Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Se bem que o farol esteja longe do albergue, os mochileiros conseguem vê‑lo da varanda. - Although the lighthouse is far from the hostel, the backpackers can see it from the balcony.

Se bem que o farol esteja longe do albergue, os mochileiros conseguem vê‑lo da varanda.

Although the lighthouse is far from the hostel, the backpackers can see it from the balcony.

Breakdown of Se bem que o farol esteja longe do albergue, os mochileiros conseguem vê‑lo da varanda.

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Questions & Answers about Se bem que o farol esteja longe do albergue, os mochileiros conseguem vê‑lo da varanda.

What does se bem que mean here? Is it the same as embora?

In this sentence se bem que is a concessive conjunction meaning “although / even though”.

So:

Se bem que o farol esteja longe do albergue…
≈ Embora o farol esteja longe do albergue…

They are very close in meaning here. Embora is a bit more common and more neutral; se bem que can sound slightly more informal or conversational, but is also fine in written European Portuguese.

Why is it esteja and not está after se bem que?

Because se bem que (in this concessive sense) normally triggers the present subjunctive.

estar → present indicative: está
estar → present subjunctive: esteja

After conjunctions that express concession, doubt, condition, etc., Portuguese often uses the subjunctive:

Se bem que o farol esteja longe…
Embora o farol esteja longe…
Mesmo que o farol esteja longe…

Using está here would sound wrong to a native speaker; the structure se bem que + subjunctive is what is expected in this meaning.

Can se bem que also take the indicative, or is it always subjunctive?

It can take both, but the meaning changes:

Concessive “although” → usually subjunctive
- Se bem que o farol esteja longe, conseguem vê‑lo.
  = Although the lighthouse is far, they can see it.
Corrective “actually / on the other hand” → indicative
Here se bem que means something like “but actually / having said that”:
- Eles disseram que iam sair cedo; se bem que saíram só ao meio‑dia.
  = They said they were going to leave early; actually they only left at noon.

In your sentence, it’s the concessive use, so subjunctive (esteja) is required.

Why do we use conseguem ver instead of just podem ver?

Both are possible, but they have slightly different nuances:

podem vê‑lo = they can see it (it is possible, there is no obstacle)
conseguem vê‑lo = they manage to see it / are able to see it (often despite some difficulty)

Because the lighthouse is far from the hostel, using conseguir suggests that in spite of the distance, they still manage to see it from the balcony. It subtly reinforces the contrast expressed by se bem que.

Why is there a hyphen in vê‑lo? Could we just write veem ele?

The hyphen appears because of the clitic object pronoun o attaching to the verb ver:

ver (to see)
vê (3rd person singular of the present: he/she/it sees)
vê + o → vê‑o (he/she/it sees it / him)
veem + o → veem‑no (they see it / him)
vê‑lo is the infinitive ver with the pronoun:
- ver + o → vê‑lo in this spelling because of accent and pronunciation rules.

In your sentence:

conseguem vê‑lo = they manage to see it

Using ver ele / veem ele for a direct object is non‑standard / wrong in European Portuguese. The correct standard form uses the object pronouns o, a, os, as with a hyphen when they are attached to the verb.

Why is the pronoun o used in vê‑lo, and not lhe?

Because lhe is typically used for an indirect object (to/for him, her, you‑formal), while the lighthouse is a direct object.

ver alguém / alguma coisa – to see someone / something (direct object)
Direct object pronouns: o, a, os, as
Indirect object pronouns: lhe, lhes

Here, lo refers back to o farol:

os mochileiros conseguem vê‑lo
= the backpackers manage to see it / see the lighthouse

So vê‑lo (ver + o) is correct; vê‑lhe would be ungrammatical in this context.

What is the difference between albergue and hostel in European Portuguese?

In European Portuguese:

albergue generally means (youth) hostel / shelter, often something simple and cheap, sometimes with a social or charitable connotation (e.g. albergue de estudantes, albergue de peregrinos).
In everyday modern speech, especially among younger people and in tourism, you will also see the English word hostel being used.

In this sentence, albergue corresponds well to hostel in English, particularly a place where backpackers stay.

Why is it do albergue and da varanda and not just de o albergue / de a varanda?

Portuguese contracts prepositions with definite articles. So:

de + o → do
de + a → da
de + os → dos
de + as → das

In your sentence:

longe do albergue = longe de + o albergue
da varanda = de + a varanda

These contractions are obligatory in standard Portuguese; saying de o albergue or de a varanda sounds wrong.

Why do we say longe do albergue and not longe de o albergue or longe de o hostel?

There are two separate points here:

Contraction
- As above, de + o must contract to do:
  - longe do albergue, longe do hostel
Preposition choice
To express physical distance from a place, Portuguese uses longe de:
- longe de casa – far from home
- longe da cidade – far from the city
- longe do albergue – far from the hostel

So the correct, natural form is longe do albergue. You could also say longe do hostel if you prefer the loanword.

Why is it os mochileiros? Could we just say mochileiros conseguem vê‑lo?

Os mochileiros uses the definite article os (the), which is very common in Portuguese before nouns, including plural ones:

os mochileiros – the backpackers
os turistas – the tourists
os estudantes – the students

You can drop the article in certain contexts (headlines, notes, very informal style), so Mochileiros conseguem vê‑lo da varanda is grammatically possible, but in a normal full sentence, the article os is more natural:

Os mochileiros conseguem vê‑lo da varanda.

What exactly does mochileiros mean? Is it always “backpackers”?

Yes, mochileiros (singular mochileiro) literally means people who travel with a backpack, and in practice corresponds very closely to backpackers in English.

mochila = backpack
mochileiro / mochileira = backpacker (male / female)
os mochileiros = the backpackers

It usually implies budget / independent travelers, not people on organised package tours.

Why is it da varanda (“from the balcony”) and not something like desde a varanda or a partir da varanda?

All three prepositions (de, desde, a partir de) can mean “from”, but they are used a bit differently:

de / da – the default and most common for origin or position:
- ver o mar da varanda – to see the sea from the balcony
- falar da janela – to speak from the window
desde often emphasizes starting point in space or time:
- vê‑se o farol desde a estrada – you can see the lighthouse from (as of) the road
a partir de is more used for starting points of time or sequences, less for static physical viewpoints:
- A partir da varanda, o trilho segue pela floresta. (From the balcony onwards, the trail goes through the forest.)

In your sentence, da varanda is the most natural way to express “from the balcony” as a fixed viewing point.

Can the order of the clauses be reversed, like in English: “The backpackers can see it from the balcony, although the lighthouse is far from the hostel”?

Yes, you can invert the order:

Os mochileiros conseguem vê‑lo da varanda, se bem que o farol esteja longe do albergue.

This is grammatically correct and understandable.

However, in Portuguese it is very common to place the concessive clause (se bem que… / embora…) at the beginning, especially in more formal or written style:

Se bem que o farol esteja longe do albergue, os mochileiros conseguem vê‑lo da varanda.

Both orders are possible; the original one sounds slightly more natural in a neutral written context.

Could we just say bem que o farol esteja longe… without se?

No, not in this meaning.

Se bem que is a fixed expression when it means “although / even though”.
Removing se (just bem que o farol esteja longe…) would not be grammatical in this use.

There is another use of bem que (often eu bem que…, ela bem que…) meaning something like “really did / sure did”, but that is a different structure and not what we have here.

So in your sentence, you need the full expression se bem que.