Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Durante a quarentena, eu senti muito isolamento, apesar de falar com os amigos online. - During quarantine, I felt a lot of isolation, despite talking with friends online.

In Portuguese, a comma is normally used after an introductory adverbial phrase (time, place, condition, etc.) when it comes at the beginning of the sentence.

Durante a quarentena is a time expression (“During the quarantine”), so we separate it with a comma:

Durante a quarentena, eu senti…

You could also put the time expression later and drop the comma:

Eu senti muito isolamento durante a quarentena.

Is the subject eu necessary, or can I just say Durante a quarentena, senti muito isolamento…?

You can absolutely drop eu here, and in European Portuguese it’s very common:

Durante a quarentena, senti muito isolamento…

The verb form senti already tells us the subject is eu, so eu is optional.
Using eu can add a bit of emphasis (similar to stressing “I” in English: I felt a lot of isolation).

Why is it senti and not sentia here?

Both are grammatically correct, but they give slightly different nuances:

Eu senti muito isolamento → simple past (pretérito perfeito). It presents the feeling as a completed experience during that time.
Eu sentia muito isolamento → imperfect past (pretérito imperfeito). It emphasizes the ongoing, habitual or repeated nature of the feeling during the quarantine.

In a short, self‑contained sentence like this, senti is the most natural option; it matches an English “I felt” referring to that whole period as a unit.

Could I say eu me senti like in Brazilian Portuguese?

In European Portuguese, the reflexive pronoun usually goes after the verb in the simple past, not before:

🇧🇷 Brazilian: Eu me senti muito sozinho.
🇵🇹 European: Eu senti‑me muito sozinho.

However, in your sentence we’re not using the reflexive form sentir‑se; we’re using sentir with a direct object (isolamento). That’s why we say:

Eu senti muito isolamento. (I felt a lot of isolation.)

If you wanted to use the reflexive “to feel (a certain way)”, you’d say:

Durante a quarentena, eu senti‑me muito sozinho. (I felt very lonely.)

What’s the difference between senti muito isolamento and senti‑me muito sozinho / senti muita solidão?

Subtle, but useful:

senti muito isolamento – focuses on the situation: being isolated, cut off from others.
senti‑me muito sozinho – focuses on the personal feeling: I felt very lonely.
senti muita solidão – talks about the abstract feeling/state of loneliness.

All are correct; the current sentence chooses isolamento to emphasize the idea of social isolation during quarantine, not just emotional loneliness.

Why is it muito isolamento and not muita isolamento?

Because isolamento is a masculine noun in Portuguese:

o isolamento → “the isolation”

The form of muito/muita/muitos/muitas must agree with the noun:

muito isolamento (masc. singular)
muita solidão (fem. singular)
muitos amigos (masc. plural)
muitas pessoas (fem. plural)

Why do we say apesar de falar and not something like apesar que falo?

In standard Portuguese (especially in Portugal), apesar is normally followed by de:

apesar de + infinitive → apesar de falar
apesar de + clause → apesar de (eu) falar, apesar de que (eu) falasse, etc.

So you have two very common structures:

apesar de + infinitive
- …apesar de falar com os amigos online.
apesar de + eu + verbo no conjuntivo (subjunctive)
- …apesar de eu falar com os amigos online.

The pattern apesar que + verbo is not standard and is generally avoided in careful writing.

Can I say apesar de eu falar com os amigos online instead of apesar de falar…?

Yes, you can, and it’s correct:

…apesar de eu falar com os amigos online.

The meaning is essentially the same here. The difference:

apesar de falar… → more neutral, a little more compact, often used in writing.
apesar de eu falar… → slightly more explicit and formal, and it makes the subject eu very clear.

In this specific sentence, most people would be happy with the shorter apesar de falar….

Why is it falar com os amigos instead of falar aos amigos or falar para os amigos?

In Portuguese:

falar com alguém = to talk with someone (two‑way communication, conversation)
falar a / para alguém = to speak to someone (one‑way, or more like addressing them)

Here we’re talking about chatting online with friends, so falar com os amigos (talk with friends) is the natural choice.

Why do we say os amigos and not meus amigos?

Both are possible:

…falar com os amigos online.
…falar com os meus amigos online.

Using os amigos can imply “my friends” from context, especially when it’s obvious we’re talking about one’s own friends. It sounds a bit more casual and general.

If you want to be explicit that they are your own friends, you can say os meus amigos. In everyday speech, both versions are common.

Could I say com amigos online instead of com os amigos online?

You could, but it slightly changes the nuance:

com os amigos online – suggests your established group of friends.
com amigos online – sounds more like “with friends online” in a general sense, maybe people you know online, not necessarily your close friends.

In the context of quarantine and keeping in touch with your existing friends, com os amigos online fits better.

Is online a normal word in European Portuguese, or is there a more “Portuguese” version?

Online is very widely used and completely natural in European Portuguese. Other possibilities you might see are:

pela internet – through the internet
na internet – on the internet
por videochamada – by video call

But falar com os amigos online is absolutely fine and common in Portugal.

Can I change the word order and say Durante a quarentena, eu senti muito isolamento, apesar de online falar com os amigos?

That word order sounds unnatural in Portuguese. Adverbs like online usually go after the verb or at the end of the phrase:

Natural options:

…apesar de falar com os amigos online.
…apesar de falar online com os amigos.

Putting online between de and falar (de online falar) is not idiomatic.

Why is there a comma before apesar de?

Apesar de… introduces a concessive clause (“even though / despite the fact that…”), contrasting with the first part of the sentence. In Portuguese, we normally separate this kind of clause with a comma:

Eu senti muito isolamento, apesar de falar com os amigos online.

You could also split it into two sentences:

Eu senti muito isolamento. Apesar de falar com os amigos online.

Both are acceptable, but the comma version is more common in writing.

Is there any pronunciation tip for quarentena and isolamento in European Portuguese?

Yes, a couple of key points:

quarentena → roughly kwa-ren-TE-na
- The qu sounds like kw.
- The stressed syllable is -ten-.
isolamento → roughly ee-zo-la-MEN-tu (EP often reduces vowels more than this, but this is a good learner’s approximation)
- The s between vowels can sound like z.
- The stress is on -men-: isolaMENto.
- Final -o in European Portuguese is often a bit reduced, closer to a weak u sound.

Practising the rhythm:
Durante a quarentEna, eu sEnti muito isolamENto, apEsar de falar com os amIgos onLÁIne.