Mesmo com o desvio, chegámos a horas, porque saímos cedo e ninguém tentou acelerar demasiado.

Mesmo com means even with or despite having in this sentence.

• mesmo = even
• com = with

So Mesmo com o desvio means Even with the detour.

This is a very common structure in European Portuguese:

• Mesmo com chuva, fomos sair. = Even with rain, we went out.
• Mesmo com pouco tempo, acabou o trabalho. = Even with little time, he/she finished the work.

It introduces a difficulty or obstacle, but the main action still happened.

Desvio usually means detour, diversion, or deviation, depending on context.

In this sentence, it most naturally means a detour in the road or route.

Examples:

• Houve um desvio por causa das obras. = There was a detour because of roadworks.
• O autocarro fez um desvio. = The bus took a diversion.

So here it suggests they did not take the normal route.

In European Portuguese, chegámos is the 1st person plural preterite of chegar: we arrived.

The accent is important because it distinguishes it from chegamos, which can be present tense in some contexts:

• chegámos = we arrived
• chegamos = we arrive

This spelling distinction is especially associated with European Portuguese.

Compare:

• Hoje chegamos cedo. = Today we arrive early.
• Ontem chegámos cedo. = Yesterday we arrived early.

So the accent helps show that this sentence is talking about a completed past action.

Saímos has an accent because of the stress pattern and vowel sequence.

It is the 1st person plural form of sair and can mean either:

• we left
• we go out

The accent on í shows that the i is pronounced separately, not merged into one syllable.

Examples:

• Saímos cedo de casa. = We left home early.
• Ao sábado, saímos à noite. = On Saturdays, we go out at night.

In your sentence, the context makes it clearly past: porque saímos cedo = because we left early.

A horas is a common expression meaning on time, in good time, or not late.

So:

• chegar a horas = to arrive on time

This is a fixed expression in Portuguese.

Compare:

• Chegámos a horas. = We arrived on time.
• Não cheguei a horas. = I didn’t arrive on time.

Na hora usually means something more like:

• at the exact time
• at that moment
• sometimes right away, depending on context

Examples:

• Ele chegou na hora marcada. = He arrived at the appointed time.
• Percebi na hora. = I understood immediately / right then.

So in this sentence, a horas is the natural idiom.

Here porque means because, so it is written as one word with no accent.

Portuguese has several similar-looking forms:

• porque = because
• porquê = the reason / why (usually as a noun, often with an article)
• por que = why / for which reason / by which
• por quê = why, usually at the end of a question

In your sentence:

• chegámos a horas, porque saímos cedo = we arrived on time because we left early

That is a straightforward cause, so porque is correct.

Because ninguém means nobody / no one, and it is grammatically singular.

So the verb must also be singular:

• ninguém tentou = nobody tried

Examples:

• Ninguém veio. = Nobody came.
• Ninguém sabia. = No one knew.

Even though ninguém refers to multiple possible people in meaning, grammatically it behaves like a singular subject.

Here demasiado means too much or excessively.

In acelerar demasiado, it means:

• to speed up too much
• to drive too fast / accelerate excessively

Examples:

• Falaste demasiado. = You talked too much.
• O carro acelerou demasiado. = The car accelerated too much.

So demasiado often expresses excess.

Tentou acelerar means tried to speed up.

This is slightly different from simply saying acelerou:

• acelerou = sped up
• tentou acelerar = tried to speed up

Using tentou suggests that no one made an effort to drive faster in order to make up time. It focuses on the attempt, not just the action itself.

Compare:

• Ninguém acelerou. = Nobody sped up.
• Ninguém tentou acelerar. = Nobody even tried to speed up.

So the original sentence is a bit more nuanced.

The phrase Mesmo com o desvio is an introductory element placed before the main clause:

• Mesmo com o desvio, chegámos a horas

The comma helps separate that opening phrase from the main statement. In writing, this is very common and natural.

Without the comma, the sentence would still be understandable, but the comma makes the structure clearer.

The comma before porque separates the main statement from the explanation:

• chegámos a horas = main statement
• porque saímos cedo e ninguém tentou acelerar demasiado = explanation

In Portuguese, a comma before porque is often used when the second part is an explanatory clause. In many real texts, you may also see sentences without the comma before porque, depending on style and rhythm.

So here it is a normal punctuation choice, helping the sentence read more clearly.

Here cedo is an adverb.

It modifies the verb saímos:

• saímos cedo = we left early

It tells us when they left.

Compare:

• um voo cedo would not be natural in the same way
• sair cedo is a very common verbal expression

Examples:

• Acordei cedo. = I woke up early.
• Chegaram cedo. = They arrived early.

The word order is very natural in Portuguese:

• Mesmo com o desvio = sets up the obstacle first
• chegámos a horas = gives the main result
• porque saímos cedo e ninguém tentou acelerar demasiado = explains why

This order is good for emphasis. It highlights the surprising part first: even with the detour.

A more neutral version could also be:

• Chegámos a horas, mesmo com o desvio, porque saímos cedo...

But the original sounds more elegant and slightly more emphatic.

Yes, apesar do desvio would also work.

• Mesmo com o desvio = even with the detour
• Apesar do desvio = despite the detour

Both express contrast, but they are not identical in tone:

• mesmo com sounds a bit more direct and conversational
• apesar de can sound slightly more formal or more explicitly concessive

So:

• Mesmo com o desvio, chegámos a horas.
• Apesar do desvio, chegámos a horas.

Both are correct and natural.

Yes, the clearest sign is chegámos with the accent, which is the standard European Portuguese spelling for the preterite we arrived.

A Brazilian learner would often see:

• chegamos for both present and preterite, with context showing the meaning

Also, the overall sentence sounds perfectly natural in Portugal:

• chegar a horas
• ninguém tentou
• demasiado

These are all fully normal in European Portuguese.

A rough guide for a native English speaker:

• chegámos ≈ shuh-GAH-moosh or shuh-GAH-moos
  The ch in Portuguese here sounds like sh.

• saímos ≈ sah-EE-moosh or sah-EE-moos
  The stressed part is í.

• ninguém ≈ neen-GAYNG
  The final -ém is nasal.

A few important pronunciation points in European Portuguese:

• unstressed vowels are often reduced
• ch is usually like English sh
• final -m often nasalises the vowel before it rather than being fully pronounced like an English m

These are only approximations, but they can help you get close at first.