Nós precisamos de coragem para mudar pequenos hábitos todos os dias.

We need courage to change small habits every day.

Breakdown of Nós precisamos de coragem para mudar pequenos hábitos todos os dias.

• o dia: the day
• nós: we
• precisar de: to need
• para: to
• o hábito: the habit
• todo: every
• pequeno: small
• mudar: to change
• a coragem: the courage

Questions & Answers about Nós precisamos de coragem para mudar pequenos hábitos todos os dias.

Do I have to say Nós, or can I just say Precisamos de coragem…?

You don’t have to say Nós.

In European Portuguese the subject pronoun is usually optional, because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

• Nós precisamos de coragem… – correct
• Precisamos de coragem… – also completely correct and very natural

Including Nós:

• adds emphasis or contrast (Nós need courage, maybe others don’t)
• can make the subject clearer in longer or more complex sentences

In a neutral sentence like this, most Europeans would more often say just Precisamos de coragem para mudar… in speech.

Why is it precisamos de coragem and not precisamos coragem?

Because in European Portuguese the verb precisar normally takes the preposition de when it is followed by a noun.

Pattern in Portugal:

• precisar de + noun
  
  • precisamos de coragem – we need courage
  • preciso de ajuda – I need help
  • eles precisam de dinheiro – they need money

So:

• ✔ Precisamos de coragem – correct in European Portuguese
• ✘ Precisamos coragem – sounds wrong/foreign in European Portuguese

(A common learner trick: after precisar, mentally add de unless you are absolutely sure it shouldn’t be there. That will almost always work in Portugal.)

Why doesn’t coragem have an article (a coragem / da coragem) here?

Coragem is an abstract, uncountable noun used in a general sense, so Portuguese often omits the article in this kind of structure:

• precisamos de coragem – we need courage (in general)
• precisamos de paciência – we need patience

You would use an article if you were talking about:

• a specific courage, or

• courage already defined/limited by context:

• a coragem de mudar – the courage to change (a more “defined” courage)
• a coragem do João impressiona-me – João’s courage impresses me

In your sentence the meaning is “courage in general”, so no article is the natural choice: de coragem.

Why is it para mudar and not por mudar?

Because para here expresses purpose / goal:

• precisamos de coragem para mudar
  → we need courage in order to change

Main contrast:

• para + infinitive = purpose, intention, objective
  
  • Estudo para passar no exame. – I study (in order) to pass the exam.
• por + infinitive (or noun) = cause, reason, motive
  
  • Fui castigado por chegar tarde. – I was punished for arriving late.

So:

• precisamos de coragem para mudar – we need courage so that we can change (purpose)
• ✘ precisamos de coragem por mudar – this doesn’t fit the intended meaning

Could I say para mudarmos pequenos hábitos instead of para mudar pequenos hábitos? What’s the difference?

Yes, both are grammatically correct in European Portuguese, but there is a nuance.

1. para mudar pequenos hábitos

   • Uses the impersonal infinitive.
   • Often understood to refer back to nós in context, but grammatically it does not mark the subject.
   • Neutral, very common in speech and writing.

2. para mudarmos pequenos hábitos

   • Uses the personal infinitive, agreeing with nós.
   • Makes it explicit that we (and not someone else) are the ones who must change the habits.
   • Slightly more formal or emphatic.

In your sentence, both are fine:

• Nós precisamos de coragem para mudar pequenos hábitos… – natural and common
• Nós precisamos de coragem para mudarmos pequenos hábitos… – stressing that we ourselves need to change our habits

Can I say hábitos pequenos instead of pequenos hábitos?

You could say hábitos pequenos, but it sounds unusual or marked in this context, and may suggest “habits that are small (in size)” rather than minor habits in importance.

In practice:

• pequenos hábitos

  • the most natural word order here
  • understood as small / minor habits or little habits
  • idiomatic in expressions like mudar pequenos hábitos, melhorar pequenos hábitos

• hábitos pequenos

  • grammatically possible
  • sounds more literal or odd; could be used if you really want to emphasise size/scale, but that’s not how people normally phrase it

So if you want to sound natural in European Portuguese, keep pequenos hábitos in this sentence.

Why is it todos os dias and not todos dias, todo dia, or cada dia?

In European Portuguese the normal expression for “every day” is:

• todos os dias – literally “all the days”

Structure:

• todos / todas + os / as + plural noun
  • todos os dias – every day
  • todas as semanas – every week

Alternatives and differences:

• ✘ todos dias – incorrect in European Portuguese (missing article)
• todo dia – common in Brazilian Portuguese; in Portugal people say todos os dias
• cada dia – “each day”, usually with a nuance of progression:
  
  • Cada dia estás mais forte. – Every day you’re stronger (day by day).
• todo o dia – “all day (long)”, not “every day”:
  
  • Trabalhei todo o dia. – I worked all day (the whole day).

So for simple frequency (“every day”) in Portugal, use todos os dias.

Why is the verb precisamos in the present tense if this is about an ongoing or repeated process?

Portuguese, like English, often uses the present tense to talk about:

• general truths
• habitual or repeated actions
• situations that are generally true now

Your sentence is of that type:

• Nós precisamos de coragem…
  = “We need courage…” (in general / regularly), not just at one specific future moment.

If you wanted a purely future situation, you could say:

• Precisaremos de coragem amanhã. – We will need courage tomorrow.

But when you’re describing a general attitude or habit (changing small habits every day), the present is the natural tense in both languages:

• Nós precisamos de coragem para mudar pequenos hábitos todos os dias.
  ≈ “We need courage to change small habits every day.”

Is there a difference between hábitos and costumes here?

Yes, there is a nuance:

• hábitos

  • personal or individual habits and routines
  • what a person repeatedly does
  • e.g. hábitos alimentares, hábitos de estudo

• costumes

  • customs, traditions, social or cultural habits
  • often collective practices of a group, region, or country
  • e.g. costumes portugueses, costumes de Natal

In your sentence:

• mudar pequenos hábitos
  → clearly about our own personal habits, so hábitos is the natural word.
  Costumes here would sound like you are changing cultural traditions, which is not the usual reading.

How do you pronounce Nós precisamos de coragem para mudar pequenos hábitos todos os dias in European Portuguese?

A careful European Portuguese pronunciation (Lisbon-style) is roughly:

• Nós – [nɔʃ]
• precisamos – [pɾɨ.si.ˈza.muʃ]
• de – [dɨ]
• coragem – [ku.ˈɾa.ʒẽj̃] (final -em like nasalized “ẽi”)
• para – [ˈpa.ɾɐ] (often reduced to something like [pɾɐ] in fast speech)
• mudar – [mu.ˈðaɾ]
• pequenos – [pɨ.ˈke.nuʃ]
• hábitos – [ˈa.bi.tuʃ]
• todos – [ˈto.duʃ]
• os – [uʒ] (links to the next word)
• dias – [ˈdi.ɐʃ]

Said together, a natural version is approximately:

[nɔʃ pɾɨsiˈzɐmuʃ dɨ kuˈɾaʒẽj̃ʃ pɾɐ muˈðaɾ pɨˈkenuʃ ˈa.bit uʃ ˈtoðuʒ ˈdi.ɐʃ]

Key points for learners:

• Final -s often sounds like [ʃ] or [ʒ] in European Portuguese.
• Many unstressed vowels reduce to a very short [ɨ] or [ɐ].
• -em at the end of words is usually a nasalized vowel, not pronounced like “em” in English.