Learn Portuguese (Portugal): O meu pai mostrava-me os objetivos para o futuro. - My father used to show me the goals for the future.

In European Portuguese, object pronouns like me naturally attach to the end of the verb in affirmative sentences. Since this sentence is affirmative and doesn't contain any "magnet words" (like não or certain conjunctions) that would pull the pronoun before the verb, it connects to the end with a hyphen.

Is -me an indirect or direct object here?

It is an indirect object. The indirect object tells us to whom or for whom the action is done. The father is showing the goals (the direct object) to me. While the pronoun me looks exactly the same whether it is a direct or indirect object, in this specific sentence, it functions as the indirect object.

Why does mostrava translate to "used to show" instead of just "showed"?

Mostrava is in the imperfect past tense, which describes ongoing, descriptive, or habitual actions in the past. Translating it as "used to show" perfectly captures that the father did this regularly. If it had been a single, completed event (meaning he showed me only once), the simple past tense would be used instead: mostrou-me.

Why does the sentence start with O before meu pai?