Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): O Pedro apagou a aplicação ontem, mas hoje voltou a entrar na mesma rede social. - Pedro deleted the app yesterday, but today he logged into the same social network again.

In European Portuguese, using the article with names is frequent: O Pedro chegou cedo.
In Brazilian Portuguese, this is much less common in most regions, and people usually just say Pedro, Maria, etc.
When you address someone directly, you normally don’t use the article:
- Pedro, vem cá! = “Pedro, come here!” (not O Pedro, vem cá!)

What tense is apagou and what does it express?

Apagou is the pretérito perfeito simples (simple past / preterite) of apagar.

apagar = to erase, to delete, to turn off (lights/devices)
ele apagou = “he deleted” / “he erased”

This tense is used for completed actions in the past, similar to the English simple past:

O Pedro apagou a aplicação ontem.
“Pedro deleted the app yesterday.” (finished, one-time action)

Could we use deletou instead of apagou? Are they different?

You can hear deletar / deletou in Portuguese, but:

In European Portuguese, apagar is the normal and more natural verb for deleting files, apps, messages, etc.
- apagar uma aplicação = delete an app
- apagar um ficheiro = delete a file
Deletar / deletou sounds more Brazilian and more informal / tech-slang-like. People in Portugal will understand it, but it’s not the most natural choice.

So in Portugal, apagou is the best verb here.

What exactly does aplicação mean here? Is it “application”, “app”, or something else?

In this sentence, a aplicação means “the app” (software application on a phone/tablet/computer).

In European Portuguese:

aplicação is the standard word for a software application.
Colloquially, people might also say app (pronounced like English or adapted), but aplicação is fully correct.

In Brazilian Portuguese, the more common term is aplicativo, but in Portugal aplicação is the normal word in this context.

How should I understand voltou a entrar? Why not just entrou outra vez?

Voltar a + infinitive is a very common structure meaning “to do something again”:

voltar a entrar = “to enter again / to log in again”
voltar a fazer = “to do (something) again”
voltar a comprar = “to buy again”

So voltou a entrar literally is “he returned to enter”, but the natural translation is “he logged in again”.

You could say:

…mas hoje entrou outra vez na mesma rede social.
This is also correct and means the same.

However, voltar a + infinitive is very idiomatic and widely used, so it’s good to learn this pattern.

Why does voltar use a (voltou a entrar) and not de or another preposition?

With the meaning “to do something again”, voltar is normally followed by a + infinitive:

voltar a entrar
voltar a ligar
voltámos a falar = we spoke again
nunca mais voltei a ver o filme = I never watched the film again

So the pattern is:

voltar a + [infinitive] = to do [something] again

Using de (voltou de entrar) would be incorrect here.

Why does entrar na mesma rede social mean “log in to the same social network”? Doesn’t entrar just mean “to enter”?

Literally, entrar means “to enter / to go in”, but in modern usage it’s also used for entering websites, apps, accounts, etc.:

entrar no Facebook
entrar na conta
entrar na aplicação

In these contexts, entrar em often means “to log in to / access”.

So:

entrou na mesma rede social
literally: “he entered in the same social network”
natural meaning: “he logged into the same social network”

What is na in na mesma rede social?

Na is a contraction of the preposition em + the feminine singular article a:

em + a = na

So:

na rede social = em + a rede social = “in the social network” / “on the social network”

Other common contractions:

no = em + o (masculine singular)
nas = em + as (feminine plural)
nos = em + os (masculine plural)

Why is it a mesma rede social and not something like a igual rede social?

To say “the same” in Portuguese, you normally use:

o / a / os / as + mesmo / mesma / mesmos / mesmas + noun

So:

a mesma rede social = “the same social network”
o mesmo livro = the same book
as mesmas pessoas = the same people

You wouldn’t normally say a igual rede social. Igual usually means “equal / identical”, and is used differently:

a rede social é igual à outra = the social network is the same as the other one

Why are ontem and hoje placed where they are? Could they go elsewhere?

In the sentence:

O Pedro apagou a aplicação ontem, mas hoje voltou a entrar na mesma rede social.

You have:

ontem after the verb apagou
hoje at the beginning of the second clause, before voltou

In Portuguese, time adverbs like ontem, hoje, amanhã are quite flexible in position. All of these are possible:

Ontem o Pedro apagou a aplicação.
O Pedro ontem apagou a aplicação.
O Pedro apagou a aplicação ontem.

Similarly:

Hoje voltou a entrar na mesma rede social.
Voltou a entrar na mesma rede social hoje.

Changing the position may slightly change the emphasis, but all are grammatically correct.

Why is there no ele in mas hoje voltou a entrar? Shouldn’t it say ele voltou?

In Portuguese, subject pronouns (eu, tu, ele, nós, vocês, eles) are often omitted, because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

voltou (3rd person singular) = he/she/it returned
From the previous context (O Pedro apagou…), we know it’s still Pedro.

So:

…mas hoje voltou a entrar…
is understood as “but today he logged in again…”

You can add ele for emphasis or clarity:

…mas hoje ele voltou a entrar… This is not wrong; it just puts a bit more emphasis on “he”.

Is this sentence specifically European Portuguese, or could it also be Brazilian?

The sentence strongly feels European Portuguese because of:

O Pedro (article before the name) – common in Portugal, less so in Brazil.
aplicação for “app” – more typical in Portugal; Brazil tends to use aplicativo.
The overall style is very natural for European Portuguese.

A Brazilian version might more likely be:

Pedro apagou o aplicativo ontem, mas hoje entrou de novo na mesma rede social.

Both varieties would understand the original sentence, but it is clearly aligned with Portuguese from Portugal.