À noite, eu bebo chá de hortelã em vez de café para dormir melhor.

At night, I drink mint tea instead of coffee to sleep better.

Breakdown of À noite, eu bebo chá de hortelã em vez de café para dormir melhor.

• eu: I
• o café: the coffee
• beber: to drink
• de: of
• a noite: the night
• para: to
• melhor: better
• o chá: the tea
• dormir: to sleep
• em vez de: instead of
• à: at
• a hortelã: the mint

Questions & Answers about À noite, eu bebo chá de hortelã em vez de café para dormir melhor.

Why does "À noite" have that accent on the À? What is it exactly?

The À in "À noite" is a case of crase: the contraction of the preposition a (to/at) + the feminine article a (the) → a + a = à.

• "À noite" literally = “at the night”, but idiomatically it means “at night / in the evening”.
• Without the accent, "a noite" would normally be read as just “the night” (subject or object), not the set expression “at night”.

So:

• À noite, eu bebo chá… = At night, I drink tea…
• A noite está fria. = The night is cold. (no crase here)

Could I say "De noite" instead of "À noite"? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say "De noite"; it’s also correct and common.

• À noite and de noite often overlap and both are used for “at night / in the evening”.
• In European Portuguese, À noite sounds a bit more neutral/formal in writing, while de noite can sound slightly more colloquial or just stylistically different.

In this sentence, both:

• À noite, eu bebo chá de hortelã…
• De noite, eu bebo chá de hortelã…

are acceptable and mean essentially the same thing.

Why is there a comma after "À noite"?

"À noite" is an adverbial phrase of time placed at the start of the sentence. In European Portuguese, it’s very common (and stylistically preferred) to separate such initial time expressions with a comma:

• À noite, eu bebo chá de hortelã…
• Normalmente, ele chega tarde.

You could technically omit the comma in informal writing, but using it is standard and clearer.

Do I really need to say "eu" in "eu bebo"? Can I just say "À noite, bebo chá de hortelã…"?

You don’t have to say "eu" here.

Portuguese is a pro‑drop language: the verb ending -o in "bebo" already shows that the subject is eu (I). So both are correct:

• À noite, eu bebo chá de hortelã… (slight emphasis on I)
• À noite, bebo chá de hortelã… (more neutral; very natural)

You include "eu" when you want to:

• Emphasise the subject: Eu bebo chá, tu bebes café.
• Avoid ambiguity in more complex sentences.

Why is it "bebo" and not "beber" or something else?

"Bebo" is the 1st person singular, present indicative of the verb beber (to drink):

• eu bebo – I drink
• tu bebes – you drink (informal singular, PT)
• ele/ela bebe – he/she drinks
• nós bebemos – we drink
• vocês bebem – you (all) drink
• eles/elas bebem – they drink

The present tense here expresses a habitual action:

• À noite, eu bebo chá de hortelã… = At night, I (usually) drink mint tea…

Could I use "tomo" instead of "bebo", like "eu tomo chá de hortelã"?

Yes, in European Portuguese you can say:

• Eu bebo chá de hortelã.
• Eu tomo chá de hortelã.

Both are understood, but there is a nuance:

• beber = specifically to drink a liquid.
• tomar = to take, also used with drinks, medicine, a shower, etc.

For drinks, beber is the most straightforward and slightly more neutral. Tomar with drinks is common too, especially in fixed or polite contexts (e.g., tomar um café, have a coffee).

Why do we say "chá de hortelã" and not "hortelã chá" like in English “mint tea”?

Portuguese usually expresses this kind of relationship as "X de Y":

• chá de hortelã = tea of mint → mint tea
• sumo de laranja = juice of orange → orange juice
• bolo de chocolate = cake of chocolate → chocolate cake

So "chá de hortelã" is the natural, idiomatic order. Something like "hortelã chá" would be ungrammatical.

What does "de" mean in "chá de hortelã" and "em vez de café"? It seems to be used in different ways.

The preposition de is very flexible. In this sentence, it appears twice with two different roles:

1. chá de hortelã
   Here de indicates content / flavour / type:

   • tea of mint → mint tea
     Similar patterns: sumo de maçã (apple juice), pizza de queijo (cheese pizza).

2. em vez de café
   Here de is part of the fixed expression em vez de = instead of:

   • em vez de café = instead of coffee.

So the same preposition de is used, but the structure em vez de is an idiom meaning “instead of”.

Why is it "em vez de café" and not "ao invés de café"?

In European Portuguese, the standard and safest expression for “instead of” is:

• em vez de + noun / verb
  e.g., em vez de café, em vez de sair.

The expression ao invés de historically means “in the opposite way to / contrary to” and many speakers (especially in Portugal) consider it incorrect when used simply as “instead of”.

In Brazil, ao invés de is much more widely used as a synonym of em vez de, but for Portugal Portuguese learning, stick to em vez de for instead of.

Why is there no article: "chá de hortelã" instead of "o chá de hortelã" or "um chá de hortelã"?

Because the sentence is talking about a habit in general, not one specific cup of tea:

• À noite, eu bebo chá de hortelã… = At night, I drink mint tea (as a general habit).

When speaking generally about things you regularly consume, Portuguese often omits the article:

• Bebo café todos os dias. – I drink coffee every day.
• Ele come fruta ao pequeno-almoço. – He eats fruit at breakfast.

If you add an article, you usually make it more specific:

• À noite, eu bebo um chá de hortelã. – At night, I drink a mint tea (one tea, more concrete).
• À noite, eu bebo o chá de hortelã que a minha mãe faz. – At night I drink the mint tea that my mother makes (a specific tea).

Does "café" always mean “coffee”, or can it also mean “café” (a place)?

"Café" can mean both in Portuguese:

1. coffee (the drink)

   • Eu bebo café. – I drink coffee.

2. a café / coffee shop / small bar (the place)

   • Vamos ao café. – Let’s go to the café.

In your sentence, "em vez de café" clearly means “instead of coffee (the drink)” because it’s contrasted with chá (tea), another drink.

Why is it "para dormir melhor" and not "por dormir melhor"?

Portuguese uses para to express purpose / intention:

• para + infinitive → in order to / to (do something)
  
  • para dormir melhor – in order to sleep better.

The preposition por is normally used for cause, reason, duration, means, etc., not for purpose:

• Ele fez isso por mim. – He did that for me (on my behalf).
• Andei por duas horas. – I walked for two hours.

So for “to sleep better” (as a purpose), you need para, not por.

Could I say "para eu dormir melhor" instead of "para dormir melhor"?

Yes, both are grammatical but slightly different in feel:

• para dormir melhor – to sleep better (more impersonal, generic; subject is understood from context).
• para eu dormir melhor – for me to sleep better (explicitly marks “I” as the one who will sleep better).

In your simple sentence about a personal routine, "para dormir melhor" is perfectly natural and more concise. You’d typically add "eu" when you really want to emphasise who the subject is or in more complex clauses.

Why is it "dormir melhor" and not "dormir bom", like “sleep good”?

In both English and Portuguese, you use an adverb with a verb, not an adjective:

• English: sleep well / sleep better, not sleep good (in standard grammar).
• Portuguese: dormir bem / dormir melhor, not dormir bom.

Here:

• bem = well
• melhor = better / best (as adverb or adjective, depending on context)

So:

• Quero dormir bem. – I want to sleep well.
• bebo chá de hortelã para dormir melhor. – I drink mint tea to sleep better.

Can "melhor" mean both “better” and “best” in Portuguese?

Yes. "Melhor" is both:

• the comparative of bom / bem: better
• the superlative form: best

Examples:

• Este chá é melhor que aquele. – This tea is better than that one.
• Este é o melhor chá. – This is the best tea.

In "para dormir melhor", it clearly means “better”: to sleep better.