Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Ao fechar o portátil à noite, sinto que o dia de trabalho termina de verdade. - By closing the laptop at night, I feel that the workday truly ends.

Ao fechar o portátil à noite, sinto que o dia de trabalho termina de verdade.

By closing the laptop at night, I feel that the workday truly ends.

Breakdown of Ao fechar o portátil à noite, sinto que o dia de trabalho termina de verdade.

Elon.io is an online learning platform

We have an entire course teaching Portuguese grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Portuguese now

Questions & Answers about Ao fechar o portátil à noite, sinto que o dia de trabalho termina de verdade.

What exactly does Ao fechar mean here, and how does this ao + infinitive structure work?

Ao fechar literally comes from a + o fechar and means roughly on closing / when (I) close.

In Portuguese, ao + infinitive is a very common structure:

It usually means when / whenever / as / upon doing something:
- Ao fechar o portátil, sinto… = When I close the laptop, I feel…
It often describes a habitual or repeated situation or the circumstance in which something happens.
The subject of the infinitive is normally the same as the subject of the main verb:
- Ao fechar o portátil, sinto… → The person who closes the laptop is the same person who feels something.

You could think of it as similar to English patterns like:

When I close the laptop, I feel…
Upon closing the laptop, I feel… (a bit more formal in English, just like ao fechar can feel a bit more written/neutral than quando fecho).

Could I say Quando fecho o portátil à noite instead of Ao fechar o portátil à noite? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can say:

Quando fecho o portátil à noite, sinto que o dia de trabalho termina de verdade.

It’s perfectly correct and very natural.

Nuance:

Quando fecho… – slightly more explicitly temporal: when I close…
Ao fechar… – focuses a bit more on the action as the trigger of what follows, but in practice the difference is small, and both are very common.

In everyday speech, Quando fecho… might sound a bit more casual and is very frequent.

Why is it o portátil and not o meu portátil? In English I’d usually say my laptop.

In Portuguese (especially European Portuguese), it’s very common to drop the possessive when it’s obvious whose thing it is.

So:

Ao fechar o portátil…
is understood as
When I close my laptop…

Some other common examples:

Lavo os dentes. = I brush my teeth.
Ponho o casaco. = I put on my coat.
Vou ligar o telemóvel. = I’m going to turn on my mobile phone.

You can say o meu portátil if you want to emphasise that it’s your laptop specifically, but in this sentence it’s not necessary and would often be omitted in natural speech.

What does portátil mean exactly in European Portuguese? Is it always a laptop?

In European Portuguese:

portátil is originally an adjective meaning portable.
By itself, used as a noun (o portátil), it almost always means a laptop computer.

So:

o portátil ≈ the laptop
um computador portátil = a portable computer / a laptop (more formal/longer)

Gender and number:

Singular: o portátil
Plural: os portáteis

In Brazil, people usually say notebook, laptop, or computador portátil, and portátil by itself is much less used as a noun for laptop.

Why is it à noite with a grave accent? What’s the difference between a noite, à noite, and de noite?

À noite has a grave accent because it’s a contraction:

a (preposition: to/at) + a (definite article: the feminine singular)
→ à

So à noite literally means at the night, i.e. at night / in the evenings.

Common patterns:

à noite – very standard for expressing time of day:
- Trabalho à noite. = I work at night.
de noite – also means at night, often a bit more generic or in contrast to daytime:
- Gosto de estudar de noite. = I like studying at night.
a noite (without accent) – normally just the night as a noun phrase, not a time expression:
- A noite estava fria. = The night was cold.

In your sentence, à noite is the natural choice:

Ao fechar o portátil à noite… = When I close the laptop at night…

Why is it sinto que and not sinto-me? What’s the difference between sentir and sentir-se?

Portuguese distinguishes between:

sentir (non‑reflexive)
- Often sentir que + phrase = to feel that / to have the impression that.
- Example:
  - Sinto que o dia de trabalho termina de verdade.
    = I feel (I have the impression) that the workday really ends.
sentir-se (reflexive)
- Used more like to feel (in a certain way), often with an adjective or adverb:
  - Sinto-me cansado. = I feel tired.
  - Sinto-me melhor. = I feel better.

In your sentence you’re not saying I feel + adjective, you’re saying I feel that [something happens], so you need sentir + que:

sinto que o dia de trabalho termina de verdade
not
sinto-me que o dia de trabalho… (incorrect)

Why is it termina (indicative) and not termine (subjunctive) after sinto que?

The choice of indicative vs. subjunctive after sentir que depends on the meaning:

sentir que = to feel / sense / have the impression that
→ usually followed by the indicative, because you’re stating what you perceive as a fact:
- Sinto que o dia de trabalho termina de verdade.
  = I feel that the workday really ends. (This is how I experience reality.)
sentir que = to be sorry that / to regret that
→ normally followed by the subjunctive, because it expresses an emotional reaction to a situation:
- Sinto que o teu dia de trabalho termine tão tarde.
  = I’m sorry that your workday ends so late.

In your sentence, sinto que clearly means I have the impression that, so the indicative (termina) is the natural and correct choice.

What does de verdade add here? Could I say realmente or mesmo instead of de verdade?

De verdade literally means of truth, and in this context it’s an intensifier meaning truly / really / for real.

termina de verdade ≈ really ends / truly ends

Other options:

termina realmente
- realmente = really / indeed, slightly more neutral or formal.
termina mesmo
- mesmo is very common in speech as an intensifier: really / actually / indeed.

All three would work:

…sinto que o dia de trabalho termina de verdade.
…sinto que o dia de trabalho realmente termina.
…sinto que o dia de trabalho termina mesmo.

Nuance:

de verdade – quite colloquial, emphasising genuineness: for real, not just in theory.
realmente – a bit more neutral/formal and can also mean in fact.
mesmo – very common in informal speech; can sound emphatic: really, genuinely.

Why do we say o dia de trabalho with o? Could we drop the article, like in English?

In Portuguese you normally keep the definite article where English might drop the.

o dia de trabalho = the workday / the working day

In your sentence, you’re talking about your specific workday on that day:

sinto que o dia de trabalho termina de verdade
= I feel that the workday (today’s workday) really ends.

Without the article (∗sinto que dia de trabalho termina) is ungrammatical.

You could also say:

sinto que o meu dia de trabalho termina de verdade.
This adds a bit of emphasis that it’s my workday, but it’s optional; o dia de trabalho is already understood to be your day from context.

Could I use acaba instead of termina? Is there any difference between terminar and acabar here?

Yes, you can say:

…sinto que o dia de trabalho acaba de verdade.

Both terminar and acabar can mean to end / to finish, and in this context they’re close in meaning.

Nuance:

terminar
- Slightly more neutral or sometimes a bit more formal.
- Common in written language, schedules, official contexts:
  - A reunião termina às cinco.
acabar
- Very common in everyday speech.
- Also widely used with the sense of being over / running out:
  - O filme acabou. = The film is over.
  - O dinheiro acabou. = The money ran out.

In your sentence, both verbs are natural; terminar just sounds a bit more neutral/standard.

Why is there a comma after noite: Ao fechar o portátil à noite, sinto que…? Could I omit it?

The comma separates the introductory clause from the main clause:

Ao fechar o portátil à noite, → subordinate clause (time/circumstance)
sinto que o dia de trabalho termina de verdade. → main clause

Word order and punctuation rules:

When the subordinate clause comes first, Portuguese normally uses a comma:
- Quando chego a casa, janto.
- Ao fechar o portátil à noite, sinto que o dia de trabalho termina de verdade.
If you invert the order (main clause first), the comma is usually not needed:
- Sinto que o dia de trabalho termina de verdade ao fechar o portátil à noite.

So in the original sentence, the comma is correct and expected.