Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Durante o debate, muitos espectadores discordaram das promessas do candidato. - During the debate, many viewers disagreed with the candidate's promises.

Discordar com is not the usual pattern when you mean “to disagree with” in the sense of opposing an opinion. In European Portuguese, you may sometimes hear discordar com alguém in certain regions/contexts, but discordar de is the standard and safest choice, especially in writing.

So the sentence discordaram das promessas is following the normal verb + preposition pattern of discordar de.

What exactly is das here? How is it formed and what does it mean?

Das is a contraction of the preposition de + the feminine plural definite article as:

de
- as → das

Literally:

discordaram das promessas = “they disagreed of the promises”
(which we naturally translate as “they disagreed with the promises”)

Some parallel examples:

falar das regras = speak about the rules
lembrar-se das palavras = remember the words

So das carries both the idea of “of/from” (from de) and “the” (from as).

Why is the verb discordaram in this tense? What tense is it and when is it used?

Discordaram is the pretérito perfeito (simple past) in the third person plural.

In European Portuguese, the pretérito perfeito is used for:

Completed actions or events in the past, seen as finished and bounded in time.

Here, the disagreement happened during one specific debate and is considered a finished event, so discordaram is the natural tense:

Durante o debate, muitos espectadores discordaram...
= “During the debate, many spectators disagreed...”

If you used the present (discordam), it would mean they are disagreeing now, in general, not specifically during that debate.

How do you conjugate the verb discordar (to disagree), especially in the past?

Discordar is a regular -ar verb.

Present indicative (presente do indicativo)

eu discordo
tu discordas
ele / ela / você discorda
nós discordamos
vocês / eles / elas discordam

Pretérito perfeito (simple past)

eu discordei
tu discordaste
ele / ela / você discordou
nós discordámos (EP spelling; often pronounced like “discordámos”)
vocês / eles / elas discordaram

So in the sentence:

muitos espectadores discordaram
“many spectators” = eles (they) → eles discordaram.

Could I say não concordaram com as promessas instead of discordaram das promessas? Is there any difference in meaning?

Yes, you can say that, and it would be understood:

não concordaram com as promessas do candidato
= “they didn’t agree with the candidate’s promises”

Subtle nuance:

discordar de often sounds a bit more active: to disagree, to be against.
não concordar com is literally “to not agree with”, which can feel slightly softer or more neutral, depending on context.

In many practical situations, they overlap a lot, and either works. Your original sentence with discordaram das promessas is very natural and slightly more direct.

Why is it Durante o debate and not just Durante debate? Do I always need the article after durante?

In European Portuguese, it is very common (and usually more natural) to include the definite article:

durante o debate = “during the debate”
durante a reunião = “during the meeting”
durante a noite = “during the night”

Saying durante debate without o sounds incomplete or unnatural in this context.

You don’t always need an article after durante (for example, with some abstract nouns or time expressions), but with specific countable events like debate, reunião, jogo, the article (o / a / os / as) is the norm in European Portuguese.

Can I change the word order, for example: Muitos espectadores discordaram das promessas do candidato durante o debate?

Yes. Both are correct:

Durante o debate, muitos espectadores discordaram das promessas do candidato.
Muitos espectadores discordaram das promessas do candidato durante o debate.

They have the same meaning. Differences:

Sentence 1 puts more emphasis on the time frame: “During the debate, …”
Sentence 2 starts with who did the action: “Many spectators disagreed…”

In European Portuguese, word order is fairly flexible, but not completely free. Here, all of these variants are natural:

Durante o debate, muitos espectadores discordaram...
Muitos espectadores, durante o debate, discordaram... (slight pause after espectadores in speech)

Just avoid splitting verb and its object in strange ways, like:

✗ Muitos espectadores discordaram, durante o debate, das promessas do candidato. (possible, but feels choppy unless you want a very specific rhythm).

What does do candidato literally mean, and how is do different from using a possessive like as suas promessas?

Do is a contraction of:

de
- o → do

So:

do candidato = “of the candidate”

The phrase:

as promessas do candidato = “the candidate’s promises” / “the promises of the candidate”

You could also say:

as suas promessas = “his/her promises”

Differences:

as promessas do candidato is explicit and clear: we know which candidate.
as suas promessas is more vague: whose promises? It depends on context. It can sound a bit more subjective or narrative, like “his promises”.

In news or formal contexts, as promessas do candidato is usually preferred because it’s precise and objective.

Why is it muitos espectadores and not muito espectadores? How does agreement work here?

In Portuguese, adjectives and quantifiers agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.

espectadores is masculine plural.
So the quantifier must also be masculine plural → muitos.

Patterns:

muito espectador (singular, masculine)
muitos espectadores (plural, masculine)
muita gente (singular, feminine)
muitas pessoas (plural, feminine)

So:

muito (m.sg), muita (f.sg), muitos (m.pl), muitas (f.pl)

Using muito espectadores would be a grammatical error.

Is there any difference between espectadores, público and audiência in Portuguese?

They are related but not identical:

espectadores – literally “spectators”; focuses on the individuals who are watching (people in the audience).
- muitos espectadores = many spectators
público – “public”, “audience” as a group; more collective.
- O público discordou das promessas.
  = The audience/public disagreed with the promises.
audiência – often used for TV/radio/online audiences or ratings, and in legal contexts (“court hearing”).
- a audiência do programa = the show’s audience/viewership
- uma audiência no tribunal = a court hearing

In a live debate with people present, espectadores or público are the most natural. Audiência is more likely if you’re talking about the TV audience watching from home.

Are there any tricky pronunciation points in Durante o debate, muitos espectadores discordaram das promessas do candidato for an English speaker?

A few points, in European Portuguese:

Durante – the e at the end is a reduced sound, like a very short, almost neutral vowel: [duˈɾɐ̃t(ə)]. The r is a single tap, like Spanish r in pero.
o debate – often sounds closer to [u dɨˈβat(ɨ)] in fast speech. The e at the end again is very reduced.
muitos – ui pronounced like “wee” or “ooee” blended: [ˈmũjt(u)ʃ].
espectadores –
- initial e before sp often sounds like [ʃ] at the start: [ʃpɛktɐˈðoɾɨʃ] (approximate).
- The c is pronounced (a k sound before t).
discordaram – stress on -da-: dis-cor-DA-ram. The final -am is nasal: [~ɐ̃w] or [~ɐ̃], depending on accent.
promessas – the ss is a clear voiceless s; stress on -me-: pro-ME-ssas.
candidato – stress on -da-: can-di-DA-to.

Key general tips:

Final -e in words like debate, durante is usually very reduced or almost inaudible.
Final -s often sounds like [ʃ] in European Portuguese: espectadores, muitos, promessas → a “sh”‑like sound.

Is this sentence more formal, neutral, or informal in European Portuguese?

The sentence is neutral and fits well in:

news reports
political commentary
essays
formal or semi-formal speech

There is nothing slangy or overly formal about it. It’s standard, educated European Portuguese.