Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Brazil): Minha mãe quer que meu pai faça exercício também. - My mother wants my father to exercise as well.

Minha mãe quer fazer exercício. = My mother wants to exercise.
→ She herself is doing the exercising.
Minha mãe quer que meu pai faça exercício. = My mother wants my father to exercise.
→ Someone else (my father) is doing the exercising.

You can’t say Minha mãe quer meu pai faz exercício; that’s ungrammatical. You must use que and the subjunctive (faça).

Why is it faça and not faz or fazer?

Faça is the present subjunctive form of fazer for ele/ela/você.

fazer = infinitive (to do / to make)
faz = present indicative (he/she does; he/she makes)
faça = present subjunctive (that he/she do; that he/she make)

After expressions of wish, desire, command, doubt, emotion, etc., Portuguese usually uses the subjunctive in the subordinate clause. Querer que is one of the classic triggers.

So:

Ele faz exercício. = He exercises. (a fact → indicative)
Minha mãe quer que ele faça exercício. = My mother wants him to exercise. (a wish about someone else → subjunctive)

When do I generally use the subjunctive in sentences like this?

In sentences of the type [main clause] + que + [subordinate clause], you often use the subjunctive in the second part when the main verb expresses:

Wish / desire:
- Quero que você venha. (I want you to come.)
- Minha mãe quer que meu pai faça exercício.
Request / order / advice:
- Peço que você espere. (I ask that you wait.)
- Ela recomenda que ele estude mais.
Emotion / evaluation:
- Fico feliz que você esteja aqui. (I’m happy that you’re here.)

So quer que + [someone] + faça is a textbook case for the subjunctive.

Why is it fazer exercício and not fazer exercícios, and why is there no article?

Both fazer exercício and fazer exercícios are possible:

fazer exercício – exercise in a general, almost uncountable sense (the activity of exercising)
fazer exercícios – more like “do exercises”, implying individual exercises or workouts

In this sentence, faça exercício is just the standard, idiomatic way to say “exercise” as an activity.

There’s no article (o / um) because the expression fazer exercício is usually used without an article, just like English exercise used as a mass noun:

Ele precisa fazer exercício. = He needs to exercise.
Eles fazem exercício todo dia. = They exercise every day.

What does também mean here, and can it go in a different place?

Here também means too / also.

In this position:

Minha mãe quer que meu pai faça exercício também.
→ Focuses on “my father too” (e.g., maybe someone else already exercises and now she wants him to exercise as well).

You can move também, and the nuance changes slightly:

Minha mãe também quer que meu pai faça exercício.
→ My mother also wants my father to exercise.
(Someone else – maybe I, or my sister – already wants that; she also wants it.)
Minha mãe quer também que meu pai faça exercício.
→ Grammatically OK, slightly more formal/marked; emphasizes that among several wishes, this is also one.

Position is flexible, but the last word position (...exercício também) is very natural in speech when you mean “too” referring to the subject of the clause (meu pai).

Why is it minha mãe but meu pai?

Minha / meu agree with the grammatical gender of the noun, not with the actual person’s sex:

mãe is grammatically feminine → minha mãe
pai is grammatically masculine → meu pai

Same pattern:

minha filha, meu filho
minha tia, meu tio

So you always choose minha for feminine nouns and meu for masculine nouns.

Could I say a minha mãe quer que o meu pai faça exercício também, like in European Portuguese?

In Brazilian Portuguese, the most natural, everyday version is:

Minha mãe quer que meu pai faça exercício também.

Using the article:

A minha mãe quer que o meu pai faça exercício também.

is possible, especially in some regions or for emphasis, but it can sound a bit more marked or closer to European Portuguese style.

In European Portuguese, a minha mãe / o meu pai is very normal and common. In Brazil, minha mãe / meu pai (without the article) is the default.

Can I drop the possessives and just say Minha mãe quer que pai faça exercício também?

No, not like that. You normally must use the possessive:

Minha mãe quer que meu pai faça exercício também. ✅

Without meu, pai sounds incomplete and odd here.

If the context is clear, you can replace meu pai with a pronoun:

Minha mãe quer que ele faça exercício também.
= My mother wants him to exercise too.

But you don’t normally say que pai faça by itself in this context.

Could I say se exercitar instead of fazer exercício?

Yes, a very natural alternative is:

Minha mãe quer que meu pai se exercite também.

Here se exercitar is a reflexive verb meaning to exercise oneself, and se exercite is the subjunctive form for ele/ela/você.

Difference in feel:

fazer exercício – extremely common, everyday, neutral.
se exercitar – also common, maybe slightly more formal in some contexts, but fully natural.

Both versions are correct and idiomatic:

Minha mãe quer que meu pai faça exercício também.
Minha mãe quer que meu pai se exercite também.

Is the word order fixed, or can I rearrange parts of the sentence?

The basic order is:

[Subject] + [main verb] + que + [subject of subordinate clause] + [subjunctive verb] + (rest)

So:

Minha mãe quer que meu pai faça exercício também.

You can move também around for nuance (as shown earlier), and you can replace meu pai with a pronoun (ele):

Minha mãe quer que ele faça exercício também.

But you can’t do things like:

Quer minha mãe que meu pai faça exercício também.
→ Grammatically possible, but very unusual and very formal/poetic in modern Brazilian Portuguese.

For everyday use, stick to the original word order.

How do I pronounce tricky parts like mãe, exercício, and também?

Approximate Brazilian Portuguese pronunciations:

Minha → roughly “MEEN-ya” (the nh is like Spanish ñ or ny in canyon).
Mãe → nasal vowel, roughly “mah-eeng” said as one syllable; the ã is nasal.
Quer → roughly “keh(r)”, short e, final r often very soft or almost silent depending on region.
Faça → “FAH-sah”.
Exercício → roughly “eh-zehr-SEE-see-o” (the ç is like s in see).
Também → roughly “tahm-BENG”, with a nasal final sound; m after ã signals nasalization.

You don’t need to be perfect at the nasal vowels at first; being close (slightly nasal on ã / ẽ) will usually be understood.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral?

Minha mãe quer que meu pai faça exercício também. is neutral, natural in both spoken and written Brazilian Portuguese.

You could hear it:

at home in casual conversation,
in a doctor’s office,
in a text message,
or in more formal writing.

It’s standard, everyday language, neither slangy nor overly formal.