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Eu estudo português vinte minutos todas as manhãs.

Eu estudo português vinte minutos todas as manhãs.
I study Portuguese for twenty minutes every morning.

Breakdown of Eu estudo português vinte minutos todas as manhãs.

eu
I
português
Portuguese
estudar
to study
todas as manhãs
every morning
o minuto
the minute
vinte
twenty
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Questions & Answers about Eu estudo português vinte minutos todas as manhãs.

Why is it “Eu estudo” and not “Eu estou estudando” like “I am studying”?

Portuguese uses the simple present (eu estudo) much more often than English does.

  • Eu estudo português vinte minutos todas as manhãs.
    = I study Portuguese twenty minutes every morning.
    (This describes a habit / routine.)

  • Eu estou estudando português.
    = I am studying Portuguese.
    (This focuses on what you are doing right now or in a current period.)

For daily routines and habits, eu estudo is the natural choice in Portuguese, even though in English we might also say “I’m studying Portuguese every morning” in casual speech.

Can I leave out “Eu” and just say “Estudo português…”?

Yes. In Portuguese, the subject pronoun is often dropped because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

  • Eu estudo português…
  • Estudo português…

Both are correct and mean the same thing: “I study Portuguese…”

You keep “eu” if you:

  • want to emphasize I (not someone else), or
  • are speaking very clearly as a beginner and want to reinforce the subject.

Native speakers commonly say “Estudo português vinte minutos todas as manhãs.”

Why is “estudo” used here and not “estuda” or “estudam”?

Estudo is the 1st person singular (I) form of the verb estudar in the present tense.

Present tense of estudar:

  • eu estudo – I study
  • tu estudas – you study (informal, used in some regions)
  • você estuda – you study (standard “you” in Brazil)
  • ele/ela estuda – he/she studies
  • nós estudamos – we study
  • vocês estudam – you (plural) study
  • eles/elas estudam – they study

Because the sentence starts with Eu, the correct form is eu estudo.

Why is “português” not capitalized, unlike in English (“Portuguese”)?

In Portuguese, names of languages are not capitalized unless they begin a sentence.

  • Eu estudo português.
  • Ela fala inglês, espanhol e alemão.

In English we write:

  • I study Portuguese.
  • She speaks English, Spanish, and German.

So “português” is lowercase here simply because that’s the standard rule in Portuguese.

Why is there no article before “português”? Why not “o português”?

Both “estudar português” and “estudar o português” are grammatically correct, but they feel a bit different:

  • Estudo português.
    – Neutral, general: I study Portuguese (the language in general).

  • Estudo o português.
    – Emphasizes the language as a specific object/course; often sounds more formal or academic, e.g., “I study the Portuguese language (as a field of study).”

In everyday speech about learning the language, Brazilians most often say “estudar português” without the article.

Can I move “português” and say “Eu estudo vinte minutos português…”?

No, that word order sounds unnatural and confusing in Portuguese.

The usual, natural order is:
Eu estudo português vinte minutos todas as manhãs.

Standard pattern:
[subject] [verb] [direct object] [time/duration] [frequency/time of day]

So:

  • Eu (subject)
  • estudo (verb)
  • português (direct object)
  • vinte minutos (duration)
  • todas as manhãs (frequency/time)

You can move the time expressions around, but not by splitting verb and direct object like “estudo vinte minutos português”.

Why is it “vinte minutos” and not “vinte minuto”?

Minuto is a noun, and it must agree in number with the quantity:

  • 1 minuto – one minute
  • 2 minutos – two minutes
  • 20 minutos – twenty minutes

Any number greater than 1 uses the plural form: minutos.

Would it be more correct to say “por vinte minutos” or “durante vinte minutos” instead of just “vinte minutos”?

All three options are possible, with slightly different nuances:

  1. Estudo português vinte minutos…

    • Very natural and common in speech.
    • Simply states the duration: “I study Portuguese twenty minutes…”

  2. Estudo português por vinte minutos…

    • Explicitly adds the preposition por (“for”).
    • Also correct, but “por” is often dropped in short expressions of time.

  3. Estudo português durante vinte minutos…

    • Slightly more formal or emphatic.
    • Stresses the idea of duration more clearly: “for a period of twenty minutes.”

For everyday conversation, “vinte minutos” without por or durante is completely normal.

Why is it “todas as manhãs” and not “todo as manhãs” or “todos as manhãs”?

Agreement in gender and number is crucial:

  • manhã (morning) is feminine singular
  • manhãs (mornings) is feminine plural

So the words that go with it must also be feminine plural:

  • toda a manhã – the whole morning / every morning (singular)
  • todas as manhãs – every morning / all mornings (plural)

Therefore:

  • todas (feminine plural)
  • as (feminine plural article)
  • manhãs (feminine plural noun)

Forms like “todo as manhãs” or “todos as manhãs” are grammatically incorrect.

What’s the difference between “todas as manhãs” and “toda manhã”?

Both can be used to talk about habits, but they differ slightly in tone and structure:

  • todas as manhãs

    • Literally: “all the mornings”
    • Very clear and quite common: “every morning.”

  • toda manhã

    • Literally: “every morning” (no article, singular noun)
    • Also common and natural in speech.

Examples:

  • Eu estudo português vinte minutos todas as manhãs.
  • Eu estudo português vinte minutos toda manhã.

Meaning is practically the same. “Todas as manhãs” may sound a bit more explicit/standard; “toda manhã” a bit more colloquial/compact.

Why is “manhãs” in the plural? English says “every morning” (singular).

Portuguese can express this routine either in two ways:

  1. Plural:

    • todas as manhãs (“all the mornings” / “every morning”)
    • Emphasizes the idea of many repeated mornings.

  2. Singular:

    • toda manhã (“every morning”)
    • Uses a singular noun with toda.

Your sentence uses the plural pattern, very common with “todos/todas + os/as + plural noun”:

  • todos os dias – every day
  • todas as noites – every night
  • todas as manhãs – every morning
Can I put “todas as manhãs” at the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. Time expressions are flexible in Portuguese, and putting them at the beginning is very natural:

  • Todas as manhãs eu estudo português vinte minutos.
  • Eu estudo português vinte minutos todas as manhãs.

Both are correct and common. Starting with “Todas as manhãs” puts extra emphasis on the frequency (every morning).

Could I say “Todos os dias de manhã eu estudo português…” instead of “todas as manhãs”?

Yes. That’s another very natural way to say “every morning”:

  • Todos os dias de manhã, eu estudo português vinte minutos.
    = Every day in the morning, I study Portuguese for twenty minutes.

So you have several options with almost the same meaning:

  • todas as manhãs
  • toda manhã
  • todos os dias de manhã

The original sentence is just one of the natural choices.

Is “português” referring only to the language, or could it mean a Portuguese person?

Alone, português can mean:

  • the Portuguese language
  • a Portuguese man (nationality)

In your sentence, the meaning is clearly the language, because of the verb estudar (to study):

  • Eu estudo português – I study Portuguese (the language).

If you want to be explicit, you can say:

  • Eu estudo a língua portuguesa. – I study the Portuguese language.

But in everyday speech, “estudar português” is always understood as the language.

How do you pronounce “estudo” and “português”?

Approximate Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation (in English-like hints):

  • estudo:

    • es – like “ees” but very short
    • tu – like “too” (but shorter)
    • do – like “doo” (short)
    • Whole word: “ehs-TOO-doo”, stress on TU.

  • português:

    • por – like “poor” but the r is guttural or tapped (depending on accent)
    • tu – “too” (short)
    • guês – like “gays” but with a closed ê and final s like “ss”
    • Whole word: “pohr-too-GUEHS”, stress on GUÊS.

International Phonetic Alphabet (Brazilian pronunciation, roughly):

  • estudo – /esˈtudu/
  • português – /poɾtuˈɡes/
Is there any difference between “Estudo português vinte minutos…” and “Eu estudo português vinte minutos…” in politeness or formality?

There’s no real difference in politeness or formality; both are acceptable in all contexts. The difference is just:

  • Eu estudo…

    • Explicit subject. Clear, good for beginners, or when you really want to stress I.

  • Estudo…

    • Subject is implied by the verb ending. Feels slightly more natural and fluid to native speakers.

In writing (emails, messages, etc.), both are common. Dropping eu is perfectly normal and not rude.

Can I change the tense to talk about the past, like “I studied Portuguese twenty minutes every morning”?

Yes. You would change the verb estudar to the past (pretérito perfeito):

  • Eu estudei português vinte minutos todas as manhãs.
    = I studied Portuguese twenty minutes every morning.

Conjugation (pretérito perfeito of estudar):

  • eu estudei
  • você/ele/ela estudou
  • nós estudamos
  • vocês/eles/elas estudaram

The rest of the sentence (português vinte minutos todas as manhãs) can stay the same.

Could I say “Eu estudo o português por vinte minutos todas as manhãs” and still be correct?

Yes, that sentence is grammatically correct:

  • Eu estudo o português por vinte minutos todas as manhãs.

It sounds:

  • a bit more formal and explicit because of:
    • o português (with article)
    • por vinte minutos (explicit preposition).

In everyday, casual speech, Brazilians would more often say:

  • Eu estudo português vinte minutos todas as manhãs.

But your alternative is absolutely fine and clearly understood.