O arranhão no braço ainda me incomoda.

The scratch on my arm still bothers me.

Breakdown of O arranhão no braço ainda me incomoda.

• ainda: still
• me: me
• em: on
• incomodar: to bother
• o braço: the arm
• o arranhão: the scratch

Questions & Answers about O arranhão no braço ainda me incomoda.

Why is it o arranhão and not um arranhão?

O means the, so o arranhão refers to a specific scratch that is already known from the context.

If you said um arranhão, that would mean a scratch, usually introducing it as new information.

Also, arranhão is a masculine noun, so it takes o, not a.

Is arranhão just scratch, or does it suggest a big scratch?

Arranhão is the normal everyday word for a scratch or scrape.

It is related to the verb arranhar = to scratch. The ending -ão often appears in augmentatives, so sometimes the word can sound like a more noticeable or rougher scratch, but in real everyday use it is very often just the ordinary word for a scratch.

What does no braço mean exactly, and why is it no?

No is a contraction of em + o.

So:

• em = in / on / at
• o = the
• no = in the / on the

In this sentence, no braço means on the arm.

A useful thing to remember is that Portuguese does not always match English prepositions exactly. Where English says on the arm, Portuguese often uses em.

Why does Portuguese say no braço instead of no meu braço?

With body parts, Portuguese often uses the definite article instead of a possessive like my, your, or his, when the owner is obvious.

So Portuguese prefers:

• no braço = literally on the arm

where English would usually say:

• on my arm

If you say no meu braço, it is not wrong, but it adds emphasis or contrast, as if you want to be especially clear that it is my arm and not someone else’s.

What does ainda mean here?

Here ainda means still.

It shows that the situation continues now:

• the scratch bothered me before
• and it continues to bother me now

So in this sentence, ainda is about continuation.

Why is it me incomoda and not incomoda-me?

Me is an unstressed object pronoun, and in European Portuguese, these pronouns often come after the verb in a normal affirmative sentence:

• Incomoda-me

But certain words can pull the pronoun before the verb, and ainda is one of the common triggers:

• ainda me incomoda

So in this sentence, ainda me incomoda is the natural order.

What is me doing in this sentence?

Me means me, but grammatically it is the object of the verb incomodar.

The pattern is:

• algo incomoda alguém = something bothers someone

So here:

• o arranhão no braço = the thing that does the bothering
• me = the person affected

In other words, the scratch is the subject, and me is the person it bothers.

What tense is incomoda, and why is it used here?

Incomoda is the present indicative, third person singular.

It is third person singular because the subject is singular:

• o arranhão = the scratch

It is in the present because the sentence describes a current, ongoing situation: the scratch is still bothering the speaker now.

How do you pronounce arranhão?

The stress is on the last syllable: arra-nhão.

A few important parts:

• rr = a strong Portuguese r sound
• nh = like ny in canyon
• ão = a nasal sound with no exact English equivalent

A rough English-friendly approximation would be something like:

ah-rra-NYOWN
—but with the final part nasalized.

The accent mark ã helps show that nasal quality.