Breakdown of Eu quero ouvir essa música de novo.
Questions & Answers about Eu quero ouvir essa música de novo.
"Quero" is the present tense of "querer" (to want):
- Eu quero = I want
Portuguese, like English, uses the present tense of "want" to talk about what you want right now or in the near future:
- Eu quero ouvir essa música de novo.
I want to listen to that song again. - Eu quero viajar amanhã.
I want to travel tomorrow.
So "quero" here is just present simple, not future. The infinitive "ouvir" (to listen/hear) follows "querer", like in English:
- I want to listen
- Eu quero ouvir
Both "ouvir" and "escutar" are often translated as "to listen" or "to hear", and in many contexts Brazilians use them almost interchangeably.
- ouvir – literally to hear; more general and very common
- escutar – closer to to listen (pay attention), a bit more active
In practice for music:
- Eu quero ouvir essa música de novo.
- Eu quero escutar essa música de novo.
Both are natural. Many Brazilians would slightly prefer "ouvir música", but "escutar música" is also widely used. You don’t change the structure of the sentence; you just swap the verb.
Portuguese has three demonstratives:
- esta – this (near the speaker)
- essa – that (near the listener or already known in context)
- aquela – that (far from both, more distant)
In Brazilian Portuguese, in everyday speech, "essa" is very often used where English would say “this” when referring to something in the conversation:
- Essa música = this/that song (we’re talking about right now / you just played)
"Esta música" sounds a bit more formal or careful, and is less common in casual speech in Brazil.
"Aquela música" would be like that song (over there / from before / more distant in context).
So "essa música" is the most natural choice when referring to a specific song you both know or just heard.
In Portuguese, every noun has a grammatical gender: masculine or feminine.
"Música" ends in -a, and in most cases, nouns ending in -a are feminine.
- a música – the song (feminine)
- essa música – that song (feminine)
The demonstrative must agree in gender with the noun:
- esse carro (masculine) – that car
- essa música (feminine) – that song
- aquele livro (masculine) – that book (far)
- aquela casa (feminine) – that house (far)
So we say "essa música", not "esse música".
You can omit "Eu", and it’s very common in Portuguese:
- Eu quero ouvir essa música de novo.
- Quero ouvir essa música de novo.
Both are correct and natural.
The verb ending "-o" in "quero" already tells us the subject is "eu" (I). So the pronoun is optional unless you want to emphasize it:
- Eu quero ouvir essa música de novo, não ele.
I want to listen to that song again, not him.
Both mean "again":
- de novo – literally of new, very common, informal-neutral
- novamente – more formal/literary, still perfectly correct
You could say:
- Eu quero ouvir essa música de novo.
- Eu quero ouvir essa música novamente.
The meaning is the same. In everyday Brazilian speech, "de novo" is much more frequent and sounds more casual/natural.
Yes, you can change the position of "de novo":
- Eu quero ouvir essa música de novo.
- Eu quero ouvir de novo essa música.
Both are grammatically correct and understandable. The most common and neutral order is the original:
- Eu quero ouvir essa música de novo.
Putting "de novo" between the verb and the object is possible, but a bit less typical in this short sentence.
After "querer" (to want), Portuguese normally uses the infinitive of the next verb:
- Eu quero ouvir. – I want to listen.
- Eu quero comer. – I want to eat.
- Eu quero dormir. – I want to sleep.
"Ouço" is present tense (I hear/listen):
- Eu ouço música. – I listen to music.
If you used "ouço" in this sentence, you’d get a different meaning and a wrong structure:
- ✗ Eu quero ouço essa música de novo. (incorrect)
You must keep the second verb in the infinitive after "quero": quero ouvir.
No article is needed here. "Essa" already contains the idea of a determiner (like this/that), so you don’t add "a" before it.
- essa música – that song
- a música – the song
- ✗ a essa música – usually wrong in this kind of sentence
You use "a essa música" only in specific grammatical structures (for example with prepositions: vou me referir a essa música – I will refer to that song), but not as a normal direct object like in your sentence.
Approximate Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation:
quero – KEH-roo
- que sounds like “keh” (not “kwee”)
- ro is like “roo” but shorter and with a light tap of the r (like a very quick American “tt” in butter)
ouvir – oh-VEER
- ou = like the “o” in go
- vir = “veer” (the r is guttural in many Brazilian accents, but at the end of the word it’s often weak or almost silent depending on the region)
música – MOO-zee-kah
- stress on MÚ (MÚ-sica)
- s between vowels sounds like “z”
- final ca is like “kah”
Yes, you can:
- Eu quero ouvir música de novo.
This means “I want to listen to music again” in general, not a specific song.
When you say:
- Eu quero ouvir essa música de novo.
you are referring to a particular song that both speakers know (the one just played, the one you mentioned, etc.).
So:
- com "essa" → specific song
- sem "essa" → music in general
Yes, you can, and it’s very natural:
- Eu quero ouvir essa música de novo. – I want to listen to that song again.
- Eu gostaria de ouvir essa música de novo. – I would like to listen to that song again.
"Eu quero" is more direct (like English I want).
"Eu gostaria" is more polite/soft, like English I would like.
Grammatically:
- quero + infinitive: quero ouvir
- gostaria de + infinitive: gostaria de ouvir
They mean almost the same:
- de novo – again, very common and casual
- outra vez – literally another time, also common, maybe slightly more neutral or “standard”
Examples:
- Eu quero ouvir essa música de novo.
- Eu quero ouvir essa música outra vez.
Both are correct. In conversation, "de novo" is more frequent for many Brazilians, but you will hear "outra vez" too.