No verão passado, houve um grande incêndio florestal perto da aldeia dos meus avós.

No is the contraction of the preposition em (in, on, at) + the masculine singular definite article o (the).

So:

• em + o = no → no verão = in the summer / last summer
• Similarly: em + a = na, em + os = nos, em + as = nas

In this sentence, No verão passado literally means in the summer past (i.e. last summer).

In Portuguese, most adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

• verão passado = summer past → last summer

Putting passado before the noun ( passado verão ) is not idiomatic; it sounds wrong in modern Portuguese.

You could also say:

• no último verão = in the last summer

But verão passado is very natural and common in European Portuguese.

Yes, you can say No último verão. Both are correct and common.

Nuance (very subtle):

• no verão passado – slightly more neutral and everyday.
• no último verão – can feel a bit more specific or formal, like the last summer (before something changed), but in practice they often overlap.

In most contexts, they are interchangeable.

Houve is the 3rd person singular pretérito perfeito (simple past) of the verb haver.

In European Portuguese, haver is commonly used impersonally to mean there is / there are in the past:

• houve um incêndio = there was a fire
• houve muitos problemas = there were many problems

In European Portuguese, for this meaning (there was / there were), houve is the standard choice.

• teve as there was is much more typical in Brazilian colloquial speech, and less common/standard in European Portuguese for this usage.
• foi is usually was referring to identity or description (Ele foi médico = He was a doctor), not there was.

Both come from haver, but they express different aspects of the past:

• houve – completed / punctual event (pretérito perfeito)

  • No verão passado, houve um grande incêndio florestal.
    → A single, completed event: There was (at one point) a big forest fire.

• havia – ongoing / background situation (pretérito imperfeito)

  • No verão passado, havia muitos incêndios florestais.
    → Describes a general state or repeated situation: There were many forest fires (in general, over that period).

In your sentence, a single, notable event is described, so houve is the natural choice.

Yes, you can:

• Aconteceu um grande incêndio florestal = A big forest fire happened / occurred.

Differences in feel:

• houve um incêndio – neutral and very common way to say there was a fire.
• aconteceu um incêndio – slightly more focused on the event happening or occurrence.

Both are correct. In many contexts, they can be used interchangeably, but houve is the most straightforward equivalent of there was.

Both are grammatically correct, but the position of the adjective can change the nuance:

• um grande incêndio (adjective before the noun)

  • More subjective/emotional: a major / terrible / huge fire
  • Often highlights importance or impact, not just physical size.

• um incêndio grande (adjective after the noun)

  • More descriptive, closer to a big fire in a neutral sense.

Putting grande before the noun is very natural here because the speaker is emphasizing the seriousness or magnitude of the fire.

Florestal is an adjective meaning forest-related or of the forest.

• incêndio florestal ≈ forest fire or wildfire
• incêndio na floresta = a fire in the forest

Differences:

• incêndio florestal is the standard, technical / official term (used in news, reports, etc.).
• incêndio na floresta is more literal and descriptive, but not the standard fixed phrase.

So in European Portuguese, incêndio florestal is the most idiomatic version for forest fire.

The expression is perto de = near / close to.

When de is followed by the definite article a (feminine singular), they contract:

• de + a = da

So:

• perto de + a aldeia → perto da aldeia = near the village

Similarly:

• perto do rio (de + o)
• perto dos montes (de + os)
• perto das casas (de + as)

They are all types of inhabited places, but with different sizes/feels:

• aldeia – a small village, often rural, small population, fewer services.
• vila – a larger town, bigger than an aldeia but smaller than a cidade, with more services and infrastructure.
• cidade – a city, larger and more urban.

In European Portuguese, aldeia very clearly suggests a small rural village, which fits well with my grandparents’ village.

dos meus avós means of my grandparents or my grandparents’.

Breaking it down:

• de = of/from
• os = the (masculine plural)
• de + os = dos

So:

• a aldeia dos meus avós = the village of my grandparents / my grandparents’ village

meus avós = my grandparents (masculine plural used as the default for mixed or unspecified gender).

Pronunciation (European Portuguese):

• verão – roughly ve-RÃO

  • Final -ão is a nasal vowel similar to the end of French bon or non, but more open.
  • The accent (tilde) ã shows that the vowel is nasal and stressed.

• avós – roughly a-VÓSH (the final s often sounds like sh in European Portuguese)

  • Stress is on the last syllable vós.
  • The acute accent ó shows the vowel is stressed and open.
  • avós = grandparents.

Spelling matters:

• avós – grandparents
• avô – grandfather
• avó – grandmother
• avos (no accent) – a different word (e.g. a fraction, or yeasts) and not used here.

Yes, you can move it, and the comma follows normal Portuguese punctuation rules.

Current version (time phrase at the start):

• No verão passado, houve um grande incêndio florestal perto da aldeia dos meus avós.

Here, No verão passado is an introductory time expression, and placing a comma after such an element is standard and natural in Portuguese.

You can also put it at the end:

• Houve um grande incêndio florestal perto da aldeia dos meus avós no verão passado.

Both word orders are correct. The meaning is the same; starting with No verão passado just emphasizes the time frame first.