Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Se a aplicação me distrair demasiado, eu acabo por a desinstalar sem pena. - If the app distracts me too much, I end up uninstalling it without regret.

The verb distrair in se a aplicação me distrair is in the future subjunctive (3rd person singular: (quando) ela distrair). For this verb, the infinitive and the 3rd‑person singular future subjunctive look the same: distrair.

In European Portuguese, a very common real conditional pattern is:

se + future subjunctive, followed by
present tense (or sometimes future) in the main clause.

So:

Se a aplicação me distrair demasiado, eu acabo por a desinstalar…
= If the app distracts me too much, I (will) end up uninstalling it…

You would not say se a aplicação me distrai demasiado in standard European Portuguese for a future‑looking condition; that sounds off. The future subjunctive is the normal choice here.

Why is it me distrair and not distrair-me?

Me is an unstressed object pronoun meaning me. In me distrair, me is placed before the verb (proclisis) because se is a so‑called “attracting word” that normally forces the pronoun in front of the verb in European Portuguese.

Very simplified rule for EP:

After se (when it means if), pronouns usually go before the verb:
- Se me telefonarem, eu vou. – If they call me, I’ll go.
- Se a aplicação me distrair…

So me distrair is the usual, natural placement here.
Distrair-me after se would sound odd in European Portuguese.

What exactly does acabar por mean in eu acabo por a desinstalar?

The expression acabar por + infinitive means to end up doing something (often after some process or against initial intention).

acabar por comprar – to end up buying
acabar por desistir – to end up giving up

In the sentence:

eu acabo por a desinstalar
→ I end up uninstalling it.

It suggests a kind of final outcome: maybe the person tries to use the app, but if it distracts too much, the ultimate result is that they uninstall it.

Why is it a desinstalar and not something with la like desinstalá-la?

Here a is a direct object pronoun meaning it, referring back to a aplicação (feminine singular).

With infinitives in European Portuguese, you often have two options for the placement of a direct object pronoun:

Before the infinitive (proclisis):
- acabo por a desinstalar
Attached to the infinitive (enclisis):
- acabo por desinstalá-la

Both are grammatically correct in European Portuguese:

Eu acabo por a desinstalar.
Eu acabo por desinstalá-la.

The attached form needs the pronoun to change shape:

a (unstressed DO pronoun) → -la when attached after desinstalar:
desinstalá-la

In speech, EP speakers probably use acabo por desinstalá-la more often, but acabo por a desinstalar is not wrong.

Does demasiado here mean “too much” or “too many”? Can it also mean just “very”?

In this sentence, demasiado means too much, in the sense of excessively.

distrair demasiado → to distract too much / excessively

Some nuances:

demasiado is normally negative / excessive:
- Ele fala demasiado. – He talks too much (more than is good/acceptable).
It is different from muito, which can be just a lot / very without implying it’s “too much”:
- Ele fala muito. – He talks a lot (possibly neutral).

Demasiado can agree in gender/number when used before nouns, but when used as an adverb (as here, modifying a verb), it is usually invariable:

Come demasiado. – He/She eats too much.
Trabalham demasiado. – They work too much.

What does sem pena mean literally and idiomatically?

Literally, sem pena is without pity or without regret.

Idiomatic sense in this sentence:

eu acabo por a desinstalar sem pena
→ I end up uninstalling it with no remorse / without feeling bad about it.

It emphasizes that the speaker does not feel sorry or guilty about uninstalling the app.

Rough equivalents:

sem dó
sem remorsos
sem qualquer pena

Why is there a comma in Se a aplicação me distrair demasiado, eu acabo por a desinstalar…? Is it mandatory?

In Portuguese, it is standard to separate a conditional clause introduced by se from the main clause with a comma, especially when the se‑clause comes first:

Se chover, ficamos em casa.
Se a aplicação me distrair demasiado, eu acabo por a desinstalar.

If the order is reversed (main clause first), the comma is often omitted:

Eu acabo por a desinstalar sem pena se a aplicação me distrair demasiado.

So in the original order (se‑clause first), the comma is expected and natural.

Why is eu explicitly said here? Could you drop eu?

In Portuguese, subject pronouns are often optional because the verb ending already tells you the person:

Acabo por a desinstalar sem pena. – I end up uninstalling it without regret.

You can definitely drop eu here, and many speakers would.

Using eu explicitly can:

Add a bit of emphasis on I: I, for my part, end up uninstalling it…
Sometimes just reflect a speaker’s style, especially in more informal speech where people may use subject pronouns more freely.

So both are fine:

Se a aplicação me distrair demasiado, acabo por a desinstalar sem pena.
Se a aplicação me distrair demasiado, eu acabo por a desinstalar sem pena.

Is aplicação the usual word for “app” in Portugal? How is this different from Brazilian Portuguese?

In European Portuguese:

aplicação is the usual standard word for software application / app.
People will also say app in informal contexts, influenced by English, but aplicação is perfectly normal.

In Brazilian Portuguese:

aplicativo (or aplicativo de celular) is much more common for app.
aplicação exists, but it sounds more technical or formal, and is less commonly used for a phone app.

So this sentence with a aplicação sounds very European Portuguese in choice of vocabulary.

Why does the pronoun referring to a aplicação change to a, and not ela?

Portuguese has two different pronoun systems:

Subject pronouns (do the action): eu, tu, ele, ela, nós, vocês, eles, elas
Object pronouns (receive the action): me, te, o, a, nos, vos, os, as, etc.

Here, the app is the object of the verb desinstalar:

desinstalar a aplicação – to uninstall the app
If we replace a aplicação with a pronoun, it must be a direct object pronoun, not a subject pronoun.

Since aplicação is feminine singular, the matching unstressed direct object pronoun is:

a – it (feminine)

So:

eu acabo por a desinstalar – I end up uninstalling it.
Not: eu acabo por ela desinstalar, which would be ungrammatical here.

If you want to emphasize and use a stressed pronoun, you’d normally keep the noun:

Eu acabo por desinstalar ela – acceptable in Brazilian Portuguese informal speech, but not standard in European Portuguese.
In European Portuguese, the clitic a is the normal choice.