Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Brazil): Eu quero ganhar tanto dinheiro para viajar com minha família. - I want to earn so much money to travel with my family.

In Portuguese, when one verb comes right after another (like querer, poder, precisar, gostar de, etc.), the second verb is usually in the infinitive without any extra word like “to” or para.

Eu quero ganhar = I want to earn
Literally: I want earn

You don’t need para between quero and ganhar. Adding para (Eu quero para ganhar...) is incorrect here and sounds foreign.

Can I drop the Eu and just say Quero ganhar tanto dinheiro para viajar com minha família?

Yes. In Portuguese, subject pronouns like eu, você, ele, etc. are often dropped because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

Eu quero ganhar... and Quero ganhar... are both correct.
In speech and informal writing, Quero ganhar... is very common and sounds natural.
Keeping Eu can add a bit of emphasis on I (e.g., I want to earn that much).

What is the difference between tanto dinheiro and muito dinheiro?

Both can translate as “a lot of money,” but there’s a nuance:

muito dinheiro – a lot of money, a large amount (more neutral).
tanto dinheiro – so much money / that much money, usually with an idea of intensity or comparison.

Examples:

Eu quero ganhar muito dinheiro.
I want to earn a lot of money. (just a big amount)
Eu quero ganhar tanto dinheiro que nem vou saber o que fazer.
I want to earn so much money that I won’t even know what to do.

In your sentence, tanto dinheiro suggests a large amount with some emotional emphasis or a goal in mind (enough to travel with the family, etc.).

Why does tanto come before dinheiro? Can I say dinheiro tanto?

No. The correct order is tanto dinheiro, never dinheiro tanto.

In Portuguese, quantity words like tanto, muito, pouco, bastante generally come before the noun:

tanto dinheiro – so much money
muito dinheiro – a lot of money
pouco dinheiro – little money

So dinheiro tanto is incorrect in standard Portuguese.

Could I say bastante dinheiro instead of tanto dinheiro? What would change?

Yes, you can:

Eu quero ganhar bastante dinheiro para viajar...

bastante dinheiro means “enough money” or “a lot of money,” often with a sense of “sufficient for some purpose.”

Nuance:

tanto dinheiro – so much money (stronger, more emotional or exaggerated).
bastante dinheiro – plenty of money / enough money (more practical and neutral).

Both are natural; it just slightly changes the feeling.

Why is it para viajar and not por viajar?

para is used to express purpose or goal:

ganhar dinheiro para viajar = earn money in order to travel.

por is used more for cause, reason, duration, exchange, etc.:

Fiz isso por você. – I did this because of / for you.
Trabalhei por três horas. – I worked for three hours.

Here, you’re expressing a purpose (the goal is to travel), so para viajar is correct and natural.
por viajar in this sentence would be wrong.

Is para viajar like saying “to travel” or “for traveling”?

Functionally, it’s like both:

para viajar = to travel / in order to travel / for traveling

In structures like verbo + para + infinitive, para + infinitive usually expresses purpose:

estudar para passar no exame – study to pass the exam
juntar dinheiro para comprar um carro – save money to buy a car

Why is it minha família and not meu família?

In Portuguese, possessive adjectives (meu/minha, seu/sua, etc.) must agree in gender and number with the thing possessed, not with the person who owns it.

família is a feminine noun (even though “family” in English has no gender).
So you use minha (feminine singular), not meu (masculine singular).

Examples:

minha casa (casa = feminine)
meu carro (carro = masculine)
minhas irmãs (irmãs = feminine plural)
meus irmãos (irmãos = masculine plural)

Should it be com minha família or com a minha família? Which is more natural?

Both are grammatically correct:

com minha família
com a minha família

In Brazilian Portuguese, adding the definite article (a, o, as, os) before possessives is very common and very natural:

com a minha família is probably the most common in everyday speech.
com minha família sounds a bit more formal or careful, but still correct.

So you can definitely say:

Eu quero ganhar tanto dinheiro para viajar com a minha família.

Does ganhar mean “earn” or “win” here?

ganhar can mean both “earn” and “win”; the context decides:

ganhar dinheiro – usually “earn money” (through work, salary, etc.)
ganhar na loteria – win the lottery
ganhar um prêmio – win a prize

In your sentence, ganhar tanto dinheiro is naturally understood as “earn so much money”.

Could I use receber instead of ganhar, like Eu quero receber tanto dinheiro...?

Grammatically yes, but the nuance changes:

ganhar dinheiro – to earn money (through work or some kind of gain; very common and natural).
receber dinheiro – to receive money (more neutral/passive: salary payment, a transfer, a gift, etc.).

Eu quero ganhar dinheiro sounds like “I want to earn money (by working, achieving something).”
Eu quero receber dinheiro can sound like “I want to be paid / receive money” (without focusing on effort).

For the usual “I want to earn a lot of money,” ganhar dinheiro is the best choice.

Is there a difference between viajar com minha família and viajar junto com minha família?

Yes, but it’s subtle:

viajar com minha família – travel with my family (already means “together with them”).
viajar junto com minha família – emphasizes the idea of being together, maybe to contrast with traveling alone or with other people.

Both are correct; com minha família is simpler and perfectly clear.

How would I say this more naturally if I mean “enough money to travel with my family”?

A very natural, goal‑oriented version in Brazilian Portuguese is:

Eu quero ganhar dinheiro suficiente para viajar com a minha família.

dinheiro suficiente = enough money
This sounds a bit clearer about the idea of “enough,” not just “a huge amount.”

Is the sentence okay as is, or would Brazilians usually change it?

Your sentence is grammatically correct and understandable:

Eu quero ganhar tanto dinheiro para viajar com minha família.

However, many Brazilians might prefer one of these slightly more idiomatic options:

Eu quero ganhar dinheiro suficiente para viajar com a minha família.
(I want to earn enough money to travel with my family.)
Eu quero ganhar tanto dinheiro que eu possa viajar com a minha família.
(I want to earn so much money that I can travel with my family.)
Eu quero ganhar muito dinheiro para viajar com a minha família.
(I want to earn a lot of money to travel with my family.)

All three sound very natural.

Why is the verb viajar in the infinitive and not conjugated like viajar com a minha família → viajo com a minha família?

After para expressing purpose, Portuguese normally uses the infinitive:

para viajar – to travel
para estudar – to study
para descansar – to rest

If you conjugate it (para viajo), it becomes wrong. After para + purpose, the correct form is para + infinitive:

Quero tempo para descansar.
Preciso de dinheiro para viajar.

Can I use pra instead of para here?

Yes, in Brazilian Portuguese pra is a very common spoken and informal contraction of para:

Eu quero ganhar tanto dinheiro pra viajar com a minha família.

Notes:

pra is extremely frequent in speech and informal writing (messages, chats).
In more formal texts, people usually write para, but many Brazilians also write pra informally without a problem.