Agora percebo melhor a explicação da professora.

Yes. Percebo already shows the subject is I, because it is the 1st person singular form of perceber.

So:

• (Eu) percebo = I understand / I realize

In Portuguese, subject pronouns are often omitted when the verb form already makes the subject clear. Including eu is possible, but it usually adds emphasis:

• Agora eu percebo melhor... = Now I understand better... with extra emphasis on I

Percebo is the present tense, 1st person singular form of the verb perceber.

Basic pattern:

• eu percebo = I understand / I notice / I realize
• tu percebes
• ele/ela percebe
• nós percebemos
• vós percebeis (rare in everyday speech)
• eles/elas percebem

In this sentence, perceber has the sense of understand or grasp.

Both can often be translated as I understand, but they are not always identical.

• entender often means to understand in a direct, straightforward sense
• perceber can mean to realize, to grasp, or to understand after noticing something more clearly

So Agora percebo melhor... can sound like:

• Now I grasp the teacher’s explanation better
• Now I understand the explanation more clearly

In European Portuguese, perceber is very common in everyday speech for understand.

Agora means now, and placing it at the beginning is very natural because it sets the time frame first.

• Agora percebo melhor a explicação da professora.

This is similar to English Now I understand the teacher’s explanation better.

You can move it, but the most natural version is usually with agora near the front:

• Agora percebo melhor...
• Percebo agora melhor... — possible, but less neutral
• Percebo melhor agora... — also possible, with a slightly different rhythm or emphasis

Because melhor is the normal comparative form of bem.

• bem = well
• melhor = better

So:

• percebo melhor = I understand better

This works just like:

• falo melhor = I speak better
• vejo melhor = I see better

Mais bem is generally not what you would use here.

Here melhor modifies the verb percebo. It tells us how the speaker understands.

So the structure is:

• percebo melhor = understand better

It does not describe a explicação. It is not saying the explanation is better; it is saying the speaker now understands it better.

Portuguese often uses the definite article where English may or may not use it.

Here a explicação means:

• the explanation

It refers to a specific explanation, not just any explanation in general. Since the sentence also says da professora, it clearly means a particular explanation given by a particular teacher.

Without the article, explicação would sound less natural in this sentence.

Da is a contraction of:

• de + a = da

So:

• a explicação da professora = the teacher’s explanation
• literally: the explanation of the teacher

This is a very common structure in Portuguese.

Other examples:

• o livro do aluno = the student’s book
• a caneta da Ana = Ana’s pen

Because a professora refers to a specific teacher: the teacher.

So:

• de + a professora → da professora

If you said de professora without the article, it would sound incomplete or would suggest a more general, less specific meaning, which is not what this sentence is doing.

In European Portuguese, using the article with nouns like this is very normal.

Word-for-word, yes, more or less. But that would not be natural English.

A more natural English translation is:

• Now I understand the teacher’s explanation better.

This is a good example of why direct word-for-word translation can be misleading:

• perceber often corresponds to understand / realize
• da professora is often best translated with English ’s
• melhor usually sounds best as better placed later in the sentence

Yes, absolutely. That is grammatical and natural.

• Agora percebo melhor a explicação da professora.
• Agora entendo melhor a explicação da professora.

Both can work. The difference is mainly one of nuance and usage:

• percebo can feel like I now grasp it / I now realize it more clearly
• entendo is a more direct I understand

In European Portuguese, perceber is especially common in this kind of sentence.

The given order is the most natural:

• Agora percebo melhor a explicação da professora.

You may also hear or see variations, but changing the position of melhor can make the sentence sound less natural or create ambiguity.

For example:

• Agora percebo a explicação da professora melhor.

This is understandable, but it is usually less elegant and can momentarily make the listener wonder what melhor is attached to.

So for learners, the safest model is:

• verb + melhor + object

Percebo is in the present indicative.

The present tense is used because the speaker is describing their current state of understanding:

• Agora percebo... = Now I understand...

It means that at this moment, the situation is different from before.

So the idea is:

• before: I did not understand so well
• now: I do understand better

In European Portuguese, several unstressed vowels are reduced, so the sentence may sound less like the spelling suggests.

A rough guide:

• Agora → something like agóra
• percebo → the unstressed e is reduced
• explicação → final -ção sounds like -são
• professora → unstressed vowels are weaker than in Brazilian Portuguese

A very rough pronunciation guide in English-style spelling might be:

• agóra persébu melhór a explikassãu da prufessóra

That is only approximate, but it helps show that European Portuguese often reduces unstressed vowels more strongly than learners expect.

Yes, nouns ending in -ção are typically feminine.

So:

• a explicação
• uma explicação
• esta explicação

Other common examples:

• a informação
• a decisão
• a tradução

This is a very useful pattern to remember.