Em março, o Pedro passa a acordar mais cedo para estudar antes do trabalho.

In Portuguese, the names of months are normally written with a lowercase letter, unlike in English.

So:

• março = March
• janeiro = January
• abril = April

That is why you see Em março rather than Em Março.

In European Portuguese, it is very common to use the definite article before a person’s first name:

• o Pedro
• a Maria
• o João

This is a normal feature of everyday Portuguese in Portugal. It does not mean the Pedro in a strange English sense; it is just how names often work in Portuguese.

In some contexts, the article may be omitted, but o Pedro sounds very natural here.

Passar a + infinitive is a very common structure meaning:

• to start to
• to begin to
• to come to
• to start doing something from that point on

So:

• o Pedro passa a acordar mais cedo = Pedro starts waking up earlier / comes to wake up earlier

It often suggests a change of habit or routine.

Yes. The base verb is passar, which often means to pass in other contexts, but in the structure passar a + infinitive, it has a special idiomatic meaning: to start doing something.

Examples:

• Passei a ler mais. = I started reading more.
• Ela passou a trabalhar em casa. = She started working from home.

So you should learn passar a + infinitive as a useful pattern.

Because after passa a, Portuguese uses the infinitive.

Structure:

• passar a + infinitive

So:

• passa a acordar
• passa a estudar
• passa a trabalhar

Not:

• passa a acorda ❌

This is similar to English starts to wake up, where wake also stays in a base form after to.

Passa is the present tense, 3rd person singular, of passar.

So:

• eu passo
• tu passas
• ele/ela/você passa

Here, o Pedro is third person singular, so the verb is passa.

Cedo means early.
When you add mais, you get more early, which in natural English becomes earlier.

So:

• cedo = early
• mais cedo = earlier

Examples:

• Acordo cedo. = I wake up early.
• Acordo mais cedo. = I wake up earlier.

Portuguese often forms comparatives with mais + adjective/adverb.

Because in this sentence, the comparison is understood from the context.

• mais cedo = earlier

It implies earlier than before or earlier than usual, even if that second part is not stated.

If you want to make the comparison explicit, you can:

• mais cedo do que antes
• mais cedo do que costumava

But very often Portuguese leaves it unstated, just like English does in sentences such as He’s waking up earlier.

Para + infinitive often expresses purpose: in order to, to, so as to.

So:

• para estudar = to study / in order to study

In the sentence:

• acordar mais cedo para estudar = wake up earlier in order to study

This is a very common Portuguese structure:

• Vou ao supermercado para comprar pão.
• Ela saiu cedo para apanhar o comboio.

Because de + o contracts to do in Portuguese.

So:

• de + o = do
• de + a = da
• de + os = dos
• de + as = das

That gives:

• antes do trabalho = before work / before the work

This kind of contraction is extremely common and usually required in standard Portuguese.

Here trabalho most naturally means work in the general sense.

So:

• antes do trabalho = before work

Depending on context, trabalho can also mean:

• work
• job
• piece of work
• assignment

But in this sentence, it clearly refers to Pedro’s workday or job schedule.

Yes. Em março is a time expression, and Portuguese allows some flexibility with its position.

For example:

• Em março, o Pedro passa a acordar mais cedo...
• O Pedro passa a acordar mais cedo em março...

Putting Em março at the beginning helps set the time frame right away. That is very natural and common.

The present tense here can describe a current habit, a general fact, or a change that happens in that time period.

So Em março, o Pedro passa a acordar mais cedo... can mean something like:

• In March, Pedro starts waking up earlier...
• During March, Pedro begins this new routine...

Portuguese often uses the present tense for this kind of statement, just as English can say:

• In March, Pedro starts waking up earlier...

Yes, and it would be grammatically correct, but there is a slight nuance.

• começa a acordar = starts to wake up
• passa a acordar = begins to do this as a new habit / from then on starts doing it

Passa a often highlights a change in routine or state a bit more strongly.

So both can work, but passa a acordar is especially good when you want to show that Pedro adopts a new pattern.

A useful breakdown is:

• Em março = time expression
• o Pedro = subject
• passa a acordar = verbal structure (starts waking up)
• mais cedo = adverbial phrase (earlier)
• para estudar = purpose (to study)
• antes do trabalho = time phrase (before work)

So the sentence follows a very natural pattern:

time + subject + verb phrase + manner/time detail + purpose + additional time phrase