Eu estou constipado e começo a tossir logo de manhã.

This is a very important false friend.

In European Portuguese, estar constipado usually means to have a cold, or to be bunged up / congested.

So:

• Estou constipado = I have a cold / I’m congested
• It does not usually mean I am constipated in the English sense

If you want to talk about constipation, Portuguese normally uses other expressions, such as:

• estar com prisão de ventre

This is one of the first vocabulary traps English speakers notice.

Portuguese usually uses estar for temporary states or conditions, and ser for more permanent identity or characteristics.

Here, having a cold is a temporary condition, so Portuguese uses:

• estou constipado

not:

• sou constipado

Compare:

• Estou doente = I’m ill right now
• Sou alto = I’m tall as a general characteristic

So estar is the natural choice here.

Yes, Portuguese often omits subject pronouns when they are clear from the verb ending.

So this sentence could also be:

• Estou constipado e começo a tossir logo de manhã.

That is completely natural.

Including Eu can add:

• emphasis
• contrast
• a slightly more explicit or personal tone

For example, if you were contrasting yourself with someone else, Eu might be especially useful.

So:

• Eu estou constipado... = acceptable and natural
• Estou constipado... = also very natural, and often more common in everyday speech

Because adjectives in Portuguese usually agree with the gender and number of the person they describe.

Here, constipado describes a male speaker.

So:

• constipado = masculine singular
• constipada = feminine singular
• constipados = masculine plural / mixed plural
• constipadas = feminine plural

Examples:

• Eu estou constipado. = said by a man
• Eu estou constipada. = said by a woman

After começar when it means to begin/start doing something, European Portuguese normally uses:

• começar a + infinitive

So:

• começo a tossir = I begin to cough / I start coughing

This is a very common pattern:

• começo a trabalhar = I start working
• começou a chover = it started raining
• começámos a falar = we started talking

For an English speaker, this is similar to start to do or begin to do.

Because after começar a, Portuguese uses the infinitive of the next verb.

So the structure is:

• começo = I begin
• a tossir = to cough

Together:

• começo a tossir = I begin to cough

You do not conjugate the second verb here. That is why it is tossir, not something like tosso.

It can suggest a current situation with a habitual/repeated pattern.

In this sentence:

• estou constipado describes the speaker’s current condition
• começo a tossir logo de manhã suggests something that typically happens during this period of illness, especially in the mornings

So the present tense here is not necessarily a single action happening at the exact moment of speaking. It can describe what usually happens right now in the speaker’s current situation.

English does something similar:

• I’ve got a cold and I start coughing first thing in the morning.

Logo de manhã means something like:

• early in the morning
• first thing in the morning
• as soon as it’s morning

Here logo gives the idea of right away / early / soon, depending on context.

So:

• começo a tossir logo de manhã = I start coughing first thing in the morning

It is a very natural time expression in Portuguese.

Because de manhã is the normal fixed expression for in the morning in Portuguese.

The usual time-of-day expressions are:

• de manhã = in the morning
• de tarde = in the afternoon
• à noite = at night / in the evening

So Portuguese does not normally say na manhã when it simply means in the morning in a general time sense.

Na manhã is possible in more specific contexts, for example:

• na manhã de segunda-feira = on Monday morning

But in this sentence, logo de manhã is the natural everyday expression.

Yes, and in fact that is exactly what the sentence already does.

The subject eu appears once at the beginning:

• Eu estou constipado...

Then it is understood again with the next verb:

• ...e começo a tossir...

Portuguese does not need to repeat eu because the verb ending -o in começo already shows the subject is I.

You could say:

• Eu estou constipado e eu começo a tossir...

but that would usually sound unnecessarily repetitive unless you wanted strong emphasis.

Yes. Tossir is the standard verb meaning to cough.

Examples:

• Estou a tossir. = I am coughing.
• Ele tosse muito. = He coughs a lot.
• Começo a tossir à noite. = I start coughing at night.

The noun is:

• tosse = cough

So:

• Tenho tosse. = I have a cough.

The sentence is understandable in Brazil, but some parts may sound less typical there.

Two main points:

1. constipado

   • In European Portuguese, this commonly means having a cold / congested
   • In Brazilian Portuguese, people more often say:
     • resfriado = having a cold
     • gripado = having flu / flu-like symptoms

2. The rest of the sentence is fine, but Brazilians might phrase things slightly differently depending on context.

A Brazilian might more naturally say something like:

• Estou resfriado e começo a tossir logo de manhã.

So the original sentence is especially characteristic of Portugal because of constipado.

Yes, logo often means soon, right away, or immediately, but the exact meaning depends on context.

In logo de manhã, it does not mean immediately in an abstract sense. Instead, it forms a common expression meaning:

• early in the morning
• as soon as morning comes
• first thing in the morning

So here it is tied to the time expression de manhã, not just standing alone.

Not with the same meaning.

• começo a tossir = I begin to cough
• começo por tossir usually means something more like I start by coughing as the first step in a sequence

That second version would sound odd in this context unless you were describing a sequence of events in a very specific way.

So for symptoms beginning, começar a + infinitive is the correct and natural pattern:

• começo a tossir

Yes, you can move the time expression.

These are all possible:

• Eu estou constipado e começo a tossir logo de manhã.
• Eu estou constipado e, logo de manhã, começo a tossir.
• Logo de manhã, começo a tossir porque estou constipado.

Putting logo de manhã earlier gives it more emphasis.

The original order is very natural and neutral. Portuguese word order is fairly flexible, especially with adverbial expressions like this.

Only the adjective changes:

• Eu estou constipada e começo a tossir logo de manhã.

The rest stays the same.

That is because constipado/constipada must agree with the speaker’s gender, but the verbs do not change because the subject is still eu.