Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): No primeiro confinamento, muitas lojas fecharam e só reabriram meses depois. - During the first lockdown, many shops closed and only reopened months later.

You can't say *em primeiro confinamento here; you need the definite article o (the), so it must be em o primeiro confinamento → no primeiro confinamento.

Alternatives that are also correct but slightly different in nuance:

Durante o primeiro confinamento – During the first lockdown (focus on the whole period)
No primeiro confinamento – In the first lockdown (also time reference, very natural)

But no is mandatory if you keep em and o together in this structure.

Why is it primeiro confinamento and not confinamento primeiro?

In Portuguese, ordinal numbers (first, second, third…) normally come before the noun:

o primeiro confinamento – the first lockdown
o segundo dia – the second day
a terceira tentativa – the third attempt

Putting the ordinal after the noun (*confinamento primeiro) is not correct in this context. The normal, standard word order is article + ordinal + noun: o primeiro confinamento.

Why is it muitas lojas fecharam and not as muitas lojas or something with an article: as lojas?

All three can exist, but they don’t mean exactly the same:

Muitas lojas fecharam
- muitas = many / a lot of
- No article before lojas is needed with muitas.
- Neutral, just states: Many shops closed.
As lojas fecharam
- Means the shops (in general / those we have in mind) closed.
- More like the shops as a group, not focusing on quantity.
As muitas lojas fecharam
- Grammatically possible, but sounds unusual here.
- Emphasises "the many shops" as a known, specific group.

For a general statement about what happened during lockdown, Muitas lojas fecharam is the most natural.

Why are fecharam and reabriram in the pretérito perfeito (simple past) and not the imperfect (fechavam, reabriam)?

The pretérito perfeito in Portuguese is used for completed actions in the past, often seen as events:

muitas lojas fecharam – many shops (at some point) closed
(e) só reabriram meses depois – and only reopened months later

Both fechar and reabrir here are viewed as one-off events: they closed at a certain time, then reopened at a later time.

The imperfect would change the meaning:

muitas lojas fechavam – many shops used to close / were closing (habitual or ongoing)
reabriam meses depois – they used to reopen months later / were in the process of reopening

That doesn’t fit the idea of one closure and one reopening per shop, linked to the lockdown. So the pretérito perfeito is the correct and natural choice.

What is the function of só in só reabriram meses depois, and could it go in another position?

Here só means only (in the sense of only then, not until).

só reabriram meses depois
= they only reopened months later / they didn’t reopen until months later

About position:

Só reabriram meses depois – very natural; só focuses the verb: they only reopened then.
Reabriram só meses depois – also correct, with a very similar meaning; the “only” idea is attached more strongly to “months later”.
Reabriram meses depois só – sounds odd or wrong in this sentence.

You can often move só a bit, but the most common versions here are:

só reabriram meses depois
reabriram só meses depois

Could I use apenas instead of só here? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say:

…muitas lojas fecharam e apenas reabriram meses depois.

apenas also means only, but:

só is more colloquial and common in speech.
apenas is a bit more formal or written, and sometimes can mean “just” / “merely” in a slightly softer, less dramatic way.

In this specific sentence, both are correct; só is what you’d most naturally hear in everyday conversation.

What does meses depois mean literally, and how is it different from depois de meses or meses mais tarde?

meses depois
- Literally: “months later”
- Very common time expression: X aconteceu meses depois – X happened months later.
depois de meses
- Literally: “after months”
- Slightly different focus: Depois de meses, reabriram.
  = After (several) months, they reopened.
- Sounds a bit more like you’re emphasising the waiting period.
meses mais tarde
- Also “months later”, very close to meses depois.
- Maybe a touch more narrative/story-like, but essentially similar.

In your sentence, all are grammatically possible:

…só reabriram meses depois.
…só reabriram depois de meses.
…só reabriram meses mais tarde.

The most neutral and usual is meses depois.

Why is confinamento masculine (so we say o primeiro confinamento, no primeiro confinamento)?

In Portuguese, every noun has a grammatical gender, often not predictable for learners. Confinamento happens to be masculine, so:

o confinamento – the lockdown
no confinamento – in the lockdown (em + o)
no primeiro confinamento – in the first lockdown

There isn’t a logical reason here; it’s just part of the word’s dictionary entry:

confinamento (masc.)
→ o confinamento, um confinamento, no confinamento, do confinamento, etc.

Is confinamento specifically a COVID term, or can it be used more generally?

Confinamento existed before COVID and can be used more generally for confinement / being confined.

However, in recent years in European Portuguese:

o confinamento usually refers to COVID lockdowns, especially if you say primeiro confinamento, segundo confinamento, etc.
Context will tell you whether it’s about COVID or another situation (e.g. prison, isolation), but nowadays most people immediately think of the pandemic when they hear it in this kind of sentence.

Why is it lojas fecharam (plural verb) – could you ever say something like as lojas fechou (treating “shops” as a collective)?

No. In Portuguese, the verb must agree in number with the subject:

as lojas – plural → fecharam (they closed)
a loja – singular → fechou (it closed)

Unlike some colloquial English uses of a collective noun (e.g. the team is / are), Portuguese is much stricter: plural subject → plural verb. So:

✅ Muitas lojas fecharam.
❌ *Muitas lojas fechou.

How are fecharam and reabriram pronounced in European Portuguese?

In European Portuguese (rough approximation in English-like spelling):

fecharam → fsh-AH-rung
- fe-: the e is very reduced, almost like just fsh
- -char-: ch = sh sound
- stressed on -a-: -Á-
- final -am is a nasal sound, like a nasalised ung
reabriram → he-ah-BREE-rung
- initial r in re- is a guttural sound at the back of the throat
- re-a- is almost like a quick he-ah
- stress on -bri-: BRI
- final -am again nasal: ung

Both are stressed on the second-to-last syllable: fe-CHA-ram, re-a-BRI-ram.