Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Às vezes o melhor remédio é apenas ouvir o corpo e dizer “hoje chega”. - Sometimes the best medicine is simply to listen to the body and say “that’s enough for today.”

Às (with a grave accent) is the contraction of the preposition a
- the feminine plural article as.
In the fixed expression às vezes, that contraction is required, and the whole expression means sometimes.

If you wrote As vezes (no accent), it would literally mean the times, as in As vezes em que te vi (The times I saw you). So:

Às vezes = sometimes (adverbial expression)
As vezes = the times (noun phrase)

In this sentence you must use Às vezes with the accent.

Why is vezes plural in Às vezes if in English we say sometimes (singular time)?

In Portuguese, the idiomatic expression uses the plural:

vez = time (occurrence)
vezes = times

The structure is roughly “at the times”, which evolved into an adverbial expression meaning sometimes. So:

Às vezes (literally at the times) = sometimes

This is just how the expression is conventionalized in Portuguese; you should always keep vezes in the plural here.

Why is it o melhor remédio and not um melhor remédio?

Portuguese usually uses the definite article with superlatives.

melhor can mean both better and best, depending on context.
With the definite article o, o melhor remédio is understood as the best remedy (or the best medicine / the best solution).

Saying um melhor remédio would sound odd here. It would suggest a better remedy (than another one you mentioned), not the idea of the best option in general.

So in patterns like:

o melhor, a melhor, os melhores, as melhores

the definite article is normally required in Portuguese.

Why do we use é and not está in o melhor remédio é apenas ouvir o corpo?

É comes from ser, while está comes from estar.

ser is used for general truths, definitions, and characteristics.
estar is used for temporary states or locations.

Here, we’re stating a general rule or piece of advice:

O melhor remédio é apenas ouvir o corpo.
→ The best remedy is (in general) just to listen to the body.

Because it’s presented as a general truth, Portuguese uses é (from ser), not está (from estar).

Why are ouvir and dizer in the infinitive?

After a structure like o melhor remédio é…, Portuguese often uses the infinitive to describe what that remedy consists of, just like English does in the best remedy is to listen / is listening.

ouvir = to listen / to hear
dizer = to say

So:

O melhor remédio é ouvir o corpo e dizer hoje chega.
→ The best remedy is (to) listen to the body and say “that’s enough for today.”

This is a generic instruction, not tied to a specific person, so the impersonal infinitive works well.

In European Portuguese you could, in some contexts, also use the personal infinitive (for example é ouvirmos o corpo, the best remedy is for us to listen to our body), but here the neutral infinitive ouvir / dizer is more general.

Why is it ouvir o corpo and not ouvir o seu corpo?

In Portuguese, with body parts and very personal things, the definite article is often used where English uses a possessive.

So:

ouvir o corpo literally = listen to the body, but is understood as listen to your body / one’s body.
ouvir o seu corpo is not wrong, but it is more explicit and can sound a bit heavier or more formal here.

Common patterns:

Lava as mãos. = Wash your hands.
Fecha os olhos. = Close your eyes.
Ouvir o corpo. = Listen to your body.

So the article o here carries the possessive meaning implicitly.

What is the difference between ouvir and escutar? Could we say escutar o corpo?

Both ouvir and escutar are related to hearing / listening, but there is a nuance:

ouvir: to hear (more neutral), sometimes also to listen.
escutar: to listen (often with a nuance of paying attention).

In practice, there is a lot of overlap, and in this figurative expression many speakers might say escutar o corpo as well. However, ouvir o corpo is very common and natural in this kind of self‑care / intuition context.

So:

ouvir o corpo = listen to your body (standard, idiomatic)
escutar o corpo = also understandable; slightly more marked, but not wrong.

What does apenas mean here, and how is it different from só or somente?

In this sentence, apenas means just / only:

O melhor remédio é apenas ouvir o corpo…
→ The best remedy is just to listen to the body…

Rough differences:

apenas: often a bit more neutral or slightly formal written style.
só: very common in speech, informal and very frequent in Portugal.
somente: more formal / literary, less used in everyday European Portuguese speech.

In this sentence you could also say:

…é só ouvir o corpo… (more colloquial)
…é somente ouvir o corpo… (more formal / written)

All three are grammatically correct; apenas fits well in a neutral, slightly reflective tone.

Could apenas appear in another position, like é ouvir apenas o corpo? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, you can move apenas, and the nuance changes slightly.

O melhor remédio é apenas ouvir o corpo…
→ The best remedy is just to listen to the body (as opposed to doing anything else).
O melhor remédio é ouvir apenas o corpo…
→ The best remedy is to listen only to the body (and not to other people, social pressure, etc.).

In many real situations, the difference is subtle and both would be interpreted similarly, but grammatically:

apenas ouvir focuses on the action (only this action).
ouvir apenas o corpo focuses on the object (only this object).

What exactly does hoje chega mean? How is chega being used here?

Literally:

hoje = today
chega = it’s enough / that’s enough

Here chega is the 3rd person singular of chegar, but not in the sense of to arrive. It’s the impersonal use meaning to be enough / suffice:

Já chega. = That’s enough.
Chega de trabalho. = Enough work.

So hoje chega is like saying:

That’s enough for today.
I’m done for today.

It’s an idiomatic, slightly elliptical way of saying Hoje já chega (de isto) = That’s enough of this for today.

Note the difference:

hoje chega = [today] [it’s enough]
chega hoje = [it arrives / is enough] today (different word order and usually a different meaning).

In the sentence, dizer hoje chega means to say “that’s enough for today” to yourself.

Why is there no comma before e in ouvir o corpo e dizer hoje chega?

In Portuguese, like in English, you generally do not put a comma between two simple verbs that share the same subject and are closely linked:

ouvir o corpo e dizer hoje chega
→ listen to the body and say “that’s enough for today”.

Both ouvir and dizer are infinitives depending on é (the best remedy is…). They form one combined idea, so there is no need for a comma:

✅ …é ouvir o corpo e dizer hoje chega.
❌ …é ouvir o corpo, e dizer hoje chega. (comma would sound unnecessary and stylistically awkward here).

Is the overall tense/aspect of the sentence about one specific situation or a general rule?

The sentence is in the present tense used in a gnomic / general way:

Às vezes o melhor remédio é…
→ Sometimes the best remedy is…

This does not refer to one particular day only. It states a general piece of advice that can apply on many occasions:

On some days / sometimes, the best thing you can do is just listen to your body and say hoje chega.

So the present here is like the English present simple used for habits, rules, or general truths.