Breakdown of Este anúncio aparece sempre que abro o vídeo, o que se torna irritante.
Questions & Answers about Este anúncio aparece sempre que abro o vídeo, o que se torna irritante.
“Sempre que” literally means “always that”, and in practice it means “whenever / every time (that)”.
So:
- sempre que abro o vídeo = whenever I open the video / every time I open the video
- quando abro o vídeo = when I open the video (can also mean “whenever,” but it’s a bit more general)
In many contexts, “sempre que” makes the repeated / habitual idea clearer than “quando”, which can also refer to a single occasion depending on context. In this sentence we’re clearly talking about a repeated annoyance, so “sempre que” fits very well.
Portuguese usually omits subject pronouns (eu, tu, ele, etc.) because the verb ending already shows the subject.
- abro = I open
- abres = you (sing., informal) open
- abre = he/she/you (formal) opens
So “sempre que abro o vídeo” is completely natural in European Portuguese.
You can say “sempre que eu abro o vídeo”, but adding “eu” usually gives extra emphasis to “I” (e.g., whenever *I open the video*, as opposed to someone else). Here, that emphasis is not needed, so it’s left out.
Portuguese (especially European Portuguese) uses definite articles (o, a, os, as) more often than English.
Here, “o vídeo” suggests a specific video that both speaker and listener know (for example, a particular YouTube video they’re talking about).
If you omitted the article (“sempre que abro vídeo”), it would sound unnatural in this context.
General rule of thumb:
- Talking about a specific, known thing → usually use the article: o vídeo, a casa, o carro
- Talking about some things more generically or in certain fixed expressions → the article may drop, but it’s very context‑dependent.
So in this sentence, “o vídeo” is exactly what a native would say.
In “, o que se torna irritante”, the expression “o que” means “which” and refers to the entire previous idea, not just a single word:
Este anúncio aparece sempre que abro o vídeo,
o que se torna irritante.
= This ad appears whenever I open the video, which becomes annoying.
So “o que” is a kind of relative pronoun that points back to the whole situation: the fact that the ad always appears.
Using only “que se torna irritante” without “o” would be wrong here; you need “o que” to create this “which” meaning. Another (more formal) option is “o que, o que é irritante” → “which is annoying”, but “o que se torna irritante” is natural and clear.
The verb is “tornar-se”, a reflexive / pronominal verb that in this use means “to become”.
- tornar (without se) often means to turn / to make (something) become:
- O frio torna a água em gelo. = The cold turns water into ice.
- tornar-se = to become (change of state):
- Isso torna-se irritante. = That becomes annoying.
In the sentence, “o que se torna irritante” = “which becomes annoying”.
Without the “se”, you’d be saying something like “which makes annoying”, which doesn’t make sense here.
Yes, both are possible, but the nuance changes slightly:
- o que se torna irritante
- Focus on the process of becoming annoying over time / through repetition.
- o que é irritante
- Simply states that it is annoying; more neutral and static.
- o que fica irritante
- “ficar” also means “to become,” but often with a more informal / colloquial tone and sometimes more about a result state.
- Here: “which ends up being annoying / which gets annoying.”
All three would be understood. The original “se torna irritante” slightly emphasizes that the repeated appearance leads to annoyance.
Portuguese often uses the simple present to talk about habitual or repeated actions, just like English:
- aparece = (it) appears
- abro = I open
So “aparece sempre que abro o vídeo” = “(it) appears every time I open the video” → this is a repeated habit, so present indicative fits.
You would not use the infinitive “aparecer” here, and although you could say something like “está sempre a aparecer” (is always appearing), it’s less compact and not necessary; the adverb “sempre que” already clearly expresses repetition.
Yes, the comma is important, and so is “o”:
- with comma + “o que”:
- “, o que se torna irritante” → “which becomes annoying”
- This is an explanatory clause commenting on the whole previous idea.
- without comma + just “que se torna irritante”
- This would normally be a restrictive relative clause attached directly to a noun (e.g. “o anúncio que se torna irritante” = “the ad that becomes annoying”).
- That’s not what we mean here.
We want to comment on the entire situation, so we need “, o que…” with a comma and the “o”. That’s the standard way in Portuguese to say “which …” in this kind of sentence.
In traditional grammar:
- este → “this” (close to the speaker)
- esse → “that” (closer to the listener or already mentioned)
- aquele → “that (over there)” (far from both)
In actual European Portuguese usage, the distinction between este and esse is often less strict than in textbooks, and speakers frequently use “este” as a neutral “this/that” for something just mentioned or mentally “close”.
Here, “Este anúncio” can be understood as “this ad” / “this (damn) ad I’m talking about”.
Using “Esse anúncio” would also be possible in many contexts, especially if you’re referring to something the other person has just mentioned, but “Este anúncio” feels natural as the opening of the comment about the ad.
- irritante = annoying / irritating (it causes irritation)
- Este anúncio é irritante. = This ad is annoying.
- irritado/a = annoyed / irritated (a person or living being feels irritation)
- Estou irritado. = I’m annoyed.
So in the sentence, the situation (the ad always appearing) is “irritante” because it annoys the person.
If you described yourself, you’d say something like:
“Este anúncio aparece sempre que abro o vídeo e fico irritado.” = This ad appears whenever I open the video and I get annoyed.