Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Quando estiveres prestes a desistir, lembra‑te do teu objetivo. - When you are about to give up, remember your goal.

Portuguese often uses the future subjunctive after time/condition words like quando, se, enquanto when talking about something that might happen in the future:

Quando estiveres prestes a desistir… = When you are (one day / whenever you are) about to give up…
Quando estiveres em casa, liga‑me. = When you’re at home, call me.
Se estiveres cansado, diz‑me. = If you’re tired, tell me.

If you said Quando estás prestes a desistir, it would sound wrong to a native speaker in this context. The present indicative estás is not normally used after quando to refer to a future situation like this.

What exactly does prestes a mean, and how is it used?

Prestes a means “about to / on the verge of / just before doing something.”
It’s followed by an infinitive:

prestes a desistir = about to give up
prestes a chorar = about to cry
prestes a sair = about to leave

It describes something that is imminent, just about to happen, but hasn’t actually started yet.

Could I say Quando estiveres a desistir instead of Quando estiveres prestes a desistir?

You could say it, but the meaning changes slightly:

Quando estiveres prestes a desistir
= when you are on the verge of giving up (right before you give up)
Quando estiveres a desistir
= when you are in the process of giving up (the act of giving up is already happening)

Both are grammatically correct, but the original prestes a desistir focuses on the moment just before you give up, which fits better in motivational advice.

Why is there no tu in Quando estiveres prestes a desistir? Where did the subject go?

Portuguese is a pro‑drop (null-subject) language: subject pronouns like eu, tu, ele are often omitted because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

(Tu) estiveres clearly shows the subject is tu.
Adding tu is possible but usually for emphasis:
Quando tu estiveres prestes a desistir, lembra‑te…

In everyday speech and writing, the version without tu is more natural here.

What is lembrar‑te exactly, and why does the te come after the verb with a hyphen?

Lembrar‑te = lembrar (to remind / to remember) + te (reflexive pronoun “yourself”).

In European Portuguese, in an affirmative imperative (giving an order or advice):

Pronouns go after the verb and join with a hyphen:
- Lembra‑te. = Remember.
- Diz‑me. = Tell me.
- Ajuda‑o. = Help him.

The negative form is different: the pronoun goes before the verb and no hyphen:

Não te lembres do teu objetivo. = Don’t forget/remember your goal.

So here, lembra‑te is the affirmative imperative for tu, and the pronoun te must be attached with a hyphen.

What’s the difference between lembrar‑te and just lembrar? Why do we need te?

In Portuguese there are two related verbs:

lembrar alguém de algo = to remind someone of something
- Lembra‑me disso. = Remind me of that.
- Ela lembrou‑o do compromisso. = She reminded him of the appointment.
lembrar‑se de algo = to remember something (reflexive)
- Lembro‑me do teu objetivo. = I remember your goal.
- Lembra‑te do teu objetivo. = Remember your goal. (Tell yourself to remember it.)

In the sentence given, you are telling yourself to remember your own goal, so the reflexive form lembrar‑te (de) is correct:
Lembra‑te do teu objetivo.

Why is it do teu objetivo and not de o teu objetivo?

Portuguese contracts certain prepositions with definite articles.
Here:

de
- o → do

So:

de o teu objetivo is not allowed.
It must be do teu objetivo.

Other common contractions:

de + a = da
de + os = dos
de + as = das

Examples:

Lembra‑te do teu objetivo. = Remember your goal.
Fala da tua família. = Talk about your family.
Ele precisa dos documentos. = He needs the documents.

Why is it teu objetivo and not seu objetivo or vosso objetivo?

Because the sentence is addressing one person informally (tu).

Possessive adjectives:

For tu (informal singular): teu / tua / teus / tuas
- o teu objetivo = your goal (talking to one person, informal)
For você, ele, ela (and often formal address): seu / sua / seus / suas
- o seu objetivo = your/his/her goal (context decides)
For vocês (you plural): vosso / vossa / vossos / vossas
- o vosso objetivo = your (plural) goal

So:

teu objetivo → “your goal” (to tu, friendly/informal)
seu objetivo → would normally go with você or ele/ela, not with tu in European Portuguese.
vosso objetivo → talking to more than one person (“your [plural] goal”).

In European Portuguese, speakers usually avoid using seu with tu because it can be ambiguous (it could mean “his/her goal” instead of “your goal”).

Is lembra‑te really the imperative? How is this form built?

Yes, lembra‑te is the affirmative imperative for tu.

For regular ‑ar verbs like lembrar:

Present indicative (tu): lembras
Affirmative imperative (tu): lembra (drop the final ‑s)
Then attach the pronoun with a hyphen: lembra‑te

Compare:

(tu) falas → Fala! (Speak!) → Fala‑me! (Speak to me!)
(tu) ajudas → Ajuda! → Ajuda‑o!

Negative imperative uses the present subjunctive instead:

Não te lembres do teu objetivo. = Don’t (you) forget/remember your goal.
Não fales. = Don’t speak.
Não ajudes. = Don’t help.

Can I move the clause and say: Lembra‑te do teu objetivo quando estiveres prestes a desistir?

Yes. Portuguese word order is flexible with time/condition clauses like this.

Both are correct:

Quando estiveres prestes a desistir, lembra‑te do teu objetivo.
Lembra‑te do teu objetivo quando estiveres prestes a desistir.

The comma is used when the dependent clause (Quando estiveres…) comes first. When it comes second, it often doesn’t need a comma in a sentence this short.

How would this sentence typically look in Brazilian Portuguese?

A natural Brazilian Portuguese version would be:

Quando você estiver prestes a desistir, lembre‑se do seu objetivo.

Main differences compared to European Portuguese:

Você instead of tu (more common in Brazil).
lembre‑se instead of lembra‑te (imperative for você, with se).
seu objetivo instead of teu objetivo (possessive for você).
Pronoun placement: lembre‑se (still with hyphen in writing, also in Brazil).

Spoken Brazilian Portuguese might sometimes drop the subject pronoun:

Quando estiver prestes a desistir, lembre‑se do seu objetivo.

Could I use meta instead of objetivo? Is there a difference?

You can say:

Lembra‑te da tua meta.
Lembra‑te do teu objetivo.

In many motivational contexts, meta and objetivo overlap and can both mean goal / aim.

Subtle differences:

objetivo: more general “objective/goal”, common in everyday speech and in formal contexts.
meta: often “target / goal / finish line”; frequently used for concrete goals (e.g., marathon meta, sales targets), but also used figuratively for life goals.

In this sentence, meta and objetivo would both be understood as “your goal”, with almost no change in effect.