Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Na estação, uma máquina avariada não imprime o meu bilhete eletrónico. - At the station, a broken machine doesn’t print my electronic ticket.

Estou na estação. = I’m at the station. (a specific one)
Estou em estação. would sound very strange here; without the article, it suggests a more abstract expression, not a real, concrete station.

So Na estação is the natural, idiomatic way to say At the station in this context.

Why does the sentence start with Na estação and then have a comma?

Starting with Na estação puts the location first, for emphasis or context:

Na estação, uma máquina avariada não imprime o meu bilhete eletrónico.
Literally: At the station, a broken machine doesn’t print my e‑ticket.

This is a fronted adverbial phrase (a phrase of place at the beginning), and in Portuguese it is very common to separate it with a comma when it comes before the main clause.

You could also say:

Uma máquina avariada não imprime o meu bilhete eletrónico na estação.

This is also correct, but the focus is slightly different:

Fronted: Na estação, ... → sets the scene: At the station...
Final: ...na estação. → sounds more like extra information added at the end.

Both are grammatically fine; the version you have just gives more prominence to the location at the start.

Why is it uma máquina avariada and not uma avariada máquina?

In Portuguese, adjectives usually come after the noun:

máquina avariada = broken machine
bilhete eletrónico = electronic ticket

uma avariada máquina is grammatically possible but sounds very unusual and would feel poetic or archaic. Moving the adjective before the noun typically:

adds strong subjectivity or emphasis, or
is only natural with certain common adjectives (like bom, mau, grande, pequeno etc.).

With avariada (broken/out of order), the normal position is after the noun:

uma máquina avariada → a machine that is out of order

What does avariada mean exactly? Why not just say “broken” with another word?

Avariada is the past participle of avariar, and in European Portuguese it is the standard word used for machines or devices that are not working:

um computador avariado = a computer that is not working
uma máquina avariada = a machine that is out of order
o carro está avariado = the car has broken down

There are other words like:

partido / quebrado = physically broken, snapped, shattered
estragado = ruined, spoiled, or broken in a more general sense (also used for food gone bad)

But for something like a ticket machine in a station, avariada is the most natural choice in Portugal: it emphasizes that the mechanism or system is not functioning, not necessarily that it’s physically broken into pieces.

Why is máquina feminine (uma máquina avariada) while bilhete is masculine (o meu bilhete eletrónico)?

In Portuguese, every noun has a grammatical gender, usually masculine or feminine, which you must memorize:

a máquina (feminine) → uma máquina avariada
- feminine article a / uma
- feminine adjective avariada
o bilhete (masculine) → o meu bilhete eletrónico
- masculine article o / um
- masculine adjective eletrónico

Adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun:

masc. sing.: avariado, eletrónico
fem. sing.: avariada, eletrónica
masc. pl.: avariados, eletrónicos
fem. pl.: avariadas, eletrónicas

So we say:

uma máquina avariada (fem.–fem.)
um bilhete eletrónico (masc.–masc.)

Why is there no subject pronoun before não imprime? Shouldn’t it be something like ela não imprime?

Portuguese is a “null subject” (or “pro‑drop”) language: you can omit subject pronouns when they are clear from context.

Here, uma máquina avariada is the subject, and it’s right before the verb:

Uma máquina avariada não imprime o meu bilhete eletrónico.

Adding a pronoun like ela would sound strange:

✗ Uma máquina avariada, ela não imprime... → not natural here in standard prose

You only add a pronoun when:

you want to contrast subjects (eu não imprimo, ele imprime)
or to avoid ambiguity when the verb form alone isn’t clear.

In this sentence, the subject máquina avariada next to the verb is enough; no extra pronoun is needed.

Why is it não imprime and not something like não está a imprimir?

Não imprime is the simple present: it states a general fact or regular behavior:

Uma máquina avariada não imprime o meu bilhete eletrónico.
→ A machine that’s out of order does not print my e-ticket. (It’s unable to.)

If you say:

Uma máquina não está a imprimir o meu bilhete eletrónico.

this is present progressive in European Portuguese (using estar a + infinitive) and focuses on what is happening right now:

The machine is not printing my e-ticket (at this moment).

So:

não imprime → general inability or normal behavior
não está a imprimir → current ongoing situation

In your sentence, we’re describing a machine that is broken, so the simple present não imprime fits better as a general statement.

Why is it o meu bilhete eletrónico instead of just meu bilhete eletrónico?

In European Portuguese, possessive adjectives (meu, teu, seu, nosso, vosso, etc.) are usually used with a definite article:

o meu bilhete = my ticket
a minha mala = my suitcase
os meus amigos = my friends

So the natural form is:

o meu bilhete eletrónico

Saying meu bilhete eletrónico without o is possible but:

sounds much more formal, literary, or emphatic, and
is not the neutral everyday choice in Portugal.

In standard, neutral European Portuguese, you normally say:

o meu / a minha / os meus / as minhas
- noun

Is bilhete eletrónico a fixed expression? Could you say ticket eletrónico or something else?

Bilhete is the normal word for ticket in Portuguese from Portugal:

bilhete de comboio = train ticket
bilhete de avião (often bilhete de avião or just bilhete) = plane ticket
bilhete eletrónico = electronic ticket, e‑ticket

You wouldn’t mix English here:

✗ ticket eletrónico is incorrect in normal Portuguese.

So bilhete eletrónico is the standard, idiomatic way to say e‑ticket in European Portuguese.

Why is it spelled eletrónico and not electrónico or eletrônico?

This spelling is due to the Portuguese Language Orthographic Agreement.

Old European spelling: electrónico
Current European Portuguese: eletrónico
Brazilian Portuguese: eletrônico

So:

In Portugal, you write bilhete eletrónico.
In Brazil, you write bilhete eletrônico (and would more often say passagem eletrônica for an air ticket).

The difference reflects pronunciation patterns in each variety. Both forms are correct within their own standard (PT‑PT vs PT‑BR), but eletrónico is the correct modern spelling in European Portuguese.

Would the meaning change if I moved na estação to a different place in the sentence?

Yes, slightly.

Na estação, uma máquina avariada não imprime o meu bilhete eletrónico.
→ At the station, a broken machine doesn’t print my e‑ticket.
Focus: the setting is the station.
Uma máquina avariada não imprime o meu bilhete eletrónico na estação.
→ A broken machine doesn’t print my e‑ticket at the station.
Still clear, but the location feels more like additional information at the end.
Uma máquina avariada na estação não imprime o meu bilhete eletrónico.
→ Here, na estação is more tightly connected to máquina avariada, suggesting a broken machine *in the station doesn’t print my e‑ticket.
The station now feels more like it specifically describes *which machine.

All three can be grammatically correct, but the original version clearly uses Na estação as a general scene-setting phrase.