Embora a fotocopiadora faça barulho, a bibliotecária não nos deixa rabiscar enquanto esperamos.

Yes — embora can mean different things depending on context.

In this sentence, embora is a conjunction meaning although / even though:

Embora a fotocopiadora faça barulho... = Although the photocopier makes noise...

But in other contexts, embora! can be an expression meaning let’s go! / come on! or can be part of expressions meaning away. Same word, different function.

Here it definitely means although.

Because embora normally triggers the subjunctive in Portuguese.

So:

• A fotocopiadora faz barulho. = The photocopier makes noise.
• Embora a fotocopiadora faça barulho... = Although the photocopier makes noise...

Here faça is the present subjunctive of fazer.

This is a very common pattern in Portuguese:

• embora + subjunctive
• apesar de + infinitive/personal infinitive
• se calhar does not trigger subjunctive
• talvez often does

So the key point is: after embora, learners should usually expect the subjunctive.

Faça is the 1st person singular and 3rd person singular form of the present subjunctive of fazer.

The subject here is a fotocopiadora, which is 3rd person singular, so faça means it makes in a subjunctive clause.

Relevant forms:

• fazer = to do / to make
• faz = it does / it makes, present indicative
• faça = that it do / make, present subjunctive

So a fotocopiadora faça is grammatically she/it makes in the subjunctive environment created by embora.

In Portuguese, fazer barulho is a very common set expression meaning to make noise / to be noisy.

So:

• faz barulho = makes noise / is noisy

You can say faz um barulho too, but that usually sounds more like makes a noise or makes quite a noise, often with a more specific or emphatic feel.

Compare:

• A máquina faz barulho. = The machine makes noise / is noisy.
• A máquina faz um barulho terrível. = The machine makes a terrible noise.

So in your sentence, faz barulho is the most natural neutral wording.

Yes. Fotocopiadora is a normal word and means photocopier / copy machine.

In Portugal, people may also say things like:

• máquina de fotocópias
• fotocopiadora

Both are understandable. In a textbook sentence, fotocopiadora is perfectly standard.

Also notice the related noun:

• fotocópia = photocopy

Because bibliotecária is a feminine noun meaning female librarian, and Portuguese nouns normally take an article.

So:

• o bibliotecário = the male librarian
• a bibliotecária = the female librarian

The -a ending here matches the feminine form. The article a also agrees with that feminine noun.

In English, librarian does not usually show gender, but Portuguese often does.

Here nos means us.

So:

• deixa-nos / nos deixa = lets us / allows us
• não nos deixa = does not let us / doesn’t allow us

The structure is:

• deixar alguém fazer alguma coisa = to let someone do something

So:

• A bibliotecária não nos deixa rabiscar = The librarian doesn’t let us scribble

Here nos is the direct object of deixa.

In standard Portuguese, não pulls the object pronoun in front of the verb. This is called proclisis.

So the correct form is:

• não nos deixa

Not:

• não deixa-nos

This is especially important in European Portuguese, where pronoun placement is a big part of the grammar.

Compare:

• Deixa-nos rabiscar. = She lets us scribble.
  (affirmative main clause: pronoun can come after the verb)
• Não nos deixa rabiscar. = She doesn’t let us scribble.
  (negative: pronoun goes before the verb)

So the negative não is the trigger here.

Because after deixar meaning to let / allow, Portuguese commonly uses the pattern:

deixar + object + infinitive

So:

• deixa-nos rabiscar
• literally: lets us scribble

Other examples:

• A mãe deixa os filhos brincar. = The mother lets the children play.
• Não me deixam entrar. = They don’t let me enter.

So rabiscar stays in the infinitive because it is the action that someone is allowed or not allowed to do.

Not exactly. Rabiscar usually means something like:

• to scribble
• to scrawl
• to doodle

It suggests careless, rough, messy, or unnecessary writing/drawing.

So it is not neutral like escrever = to write.

Compare:

• escrever = to write
• desenhar = to draw
• rabiscar = to scribble / doodle

In this sentence, rabiscar fits well because the idea is probably that the librarian does not allow casual scribbling on paper, books, or surfaces while people are waiting.

Because enquanto here introduces a normal finite clause with its own subject and verb:

• enquanto esperamos = while we wait

The verb esperamos is in the present indicative, because it refers to a real, ongoing or habitual action.

Why not the infinitive?

• enquanto esperar is not right here because the clause needs a conjugated verb.

Why not esperarmos?

• esperarmos is the personal infinitive, and that is not the natural choice in this structure.
• After enquanto, when you mean while we are waiting / while we wait, the normal form here is esperamos.

So enquanto esperamos is the standard wording.

The subject is we, but Portuguese often omits subject pronouns when the verb ending already makes the subject clear.

So:

• esperamos = we wait / we are waiting

Because the ending -amos shows we, there is usually no need to say nós explicitly.

You could say enquanto nós esperamos, but that would usually sound more emphatic than necessary.

This is very common in Portuguese:

• falamos = we speak
• queremos = we want
• esperamos = we wait

So the sentence naturally leaves nós unstated.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Portuguese present tense often covers both:

• a general/habitual meaning: we wait
• a current ongoing meaning: we are waiting

In this sentence, enquanto esperamos most naturally means while we wait or while we’re waiting.

So the Portuguese does not need a separate form here in the same way English often does.

The sentence is mainly in the present and sounds like a general present situation or a habitual rule.

Parts of it are:

• faça = present subjunctive
• não nos deixa = present indicative
• esperamos = present indicative
• rabiscar = infinitive

The overall feeling is something like a general statement:

• even though the photocopier makes noise,
• the librarian does not allow us to scribble while we wait.

So this is not describing a completed past event. It sounds like a current or habitual situation.

Yes, the clearest European Portuguese point here is the pronoun placement:

• não nos deixa

European Portuguese strongly follows the standard clitic-placement rules, and learners notice this quickly. In affirmative sentences, EP often uses verb + pronoun:

• deixa-nos

But after a negative like não, the pronoun must move before the verb:

• não nos deixa

That pattern is important in both standard Portuguese varieties, but it is especially useful to pay attention to it when learning Portuguese from Portugal, because object pronoun placement is a very visible part of the grammar.