identifies Pedro by name.
- Natural if this is the first time you mention him, or if you want to be explicit who you’re talking about.
Ele anda a estudar para o exame à noite.
- Uses the pronoun ele (he).
- More natural if Pedro has already been mentioned, and it’s clear who ele refers to.

Also, Portuguese is a pro‑drop language: once it’s clear who you are talking about, you can often omit the subject entirely:

Anda a estudar para o exame à noite.
He has been studying for the exam at night.

So after one full sentence with O Pedro, later sentences would often just say ele or drop the subject altogether.