Todos merecem respeito.

Todos means everyone or all people in this sentence.

Literally, todos is the masculine plural form of todo, which often means all or every. In Portuguese, the masculine plural can also be used for a mixed group or for people in general, so todos here works like everyone in English.

So:

• Todos merecem respeito. = Everyone deserves respect.

Even though todos literally looks like all (people), in natural English the best translation is often everyone.

Portuguese usually uses the masculine plural as the default for a general group of people.

So:

• Todos merecem respeito. = everyone / all people deserve respect

If you are talking only about women, you would say:

• Todas merecem respeito. = all women / everyone in the female group deserves respect

So the endings change like this:

• todo = every / all, masculine singular
• toda = every / all, feminine singular
• todos = all, masculine plural
• todas = all, feminine plural

In your sentence, todos is being used in a general sense.

Because the subject todos is plural.

The verb merecer means to deserve. Its present tense forms include:

• eu mereço = I deserve
• você/ele/ela merece = you/he/she deserves
• nós merecemos = we deserve
• vocês/eles/elas merecem = you all/they deserve

Since todos refers to multiple people, the correct form is merecem.

That is why:

• Todos merecem respeito.

and not:

• Todos merece respeito.

The infinitive, or dictionary form, is merecer, meaning to deserve.

In this sentence:

• merecem = they deserve / deserve with a plural subject

A few other examples:

• Eu mereço descanso. = I deserve rest.
• Você merece uma chance. = You deserve a chance.
• Eles merecem respeito. = They deserve respect.

In Portuguese, abstract nouns like respect, love, freedom, and patience are often used without an article when speaking generally.

So:

• Todos merecem respeito. = Everyone deserves respect.

This means respect in a broad, general sense.

If you said o respeito, it would sound more specific in many contexts, like the respect. For example:

• Todos merecem o respeito dos colegas. = Everyone deserves the respect of their colleagues.

So in your original sentence, no article is needed because the meaning is general and natural.

Here, respeito is a noun and means respect.

That matters because respeito can also be a verb form:

• eu respeito = I respect

So the word respeito can mean two different things depending on context:

• Todos merecem respeito. → respect (noun)
• Eu respeito você. → I respect you (verb)

In your sentence, after merecem, it clearly functions as a noun: people deserve respect.

Yes, absolutely. Todo mundo merece respeito is very common and natural in Brazilian Portuguese.

Compare:

• Todos merecem respeito. = Everyone deserves respect.
• Todo mundo merece respeito. = Everyone deserves respect.

The difference is mostly style:

• Todos merecem respeito sounds a little more direct, compact, and sometimes slightly more formal or slogan-like.
• Todo mundo merece respeito sounds very natural in everyday speech.

Notice the verb difference:

• todos is grammatically plural → merecem
• todo mundo is grammatically singular → merece

It does have that basic idea, but Portuguese and English package it differently.

In English, we usually say:

• Everyone deserves respect

More literally, Portuguese is using something like:

• All [people] deserve respect

Portuguese can use todos by itself to mean everyone / all people, while English usually needs everyone, everybody, or all of them, depending on the context.

So a word-for-word translation may feel awkward, but the meaning is completely natural in Portuguese.

A natural Brazilian pronunciation is approximately:

• TOH-doos meh-REH-seyn hehs-PEY-too

A few pronunciation notes:

• todos: the final -s is usually pronounced like s in Brazil, though the exact sound can vary by region.
• merecem: the final -em in Brazilian Portuguese often sounds nasal, something like ehng or eyn.
• respeito: the ei sounds like ay in say.
• In many Brazilian accents, the r at the beginning of a word or syllable can sound like an English h, so respeito may begin roughly like hes-.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• TO-dus meh-REH-sem hes-PEY-tu

Yes, but Todos merecem respeito is the most neutral and natural order.

Portuguese usually follows subject + verb + object here:

• Todos = subject
• merecem = verb
• respeito = object

You could rearrange words in special contexts for emphasis, but that would be less neutral. For a learner, the standard order is the best one to use:

• Todos merecem respeito.

Yes, but the meaning changes.

• Todos merecem respeito. = Everyone deserves respect.
• Eles merecem respeito. = They deserve respect.

Todos is broad and general.
Eles refers to a specific group already known from context.

So if you want the general statement everyone deserves respect, use todos or todo mundo, not eles.

It is neutral and works in many situations.

You could see it:

• in conversation
• in writing
• in campaigns or posters
• in speeches
• in school materials

It is short, clear, and natural. Because it is concise and general, it can also sound strong or slogan-like, which is why it works well in public messaging.

Yes. Some common alternatives are:

• Todo mundo merece respeito. = Everyone deserves respect.
• Todas as pessoas merecem respeito. = All people deserve respect.
• Toda pessoa merece respeito. = Every person deserves respect.

These are all natural, but they have slightly different tones:

• Todos merecem respeito. → concise, direct
• Todo mundo merece respeito. → very common in speech
• Todas as pessoas merecem respeito. → more explicit
• Toda pessoa merece respeito. → also clear, a bit more formal or careful

All of them express essentially the same idea.