Breakdown of Neste clube, cada membro escolhe um livro diferente todos os meses.
Questions & Answers about Neste clube, cada membro escolhe um livro diferente todos os meses.
Neste is a contraction of the preposition em (in / at) + the demonstrative este (this).
- em + este → neste = in this / at this
- So Neste clube literally means In this club.
Because it is at the start of the sentence, it’s capitalized (Neste instead of neste), but it’s the same word.
- Neste clube = In this club (it specifies this particular club, with a demonstrative idea).
- No clube = contraction of em + o clube = in the club (more neutral: “in the club”, not necessarily emphasizing “this one here”).
So:
- Neste clube, cada membro… = In this club, each member…
- No clube, cada membro… = In the club, each member… (you’re talking about a club already known from context, but without stressing “this one here”.)
Neste clube is an introductory phrase that sets the context (“as for this club…” / “in this club…”).
In Portuguese, it is natural (and stylistically preferred) to separate this kind of introductory circumstantial phrase with a comma:
- Neste clube, cada membro escolhe…
You could sometimes see it without a comma in very informal writing, but the comma is the standard and clearer option.
In Portuguese, cada (each) is always followed by a singular noun, and it takes a singular verb:
- cada membro escolhe = each member chooses
You cannot say:
- ✗ cada membros
- ✗ cada membro escolhem
If you want a plural subject, you would use something like:
- Todos os membros escolhem um livro diferente…
(All the members choose a different book…)
Both are grammatically correct and very close in meaning:
- cada membro escolhe = each member chooses
- cada um dos membros escolhe = each one of the members chooses
Cada um dos membros is a bit more explicit and slightly more formal or emphatic, but in this context they mean the same thing. The original sentence is more natural and concise.
In Portuguese, the simple present is the normal way to talk about habits and repeated actions, just like English “chooses” in “each member chooses a different book every month”.
- cada membro escolhe um livro diferente todos os meses
= each member regularly / habitually chooses a book every month.
Está a escolher (European Portuguese progressive) would mean:
- cada membro está a escolher um livro diferente
= each member is (right now) in the process of choosing a different book.
That would describe something happening at this moment, not a regular club rule.
In Portuguese, most adjectives normally come after the noun:
- um livro diferente = a different book
Putting the adjective before the noun is possible in some cases but usually adds a stylistic or emotional nuance, or is used with certain common adjectives. For diferente, the natural position is after the noun.
Um diferente livro would sound strange and almost never occurs in normal speech.
On its own, um livro diferente is ambiguous; diferente just means different, without stating different from what.
In context:
- Neste clube, cada membro escolhe um livro diferente todos os meses.
Most native speakers will understand it primarily as:
- each member chooses a book that is different from the other members’ books (no two members choose the same book that month).
However, it can also be understood as:
- each member chooses a book that is different from the one they chose in previous months.
To be more explicit, you might say, for example:
- …um livro diferente dos livros dos outros membros.
(different from the other members’ books)
or
- …um livro diferente do que escolheu no mês anterior.
(different from what they chose the previous month)
Um livro = a book (non‑specific, any book that fits the rule).
O livro = the book (a specific book that the listener already knows).
Here, each month each member chooses some book; it is not a single, previously identified book. So the indefinite form um livro is the natural choice:
- cada membro escolhe um livro diferente
= each member chooses a different book (not a particular, known one).
- todos = all / every
- os = the (masculine plural definite article)
- meses = months
So todos os meses literally = all the months, which is used idiomatically as every month.
In Portuguese, structures like this normally include the article:
- todos os meses – every month
- todas as semanas – every week
- todos os dias – every day
Saying ✗ todos meses (without os) is not standard in European Portuguese.
The singular is mês (with an accent) because the vowel is stressed and closed.
The plural is meses and the accent disappears:
- singular: mês
- plural: meses
Portuguese spelling rules remove the accent in this plural form, so mêses is incorrect.
Yes. Time expressions like todos os meses are fairly flexible. All of these are correct, with small changes in emphasis:
- Neste clube, cada membro escolhe um livro diferente todos os meses.
- Neste clube, todos os meses cada membro escolhe um livro diferente.
- Todos os meses, neste clube, cada membro escolhe um livro diferente.
The original version is very natural and probably the most neutral.
In European Portuguese, todos os meses is very common and fully natural.
In Brazilian Portuguese, you will also hear todos os meses, but todo mês is extremely common:
- PT‑PT: todos os meses
- PT‑BR: todo mês (very frequent), todos os meses (also correct)
Since you are learning Portuguese from Portugal, todos os meses is the best model for you.