Breakdown of Eu quero melhorar a minha memória.
Questions & Answers about Eu quero melhorar a minha memória.
Yes. In European Portuguese you can normally omit the subject pronoun because the verb ending (-o in quero) already shows the subject is eu (I).
- Eu quero melhorar a minha memória. – perfectly correct, a bit more explicit.
- Quero melhorar a minha memória. – also perfectly correct, very natural.
You usually keep eu when you want to emphasize I (as opposed to someone else), or for contrast:
- Eu quero melhorar a minha memória, mas tu não queres.
Quero is the present tense, 1st person singular form of the verb querer (to want).
- querer = the infinitive form (dictionary form, “to want”)
- quero = “I want”
Present tense of querer (European Portuguese) is:
- eu quero – I want
- tu queres – you want (informal singular)
- ele / ela / você quer – he / she / you (formal) want
- nós queremos – we want
- vocês querem – you (plural) want
- eles / elas querem – they want
In European Portuguese, the possessive is normally used with a definite article:
- a minha memória – my memory
- o meu carro – my car
- os meus livros – my books
So a minha memória is the standard form.
There are a few common situations where the article is dropped (especially in European Portuguese):
- After the verb ser when identifying something:
- Este livro é meu. – This book is mine.
- In some vocative expressions / addresses:
- Ó meu amigo! – Oh my friend!
In Brazilian Portuguese, it is more common (but not obligatory) to drop the article:
- Quero melhorar minha memória. (Brazil)
Possessive adjectives in Portuguese agree in gender and number with the thing possessed, not with the owner.
- memória is a feminine singular noun.
- The corresponding possessive is minha (feminine singular).
Examples:
- o meu livro – my book (masculine singular)
- a minha casa – my house (feminine singular)
- os meus amigos – my (male/mixed) friends (masc. plural)
- as minhas chaves – my keys (fem. plural)
So: a minha memória = my memory (feminine singular).
In European Portuguese, using the article before the possessive is the norm, especially in neutral, careful speech:
- Quero melhorar a minha memória. – natural, standard.
Saying Quero melhorar minha memória sounds distinctly Brazilian or, at best, informal/marked in Portugal. People will understand you, but it isn’t the usual European pattern.
So, in Portugal, prefer: a minha memória.
- melhorar is a verb = to improve, to get better, to make better.
- melhor is an adjective/adverb = better, best.
You need a verb after quero:
- Eu quero melhorar a minha memória. – I want to improve my memory.
If you tried to use melhor as a verb, it would be ungrammatical:
- ✗ Eu quero melhor a minha memória. – incorrect.
You can use melhor in structures like:
- A minha memória está melhor. – My memory is better.
Yes, grammatically it’s fine, but the nuance changes slightly.
- Quero melhorar a minha memória. – clearly about my memory.
- Quero melhorar a memória. – more general: the memory, as a capacity (in context it will often still mean your own memory, but it feels a bit less personal or more abstract).
In everyday speech, if you mean your own memory, a minha memória is more natural.
Largely yes, but there are some nuances. Memória can mean:
Mental capacity to remember (like in the sentence):
- A minha memória está a piorar. – My memory is getting worse.
A specific memory / recollection, often:
- Tenho uma boa memória desse dia. – I have a good memory of that day.
For “a specific remembered event”, you’ll also hear lembrança:
- Tenho uma lembrança muito bonita da infância. – I have a very beautiful memory of my childhood.
For computer memory, you also use memória:
- memória RAM, cartão de memória.
Eu quero… is direct and perfectly acceptable in many contexts, but in European Portuguese, for something softer or more polite you often hear:
- Gostava de melhorar a minha memória. – Literally “I would like to improve my memory.”
- Queria melhorar a minha memória. – Literally “I wanted / would like to improve my memory.”
These past/conditional forms (gostava, queria) are very common as polite, less direct ways of expressing wants or wishes.
No, that word order is not natural in this sentence.
The usual order is: Subject – Verb – Object
- Eu quero melhorar a minha memória.
Infinitive verbs like melhorar normally follow the main verb (quero) or a preposition. You can’t move melhorar to the end here without making it sound wrong.
So, keep: [Eu] quero melhorar a minha memória.
memória is pronounced roughly like:
- [muh-MAW-rya] (European Portuguese, very approximate English-phonetic).
Breakdown:
- me- – like meh
- -mó- – stressed syllable; the ó is an open “aw” sound
- -ria – like rya (the r is a harder European Portuguese r)
The acute accent on ó ( mé–mó–ria) shows:
- That this syllable is stressed (mó).
- That the o is open (/ɔ/, similar to the “o” in off for many speakers).
Without the accent, the pronunciation and sometimes even the meaning could change.
Almost, but Brazilian Portuguese more often drops the article before the possessive:
EU (BP):
- Quero melhorar minha memória. – very natural in Brazil.
PT (Portugal):
- Quero melhorar a minha memória. – more natural in Portugal.
Both variants are understood in both countries, but if you’re specifically learning Portuguese from Portugal, use a minha memória.