Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): À noite, o farol ilumina a pequena ilha, e a maré parece brilhar à luz da lua. - At night, the lighthouse lights up the small island, and the tide seems to shine in the moonlight.

à noite – very common; means at night in a general, habitual sense.
- À noite, estudo português. = At night, I study Portuguese.
de noite – also means at night; often interchangeable with à noite, and also quite common in European Portuguese.
- Trabalho de noite. = I work at night.
na noite – literally in the night (em + a noite). Usually refers to a specific night or to being physically in the night environment (nightlife, events, etc.):
- Na noite de Natal, ficámos em casa. = On Christmas night, we stayed at home.
- Ele trabalha na noite. = He works in nightlife (the night scene).

In your sentence, À noite, o farol ilumina..., the idea is a general, repeated situation, so à noite is the natural choice.

What exactly does farol mean here, and is it always “lighthouse”?

In this context, o farol means “the lighthouse.”

However, farol in Portuguese can refer to different kinds of “light/beam” objects, depending on context:

um farol on the coast → a lighthouse
os faróis of a car → the headlights
um farol in traffic → a traffic light (in some regions; elsewhere semáforo is more common)

Here, because it’s illuminating a small island at night, farol clearly means a lighthouse.

Why is it a pequena ilha and not a ilha pequena? Does the position of pequena change the meaning?

In Portuguese, adjectives usually come after the noun, but they can also come before it, and the position can slightly change the emphasis or nuance.

a pequena ilha → the small island, with pequena before the noun. This often feels a bit more descriptive or literary, adding a certain “tone” or emphasis.
a ilha pequena → also the small island, but sounds more neutral or more contrastive (as if distinguishing it from another, bigger island).

In your sentence, a pequena ilha sounds natural and a little more poetic, fitting the descriptive style of the phrase. Both are grammatically correct; here it’s a stylistic choice.

Why is there a comma before e in ..., e a maré parece brilhar...? I thought you usually don’t put commas before “and”.

Portuguese comma rules are not identical to English ones. In English, we normally don’t put a comma before “and” when joining two simple clauses; in Portuguese it’s more flexible.

Here, the comma before e separates two coordinated clauses:

o farol ilumina a pequena ilha
a maré parece brilhar à luz da lua

You can write:

À noite, o farol ilumina a pequena ilha e a maré parece brilhar à luz da lua.
À noite, o farol ilumina a pequena ilha, e a maré parece brilhar à luz da lua.

Both are acceptable. The comma simply marks a slight pause and can add a more rhythmic, literary feel. It’s not “wrong” in Portuguese the way many teachers would insist it is in English.

What does the structure parece brilhar mean exactly? Why use parece + infinitive instead of a full clause?

parece brilhar literally means “seems to shine”:

parece = seems
brilhar = to shine

So:

a maré parece brilhar = the tide seems to shine

This verb + infinitive structure is very common in Portuguese:

Ele parece dormir. = He seems to be sleeping / He seems to sleep.
O carro parece funcionar bem. = The car seems to work well.

An alternative is:

a maré parece que brilha = the tide seems (that it shines)

Both are grammatically correct, but parece + infinitive (parece brilhar) is more compact and flows better in this sentence.

In à luz da lua, what is being contracted, and what does the expression mean?

There are two contractions in à luz da lua:

à luz
- a (to/at) + a luz (the light) → à luz
  Literally: at the light / in the light of
da lua
- de (of/from) + a lua (the moon) → da lua
  Meaning: of the moon

So:

à luz da lua = in the light of the moon / by moonlight

It’s a very common, somewhat poetic expression. You can use the structure à luz de X for other things:

à luz do dia = in broad daylight
à luz da ciência = in the light of science (figurative)

Why do we use definite articles so much here: a pequena ilha, a maré, à luz da lua? In English we might say just “tide” or “moonlight” without “the”.

Portuguese uses the definite article (o / a / os / as) more frequently than English does.

In your sentence:

a pequena ilha = the small island
a maré = the tide (English might say just “tide”, but Portuguese normally uses a maré)
à luz da lua = in the (the) light of the moon

In many general or poetic descriptions, Portuguese still prefers the article:

A lua está cheia. = The moon is full.
A maré sobe e desce. = The tide rises and falls.

English often drops “the” in these general natural phenomena expressions, but Portuguese does not.

What does maré mean exactly, and why is it singular here?

maré means “tide”.

It is a singular, feminine noun:

a maré = the tide
as marés = the tides

In your sentence, a maré parece brilhar refers to the tide in general at that moment, as a mass of moving water, so the singular makes sense.

English might sometimes talk about tides in the plural when speaking generally, but Portuguese often uses a maré in the singular when describing what the tide is doing at a given time.

How do you pronounce words like ilha, maré, lua, and farol?

Approximate European Portuguese pronunciations (not IPA, just a guide):

ilha – EE-lyah
- lh is a single sound, like the “lli” in English million.
maré – mah-REH
- Stress on the last syllable -ré, with an open é sound (like “e” in bed).
lua – LOO-ah
- Two clear syllables: lu-a (not luah as one blurred sound).
farol – fah-ROL
- Stress on the second syllable -rol. The final l is a clear l sound in European Portuguese.

Taken together, the sentence flows something like:
À NOI-te, o fa-ROL i-lu-MI-na a pe-QUE-na I-lha, e a ma-RÉ pa-RE-ce bri-LHAR à LUZ da LU-a.

Why is the present tense (ilumina, parece) used? Does it mean this happens every night?

Yes. The simple present in Portuguese is used for:

general truths
habits or repeated actions
descriptions that are generally valid

So:

À noite, o farol ilumina a pequena ilha
...e a maré parece brilhar à luz da lua.

This can be understood as something that happens regularly, typically every night, or as a general poetic description of what happens at night there. It’s very similar to English:

At night, the lighthouse illuminates the small island, and the tide seems to shine in the moonlight.

Can I say A noite, o farol... instead of À noite, o farol...?

You can, but the meaning changes:

À noite, o farol ilumina a pequena ilha...
→ At night, the lighthouse illuminates the small island... (general time expression; habitual situation)
A noite, o farol ilumina a pequena ilha...
→ The night, the lighthouse illuminates the small island...
This sounds odd and incomplete, as if “the night” were the subject (like “The night brings silence”). You’d usually need more context or a different structure, for example:
- A noite cai, e o farol ilumina a pequena ilha. = Night falls, and the lighthouse illuminates the small island.

So for the meaning given, you really need À noite.