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Quando o alarme apita, eu acordo.

Quando o alarme apita, eu acordo.
When the alarm beeps, I wake up.
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Questions & Answers about Quando o alarme apita, eu acordo.

Why is the present tense used in both verbs? In English I’d usually say “When the alarm goes off, I wake up,” but also sometimes “When the alarm goes off, I will wake up.”

In Quando o alarme apita, eu acordo, both verbs (apita, acordo) are in the present simple, and that’s exactly what Portuguese normally uses for:

  • habits / routines

    • Quando o alarme apita, eu acordo.
      = Whenever that happens, that’s what I do.

  • general truths (things that are always or usually true)

Using a future tense in either verb here would sound strange for a routine:

  • ❌ Quando o alarme apitar, eu acordarei.
    This sounds like a single, specific future situation (and even then it’s very formal/literary).

So: for regular habits, Portuguese sticks to the present, just like English usually does in “When the alarm goes off, I wake up.”

Is this sentence about a routine (every day) or about one specific future time?

Quando o alarme apita, eu acordo is naturally understood as a habitual action:

  • “Whenever the alarm goes off, I wake up.”
  • “When the alarm goes off (as it normally does), I wake up.”

If you wanted one specific future time, you’d normally add context or a time expression:

  • Amanhã, quando o alarme apitar, eu vou acordar cedo.
    Tomorrow, when the alarm goes off, I’m going to wake up early.

Notice how we added amanhã and vou acordar to make it clearly future and specific. Without that, the sentence defaults to a general routine.

Why is there a comma after apita? Would it be wrong to omit it?

In Portuguese punctuation, when a subordinate clause (like Quando o alarme apita) comes before the main clause (eu acordo), we normally separate them with a comma:

  • Quando o alarme apita, eu acordo.

If you swap the order, the comma is usually left out:

  • Eu acordo quando o alarme apita.

So:

  • With subordinate clause first → comma is standard.
  • With main clause first → no comma.

Omitting the comma in the original word order (Quando o alarme apita eu acordo) is generally considered incorrect in standard writing.

Can I also say Eu acordo quando o alarme apita? Is there a difference in meaning?

Yes, you can absolutely say:

  • Eu acordo quando o alarme apita.

The meaning is the same. The difference is mainly in rhythm and slight emphasis:

  • Quando o alarme apita, eu acordo.
    Slightly more focus on the condition (“when the alarm goes off…”).

  • Eu acordo quando o alarme apita.
    Slightly more focus on what I do (“I wake up when the alarm goes off.”).

Both are completely natural in European Portuguese.

Why do we say o alarme but in English we often just say “when the alarm goes off” or even “when my alarm goes off”?

Portuguese uses the definite article (o, a, os, as) more often than English.

  • Quando o alarme apita…
    literally: When the alarm beeps…

Here o alarme can mean:

  • the alarm we both know about (e.g. my usual alarm clock)
  • or simply “the alarm” in a generic, habitual sense.

In English, you might say:

  • “When the alarm goes off…”
  • “When my alarm goes off…”
  • Sometimes just “when the alarm goes off” is enough from context.

In Portuguese, dropping the article and saying Quando alarme apita is not correct. You need the article o here.

Why is eu written? Isn’t the subject often dropped in Portuguese?

Yes, Portuguese is a pro‑drop language: the subject pronoun is often left out because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

So you can say:

  • Quando o alarme apita, acordo.
    (literally “When the alarm beeps, I wake up.”)

This is perfectly correct and very natural.

Including eu in eu acordo:

  • can add a tiny bit of emphasis (“I wake up (as opposed to someone else)”)
  • may be used for clarity in longer or more complex sentences
  • is also common in speech simply as a personal style / rhythm choice

So both are fine:

  • Quando o alarme apita, eu acordo.
  • Quando o alarme apita, acordo.
Could I say Quando o alarme apita, acordo eu?

This word order:

  • Quando o alarme apita, acordo eu.

is grammatically possible, but:

  • it sounds marked / poetic / very emphatic, not neutral everyday speech.
  • It gives strong emphasis to eu (“it is I who wake up”).

For normal, everyday Portuguese, you should keep:

  • Quando o alarme apita, eu acordo.
    or
  • Quando o alarme apita, acordo.
Why is acordo not reflexive, like eu acordo-me? I’ve seen reflexive verbs with me before.

The verb acordar can appear:

  • without the reflexive pronoun:
    • Eu acordo às sete. – I wake up at seven.
  • with the reflexive pronoun (acordar-se):
    • Eu acordo-me às sete.

In European Portuguese, eu acordo is very common and fully correct for “I wake up”.
Eu acordo-me also exists, but:

  • is often more colloquial / regional or used for a bit of extra emphasis on the process of waking up.
  • many speakers simply prefer the non‑reflexive form for the intransitive meaning “to wake up”.

So in Portugal:

  • Quando o alarme apita, eu acordo. is natural and standard.
  • Quando o alarme apita, eu acordo-me. can be heard too, but is not necessary.
What exactly does apita mean? Is it the same as “rings” in English?

Apita is the 3rd person singular present of apitar, which literally means:

  • to whistle, to beep, to sound a whistle / beep.

So o alarme apita is like:

  • “the alarm beeps”
  • “the alarm whistles” (in a sense)
  • often used for short, sharp sounds (like an electronic beep, a referee’s whistle).

For alarm clocks in everyday European Portuguese, many people more commonly say:

  • O alarme toca. – The alarm rings / goes off.

So you could also say:

  • Quando o alarme toca, eu acordo.

Both apitar and tocar work; tocar is a bit more neutral and very common for phones, doorbells, alarms, etc.

How do I pronounce the words in this sentence in European Portuguese?

Approximate pronunciation in European Portuguese (Lisbon standard):

  • Quando → /ˈkwɐ̃.du/
    • qu like “kw” in “quick”
    • ã is a nasal vowel (similar to the “an” in French “sans”)
  • o → /u/
    • sounds like “oo” in “food”
  • alarme → /ɐ.ˈlaɾ.mɨ/
    • a at the start: very short, like a reduced “uh”
    • stress on lar: LA is the strong syllable
    • r in the middle is a single tap, like Spanish “pero”
    • final e is a very short, almost neutral vowel /ɨ/
  • apita → /ɐ.ˈpi.tɐ/
    • pi is the stressed syllable (like “PEE” but shorter)
    • final a is a short /ɐ/, not like English “ah”
  • eu → /ew/
    • similar to English “ehw” or “ayo” compressed into one syllable
  • acordo → /ɐ.ˈkɔɾ.du/
    • stress on cor: CÓR
    • ó is an open “o” (like the vowel in British English “not”)
    • r again is a tap; final o is more like “oo” but shorter

Said naturally: Quando o alarme apita, eu acordo. will sound quite compressed and rhythmic, with some vowels reduced.

Is alarme masculine or feminine, and does it change in the plural?

Alarme is a masculine noun:

  • o alarme – the alarm
  • os alarmes – the alarms

So in your sentence:

  • Quando o alarme apita, eu acordo.
    “alarm” is singular, masculine, and that’s why you see o.
How are apita and acordo formed? Are these regular verbs?

Yes, both are regular -ar verbs in the present tense.

  • apitar (to beep, to sound a whistle)

    • eu apito
    • tu apitas
    • ele / ela / você apita
    • nós apitamos
    • vocês / eles / elas apitam

  • acordar (to wake / to wake up)

    • eu acordo
    • tu acordas
    • ele / ela / você acorda
    • nós acordamos
    • vocês / eles / elas acordam

In the sentence:

  • o alarme apita → 3rd person singular: ele apita
  • eu acordo → 1st person singular: eu acordo
Could I use a continuous form like estou a acordar here?

Not in the same meaning.

  • Quando o alarme apita, eu acordo.
    → a habit / routine: what normally happens.

Estou a acordar (European Portuguese progressive) focuses on an ongoing process right now:

  • Agora, o alarme está a apitar e eu estou a acordar.
    Right now, the alarm is going off and I’m waking up.

So:

  • For general routines / habits: use simple present (apita, acordo).
  • Use estar a + infinitive only when you specifically want “am waking up” as an in‑progress action at this moment.