Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): O terapeuta disse que o isolamento prolongado aumenta a ansiedade de muita gente. - The therapist said that prolonged isolation increases many people's anxiety.

O terapeuta here refers to a specific therapist that both speaker and listener know about, so Portuguese uses the definite article o (the), not um (a).

o terapeuta = the therapist (a particular one)
um terapeuta = a therapist (one among many, not specified)

As for terapeuta: it’s one of those nouns that has the same form for male and female; only the article changes:

o terapeuta = male therapist
a terapeuta = female therapist

So the final -a in terapeuta does not automatically mean it’s feminine; you have to look at the article.

Why is it disse (past) but aumenta (present)? In English I might say “The therapist said that isolation increases / increased anxiety.”

Portuguese is quite flexible with sequence of tenses, especially when the second part talks about something that is generally true or still true now.

disse is the pretérito perfeito (simple past): said.
aumenta is the present: increases.

Using aumenta after disse suggests that the therapist’s statement describes a general fact or an ongoing tendency:

O terapeuta disse que o isolamento prolongado aumenta a ansiedade…
= He said that prolonged isolation (in general) increases people’s anxiety.

If you said aumentava (imperfect past), it would sound more like “was increasing” in some specific context or time period, not necessarily as a timeless fact.

What exactly is the function of que in disse que o isolamento prolongado aumenta…?

Here que is a conjunction meaning that, introducing the clause that reports what the therapist said.

Structure:

O terapeuta disse = The therapist said
que o isolamento prolongado aumenta a ansiedade de muita gente = that prolonged isolation increases many people’s anxiety

So que is not “who/which” here; it simply links the main verb disse to the reported statement, just like that in English:

He said that … = Ele disse que…

Why do we say o isolamento prolongado with o? Could we just say isolamento prolongado without the article?

Portuguese often uses a definite article with abstract nouns when talking about them in a general way. O isolamento prolongado is like saying prolonged isolation (as a phenomenon) in a more defined, “the kind we’re talking about” sense.

You can drop the article in some registers (isolamento prolongado aumenta a ansiedade…), and it will still be understood, but with abstract, generic concepts, the definite article is very common and sounds natural in European Portuguese.

Roughly:

O isolamento prolongado aumenta… = Prolonged isolation (that situation we know about / in general) increases…
Isolamento prolongado aumenta… = A bit more “headline style” or formal/technical.

Why is it a ansiedade de muita gente and not a ansiedade em muita gente or para muita gente?

In Portuguese, ansiedade de X is a natural way to say X’s anxiety or the anxiety experienced by X. The preposition de often shows possession, belonging, or “associated with”:

a ansiedade de muita gente ≈ the anxiety of many people / many people’s anxiety

Using other prepositions would change the meaning:

ansiedade em muita gente would suggest “anxiety in many people” (sounds more like a location: inside them, medically present).
ansiedade para muita gente would sound like “anxiety for many people” (as if anxiety is something directed towards them or relevant to them), which is odd here.

So de muita gente is the idiomatic and natural option.

What’s the difference between muita gente and muitas pessoas? Are both correct here?

Both are grammatically correct, but they have different feels.

muita gente is very common and natural in everyday speech. gente is grammatically singular, but it refers to a group of people collectively:
- Muita gente está cansada. = Many people are tired. (gente takes singular verb: está.)
muitas pessoas is more “counting individuals”, a bit more neutral or literal:
- Muitas pessoas estão cansadas. = Many people are tired. (Plural noun, plural verb: estão.)

In this sentence, muita gente sounds very idiomatic and conversational:

…aumenta a ansiedade de muita gente. = increases many people’s anxiety (in a general, broad sense).

Why does the verb agree with gente as if it were singular? Shouldn’t it be plural?

In Portuguese, gente is grammatically singular, even though it refers to many people. So verbs and adjectives that agree with gente normally take the singular form:

Muita gente está cansada. (not estão)
A gente foi ao cinema. (colloquially meaning “we went to the cinema”)

In your sentence, this is “hidden,” because the verb aumenta agrees with o isolamento prolongado, not with gente. But if gente were the subject, it would still take a singular verb form.

Why is prolongado after isolamento, and why is it prolongado and not prolongada?

Adjectives in Portuguese usually come after the noun (by default), so isolamento prolongado is the standard order:

noun: isolamento (isolation)
adjective: prolongado (prolonged)

The adjective must agree in gender and number with the noun:

isolamento is masculine singular (you see that from o isolamento)
therefore the adjective must also be masculine singular: prolongado

If the noun were feminine, the adjective would change:

a quarentena prolongada (feminine)
o isolamento prolongado (masculine)

Why isn’t there a subject pronoun like ele before disse? In English I’d say “He said…”

Portuguese is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns are often omitted when the subject is clear from context or from the verb ending.

Here, the subject is explicitly stated as O terapeuta, so adding ele would be redundant:

O terapeuta disse… = The therapist said…
Ele disse… = He said… (you’d use this if ele referred back to someone already known from earlier context)

Saying O terapeuta ele disse… would normally sound wrong or at least very clumsy in standard Portuguese.

Could we say O terapeuta falou que… instead of O terapeuta disse que…? Is there a difference?

You can hear falou que in informal speech, and people will understand it, but disse que is the more neutral and standard way to report speech.

Rough nuance:

dizer = to say, to tell (directly reporting words or information)
- O terapeuta disse que… is the textbook, standard form.
falar = to speak, to talk (more about the act of speaking in general)
- O terapeuta falou que… is common in everyday conversation in some regions, but in careful or written Portuguese, disse que is preferred when reporting what someone said.

In aumenta a ansiedade, is aumentar being used transitively (with an object) or intransitively?

Here aumenta is transitive: it has a direct object, a ansiedade de muita gente.

Structure:

(O isolamento prolongado) = subject
aumenta = verb
(a ansiedade de muita gente) = direct object

So the meaning is “Prolonged isolation increases many people’s anxiety.”

Compare:

A ansiedade aumenta. = Anxiety increases. (Here, aumentar is intransitive; nothing is being increased by something else.)

Is there a difference between isolamento and confinamento? Could I say o confinamento prolongado?

You could say o confinamento prolongado in some contexts, but it’s not always the same thing.

isolamento = isolation, being cut off or alone; can be physical, social, emotional, etc. It’s broader and doesn’t necessarily mean a government‑mandated measure.
confinamento = confinement, often used for lockdowns or strict restrictions (for example, during COVID). It sounds more like being forced to stay in a place or under rules.

So:

o isolamento prolongado = prolonged isolation (could be someone living alone, working from home for years, etc.)
o confinamento prolongado = prolonged confinement/lockdown (more like official or physical restriction of movement)

In your sentence, isolamento is the more general and flexible term.

How do you pronounce O terapeuta disse que o isolamento prolongado aumenta a ansiedade de muita gente in European Portuguese?

Here’s a rough European Portuguese pronunciation guide (not exact IPA, but close):

O terapeuta ≈ “oo tuh‑rah‑PEU‑tuh” (the eu like in French peu)
disse ≈ “DEE‑suh”
que o ≈ “ku” (the e in que is very reduced; que o often merges)
isolamento ≈ “ee‑zoo‑lah‑MEN‑too” (the s between vowels sounds like z)
prolongado ≈ “pruh‑lon‑GAH‑doo”
aumenta ≈ “ow‑MEN‑tuh” (first syllable like English ow in now)
a ansiedade ≈ “a an‑see‑uh‑DAH‑d(ee)” (final -de is very soft, almost a light d)
de ≈ very reduced, almost “d” or “d(ee)”
muita gente ≈ “MOYN‑tuh ZHEN‑t(ee)” (the j sound in measure for g in gente; muita sounds like moin‑tuh).

Spoken naturally, many vowels are reduced and words link together, so it will sound quite compressed compared to the written form.