Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Às vezes a explicação parece confusa, mas as traduções e o dicionário ajudam‑me a perceber. - Sometimes the explanation seems confusing, but the translations and the dictionary help me understand.

Grammatically, às is a contraction of the preposition a (to / at) + the feminine plural article as (the). The grave accent (à) marks this contraction.

Às vezes → literally at the times → idiomatically sometimes
As vezes (without accent) would just mean the times as a subject or object, e.g. As vezes que fui lá foram poucas (The times I went there were few).

Why do we say a explicação instead of just explicação?

Portuguese uses definite articles much more than English.

a explicação = the explanation
In many cases where English drops the article, Portuguese keeps it, especially with singular countable nouns used in a general way.

So Às vezes a explicação parece confusa corresponds to Sometimes (the) explanation seems confusing. Leaving out a (Às vezes explicação parece confusa) is ungrammatical in standard Portuguese.

Why is it confusa and not confuso in a explicação parece confusa?

Adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

a explicação is feminine singular (most nouns ending in ‑ção are feminine)
Therefore, the adjective must also be feminine singular: confusa, not confuso.

If the noun were masculine, you would use confuso:

o texto parece confuso (the text seems confusing)

Is parece confusa closer to seems confusing or is confusing in English?

Literally, parece confusa means seems confusing or seems unclear.
In natural English, you might simply say is confusing, but parece keeps the nuance of appears / seems (that way to me).

Portuguese could also say é confusa (is confusing), which states it as a stronger, more objective fact. parece confusa sounds a bit more subjective or tentative.

Why is there a comma before mas? Is that always necessary?

Yes, in European Portuguese it is standard to put a comma before mas when it introduces a new clause, similar to but in English:

..., mas as traduções e o dicionário ajudam‑me a perceber.

You normally do write the comma whenever mas contrasts two clauses, as here. You would not use a comma only if mas is linking very short elements inside the same clause, which is less frequent.

Why is it ajudam‑me and not me ajudam in European Portuguese?

In European Portuguese, the unstressed object pronoun (me, te, o, etc.) normally comes after the verb with a hyphen (enclisis) in simple main clauses that do not have a “trigger word” for proclisis.

Here, the structure is:

mas as traduções e o dicionário ajudam‑me a perceber

Nothing before ajudam forces the pronoun to come before the verb, so the default in European Portuguese is ajudam‑me.

me ajudam is very common and natural in Brazilian Portuguese, but in European Portuguese it sounds more marked and usually needs a trigger (like não, já, que, quando, etc.).

Why is there a hyphen in ajudam‑me?

The hyphen is used whenever an unstressed object pronoun attaches after the verb (enclisis):

ajudam‑me (they help me)
explica‑me (explain to me)
disseram‑nos (they told us)

If the pronoun comes before the verb (proclisis), you do not use a hyphen:

não me ajudam (they don’t help me)

Why is the verb ajudam plural when o dicionário is singular?

The subject of the verb is the whole phrase as traduções e o dicionário:

as traduções (plural)
o dicionário (singular)

Together, they form a compound subject, which is plural. Therefore, the verb must be plural:

as traduções e o dicionário ajudam‑me (they help me)
If there were only one: o dicionário ajuda‑me / as traduções ajudam‑me

Why do we say ajudam‑me a perceber with a before perceber? Can we drop the a?

In Portuguese, the verb ajudar is normally followed by a + infinitive when you say you help someone to do something:

ajudar alguém a fazer alguma coisa
→ ajudam‑me a perceber (they help me to understand)

You cannot drop the a here; ajudam‑me perceber is incorrect in standard Portuguese. The a functions like to before an infinitive in English.

What is the nuance of perceber here compared to entender or compreender?

In European Portuguese:

perceber very commonly means to understand, especially in everyday speech, both for language and ideas.
entender also means to understand, often interchangeable with perceber.
compreender can sound a bit more formal or deep (to fully grasp, to comprehend), but is also often used more casually.

In Portugal, perceber is probably the most frequent everyday choice for understand, so ajudam‑me a perceber is very natural.

Can we say ajudam mim a perceber instead of ajudam‑me a perceber?

No. mim cannot be used directly as the unstressed direct/indirect object of the verb.

me is the unstressed clitic pronoun used with the verb: ajudam‑me
mim is used after prepositions: para mim, de mim, por mim, etc.

So:

Correct: as traduções e o dicionário ajudam‑me a perceber
Also correct, with a preposition: as traduções e o dicionário são úteis para mim (the translations and the dictionary are useful for me)

Is Às vezes always plural? Can we say à vez to mean sometimes?

For the meaning sometimes, you must use the fixed plural expression às vezes.

às vezes → sometimes
à vez exists, but it means one at a time / in turn, e.g. Entram um à vez (They go in one at a time), and it does not mean sometimes.

So you cannot say à vez a explicação parece confusa with the meaning of sometimes; it has to be Às vezes a explicação parece confusa.

Can I omit the article and say as traduções e dicionário instead of as traduções e o dicionário?

No, in standard Portuguese you normally repeat the article for each coordinated noun unless they are very tightly grouped or form a fixed pair.

Here, you list two independent resources:

as traduções
o dicionário

So you say:

as traduções e o dicionário ajudam‑me a perceber

as traduções e dicionário sounds incomplete or non‑native in this context.

How do you pronounce the endings ‑ção in explicação and ‑ções in traduções?

Both endings have a nasal sound represented by ão / ões.

explicação: stress on the last syllable: ex‑pli‑ca‑ÇÃO
- The ão is a nasal sound, roughly like English own but nasalized and shorter.
traduções: stress on the last syllable: tra‑du‑ÇÕES
- ões is nasal and close to oyns in English, but again nasalized.

In both words, the stress falls on that final nasal syllable marked by ~ over the vowel.