Ontem, o bebé fez tanta birra que eu cheguei a pensar que ele estava doente.

Fazer birra is a very common expression in Portuguese, especially when talking about children. It means to throw a tantrum, to make a fuss, or to act up in a stubborn, crying, complaining way.

So o bebé fez birra is not literally the baby did a tantrum in English, but that is how Portuguese builds the idea: fazer + birra.

You will also hear:

• A criança fez uma birra.
• Ele está a fazer birra.

In this sentence, fez tanta birra means the baby’s tantrum was so intense that it led to the result in the second part of the sentence.

Both muita birra and tanta birra are possible, but they do different jobs.

• muita birra = a lot of tantruming / a lot of fuss
• tanta birra ... que ... = so much fuss ... that ...

In this sentence, the structure is a result pattern:

• tanto/tanta/tantos/tantas ... que ...
• so much / so many ... that ...

Because birra is feminine singular, it becomes tanta:

• tanta birra que...

So the sentence is using the classic so ... that ... structure.

That que introduces the result clause.

The pattern is:

• tanta birra que...
• so much fuss that...

So:

• O bebé fez tanta birra que eu cheguei a pensar...

means:

• The baby made so much fuss that I even started to think...

This que does not mean exactly the same thing as the second que later in the sentence. The first one links cause/intensity to result.

They have different functions.

1. fez tanta birra que...
   Here que means that in the sense of so ... that .... It introduces the consequence/result.

2. pensei que ele estava doente
   Here que introduces the content of the thought: that he was ill.

So the sentence has:

• a result clause
• then a content clause

This is completely normal in Portuguese, even if it feels repetitive to an English speaker.

Chegar a + infinitive often adds the idea of ending up doing something, even doing something, or going so far as to do something.

So:

• pensei que ele estava doente = I thought he was ill
• cheguei a pensar que ele estava doente = I even came to think he was ill / I actually ended up thinking he was ill

It gives extra emphasis. It suggests that the situation became serious or intense enough for that thought to occur.

In this sentence, it shows that the baby’s behaviour was so extreme that the speaker seriously considered illness as an explanation.

Here estava is the imperfect, and it sounds natural because it refers to a state seen from the speaker’s past point of view.

After verbs like pensar, achar, dizer, Portuguese often uses the imperfect to describe what someone believed to be the situation at that time:

• Pensei que ele estava doente.
• Achei que ela estava cansada.

This is similar to English I thought he was ill.

Using esteve would usually sound more like a completed event or bounded period of being ill, which is not the idea here. The speaker is talking about a state they suspected at that moment.

Yes. Bebé can be used with either article depending on the baby’s sex:

• o bebé = a male baby, or sometimes simply the baby when using masculine as a default/reference form
• a bebé = a female baby

So if the baby is a boy, o bebé is natural. If the baby is a girl, you would normally say a bebé.

In European Portuguese, bebé is the standard spelling. In Brazilian Portuguese, you normally see bebê.

No, it is not strictly necessary.

Portuguese often drops subject pronouns because the verb form already shows the person:

• cheguei already tells you it is I

So you could say:

• Ontem, o bebé fez tanta birra que cheguei a pensar que ele estava doente.

That would sound perfectly natural.

The speaker may include eu for:

• emphasis
• clarity
• rhythm
• contrast

In speech, pronouns appear more often when the speaker wants to be a bit more expressive.

It could sometimes be omitted if the reference is completely obvious, but here ele helps keep the sentence clear.

Without it:

• ...que eu cheguei a pensar que estava doente

this could sound less clear, because estava doente might momentarily seem to refer to the speaker or be slightly ambiguous in context.

Including ele makes the meaning straightforward:

• it was the baby who seemed ill

So even though Portuguese often omits subject pronouns, keeping ele here is very natural and useful.

Ontem is a time expression placed at the beginning of the sentence. The comma marks it off as an introductory element.

• Ontem, o bebé fez tanta birra...

In many cases, Portuguese writers may include or omit this comma, especially with short adverbials. So you may also see:

• Ontem o bebé fez tanta birra...

Both are possible. The comma makes the pause more visible and can make the sentence slightly easier to read.

No, but it is very common with children.

With children, birra usually means a literal tantrum. With adults, it can be more figurative and mean:

• sulking
• stubborn behaviour
• childish insistence
• being in a huff

For example:

• Não faças birra. = Don’t be childish / Don’t throw a tantrum.
• Ele ficou de birra. = He got sulky / He stayed in a bad, stubborn mood.

So in this sentence it is the very typical child-related meaning.

Yes. Doente is the general adjective for ill / sick / unwell.

So:

• ele estava doente can mean
  • he was ill
  • he was sick
  • he was unwell

The exact English choice depends on style and context. In many learning materials, ill is often a good fit because it avoids the extra meaning sick can have in English, such as feeling like vomiting.

In European Portuguese, bebé is stressed on the last syllable because of the accent:

• be-BÉ

That written accent is important because it shows the stressed syllable.

Also, this is a nice spelling clue for the Portugal/Brazil difference:

• European Portuguese: bebé
• Brazilian Portuguese: bebê

They are the same word, but the spelling reflects different standard pronunciation patterns.

Yes. A few natural variations are possible:

• Ontem, o bebé fez tanta birra que cheguei a pensar que estava doente.
• Ontem, o bebé fez uma birra tão grande que eu cheguei a pensar que ele estava doente.
• Ontem, o bebé chorou e fez tanta birra que eu pensei que ele estava doente.

These are not identical in nuance:

• cheguei a pensar is stronger and more emphatic than just pensei
• uma birra tão grande focuses more on the size/intensity of one tantrum
• omitting pronouns makes it slightly leaner and often more conversational

But the original sentence is very natural European Portuguese.