Se eu estudar todos os dias, posso tornar-me um melhor aluno.

If I study every day, I can become a better student.

Breakdown of Se eu estudar todos os dias, posso tornar-me um melhor aluno.

• eu: I
• um: a
• o dia: the day
• estudar: to study
• poder: to be able to
• se: if
• melhor: better
• todo: every
• o aluno: the student
• tornar-se: to become

Questions & Answers about Se eu estudar todos os dias, posso tornar-me um melhor aluno.

What tense is estudar in Se eu estudar todos os dias, and why not Se eu estudo?

Estudar here is in the future subjunctive (subjuntivo futuro), not the infinitive, even though it looks like the infinitive.

Portuguese uses the future subjunctive after se (if) when we talk about a future or hypothetical condition:

• Se eu estudar todos os dias, posso…
  If I study every day (from now on / in the future), I can…

If you said Se eu estudo todos os dias, it sounds wrong or at least very odd in this kind of conditional sentence. Estudo (present indicative) describes a factual, current habit, not a future condition.

Compare:

• Se eu estudar mais, vou passar no exame.
  If I study more (from now on), I’ll pass the exam.

• Eu estudo todos os dias.
  I study every day. (simple statement of fact, no “if”)

Can I drop eu and just say Se estudar todos os dias, posso tornar-me…?

Yes. Subject pronouns are often omitted in Portuguese when the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

• Se estudar todos os dias, posso tornar-me um melhor aluno.
  = Se eu estudar todos os dias, posso tornar-me um melhor aluno.

Keeping eu adds a bit of emphasis or clarity, especially in longer contexts or when you want to stress I in contrast to someone else.

Why is it posso tornar-me and not posso me tornar, and what’s the hyphen doing there?

Two things are going on: pronoun position and spelling with a hyphen.

1. Pronoun position (European Portuguese)
   In Portugal, the most natural standard order with an infinitive is:

   • posso tornar-me (can become myself → can become)

   The pronoun me is attached to the infinitive (tornar) instead of placed before posso.
   Saying posso me tornar is typical of Brazilian Portuguese, not European.

2. The hyphen
   When object/reflexive pronouns are attached after a verb (enclisis), they are written with a hyphen:

   • tornar + me → tornar-me
   • levantar + se → levantar-se
   • dizer + lhe → dizer-lhe

So in European Portuguese, posso tornar-me is the preferred and standard form in this sentence.

Why do we use tornar-me instead of just tornar?

Because tornar-se means “to become”, and it’s reflexive.

• tornar-se = to become (oneself something else)

  • Quero tornar-me médico. – I want to become a doctor.

• tornar without se usually means “to turn / make (something) into”:

  • Este curso pode tornar-te um profissional melhor.
    This course can make you a better professional.
  • O frio tornou a água em gelo.
    The cold turned the water into ice.

In your sentence, eu am the one changing, so you need the reflexive form tornar-me = to become.

Why is it um melhor aluno? Could I say um aluno melhor instead?

Both um melhor aluno and um aluno melhor are grammatically possible, but they feel a bit different.

• um melhor aluno

  • Very natural and common.
  • Focuses more directly on “a better student (than I am now)”.
  • With melhor, putting it before the noun is perfectly normal in Portuguese.

• um aluno melhor

  • Also correct.
  • Slightly more neutral or descriptive; in many contexts it would sound fine too.

In practice, with melhor (better), placing it before the noun (melhor aluno) is extremely frequent and sounds very natural here.

Could I drop um and say posso tornar-me melhor aluno?

You can say posso tornar-me melhor aluno, and people will understand, but:

• posso tornar-me um melhor aluno
  is more natural and idiomatic in this specific sentence.

Without um, it sounds a bit more abstract or compressed, like “I can become better-student,” whereas um melhor aluno clearly feels like “a better version of a student (myself).”

So the version with um is the safest, most natural choice.

Why is the adjective before the noun in melhor aluno when adjectives usually come after the noun in Portuguese?

You’re right that many adjectives normally come after the noun:

• um aluno inteligente – an intelligent student
• uma casa grande – a big house

But there are some adjectives that very often appear before the noun, and melhor is one of them:

• um melhor aluno / um aluno melhor – a better student
• uma melhor solução – a better solution

With melhor, both positions are possible, but before the noun is extremely common and sounds very natural: melhor aluno.

What’s the difference between aluno and estudante?

In this context, both could work, but there’s a nuance:

• aluno

  • Often used for school pupils, younger students, or in a teacher–student context.
  • Common in phrases like bom aluno (good pupil), mau aluno (bad pupil).

• estudante

  • A bit more general, often used for older students (e.g. university student).
  • Sounds slightly more formal or neutral.

In um melhor aluno, the idea is “a better (kind of) student/pupil,” and aluno fits very naturally.

Why is it todos os dias and not todos dias?

Because with todos + a countable noun in this sense, Portuguese normally needs the definite article:

• todos os dias – every day
• todas as semanas – every week
• todos os meses – every month

✗ todos dias (without os) is not correct here.

You could also say:

• cada dia – each day (a bit more “one by one” in feeling)

But todos os dias is the standard, most natural way to say “every day”.

Why is there a comma between Se eu estudar todos os dias and posso tornar-me um melhor aluno?

In Portuguese, when a conditional clause with se comes before the main clause, it’s normally followed by a comma:

• Se eu estudar todos os dias, posso tornar-me um melhor aluno.

If you invert the order, you usually drop the comma:

• Posso tornar-me um melhor aluno se eu estudar todos os dias.

So the comma is just standard punctuation separating the if-clause from the main clause.