Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Para manter a presença no clube, preciso de respeitar esse horário fixo. - To keep my attendance in the club, I need to respect that fixed schedule.

In Brazilian Portuguese, people very often drop the de before an infinitive and say preciso respeitar, but in Portugal that sounds either Brazilian or just incorrect/very informal. For European Portuguese, keep precisar de + [noun / infinitive].

What exactly does preciso mean here? Is it a verb or an adjective?

In this sentence, preciso is the first‑person singular of the verb precisar:

(Eu) preciso de… = I need (to)…

There is also an adjective preciso in Portuguese meaning “precise / exact”, but that’s not the meaning here. You can tell it’s a verb because it’s followed by de + infinitive (a typical pattern for verbs of necessity in Portuguese):

É preciso respeitar esse horário. – It is necessary to respect that schedule. (here preciso is part of an impersonal expression, still related to necessity)

Could I replace preciso de with tenho de or tenho que? Would it change the meaning?

You can, and the meaning is almost the same: necessity / obligation.

Preciso de respeitar esse horário fixo.
Tenho de respeitar esse horário fixo.
Tenho que respeitar esse horário fixo.

All three are understandable in Portugal.

Nuances in European Portuguese:

tenho de – Very common, sounds natural and neutral; expresses obligation/need (similar to “I have to”).
tenho que – Also used, but many speakers (especially in more careful or traditional usage) prefer tenho de.
preciso de – Focuses a bit more on personal need rather than external obligation, but in everyday speech the difference is small.

So you can safely say Tenho de respeitar esse horário fixo in Portugal as a very natural alternative.

Why is there a comma after Para manter a presença no clube? Is it necessary?

The comma separates a subordinate clause of purpose from the main clause:

Para manter a presença no clube, (purpose)
preciso de respeitar esse horário fixo. (main statement)

In written Portuguese, it is normal and recommended to put a comma when a subordinate clause comes before the main clause, as here.

If you invert the order, you normally don’t use a comma:

Preciso de respeitar esse horário fixo para manter a presença no clube.

So in the original word order, the comma is stylistically and grammatically appropriate.

Could I say manter a minha presença no clube instead of manter a presença no clube?

Yes, you could say:

Para manter a minha presença no clube, preciso de…

The meaning is basically the same (to maintain my presence at the club). Differences:

a presença – can sound a bit more general or impersonal (as if you’re thinking of “one’s presence” as a status or condition).
a minha presença – explicitly marks that you’re talking about your own presence; slightly more personal/emphatic.

In practice, both are natural, and speakers often leave out the possessive when context makes it obvious whose presence is meant, as in your sentence.

Could I drop the article and say manter presença no clube?

That would sound odd in European Portuguese in this context. Normally, with abstract nouns like presença and a specific, concrete context (no clube), Portuguese uses the definite article:

manter a presença no clube

Omitting the article (manter presença no clube) sounds either poetic, very telegraphic, or simply unnatural in standard spoken Portuguese. Stick with a presença here.

What exactly does horário fixo mean? Is it like “schedule” or “timetable”?

Horário in European Portuguese usually corresponds to:

“schedule” (your working hours, training times, etc.)
“timetable” (for buses, trains, classes, etc.)

Fixo means “fixed” / “unchanging” / “regular”.

So horário fixo is a fixed, regular schedule that doesn’t change from day to day (or at least not often). For example:

Trabalho num horário fixo: das 9h às 17h.
O treino tem um horário fixo às terças e quintas.

Why is it respeitar um horário? In English we don’t usually say “respect a schedule”.

In Portuguese, respeitar is commonly used with:

rules, laws, agreements – respeitar as regras / a lei / o contrato
deadlines, schedules, limits – respeitar o prazo / o limite / o horário

It means “to obey / to stick to / to comply with”.

So respeitar esse horário fixo is idiomatic and natural:
= stick to that fixed schedule / keep to that fixed timetable / honour that fixed time.

Literal translation “respect that schedule” sounds odd in English, but it’s the normal verb to use in Portuguese.

What does no clube literally represent? Why no and not just em o?

No is simply the contraction of the preposition em (“in / at”) with the masculine singular article o (“the”):

em + o = no → no clube = in/at the club
em + a = na → na escola = at the school
em + os = nos → nos clubes = in the clubs
em + as = nas → nas aulas = in the classes

In normal speech and writing, the contracted form (no, na, nos, nas) is obligatory; you would not say em o clube.

Why is it esse horário and not este horário? What’s the difference between este, esse and aquele in Portugal?

All three mean some kind of “this/that”, but with different degrees of distance. In European Portuguese (in actual usage):

este / esta / estes / estas
- Often used for something close to the speaker or very immediate in time/context.
esse / essa / esses / essas
- Often used for something known from context, previously mentioned, or associated with the listener; it can be mentally “pointed at” but not necessarily physically close.
aquele / aquela / aqueles / aquelas
- For something more distant, often in space, time, or more remote in context.

In your sentence, esse horário fixo suggests:

a specific schedule already known to both speaker and listener (for example, the club’s set opening/training times),
not necessarily something physically close, but something referenced in the conversation or context.

You could say este horário fixo if you were, for example, pointing to a timetable in front of you. But esse is very natural if you’re just talking about “that (particular) fixed schedule we both know about.”

Could I change the word order to Preciso de respeitar esse horário fixo para manter a presença no clube? Is that more natural?

Yes, that version is perfectly natural and very common:

Preciso de respeitar esse horário fixo para manter a presença no clube.

Differences:

Original: Para manter a presença no clube, preciso de respeitar esse horário fixo.
- Slightly more emphasis on the goal/purpose (maintaining presence) by placing it first.
Reordered: Preciso de respeitar esse horário fixo para manter a presença no clube.
- Sounds a bit more neutral and closer to typical spoken word order.

Both are correct in European Portuguese; use whichever flows better in your context.

Why is it Para manter at the beginning and not Por manter or something else?

Para + infinitive is the standard way in Portuguese to express purpose / intention:

Para manter a presença no clube…
= In order to maintain my presence at the club…
Estudo muito para passar no exame. – I study a lot to pass the exam.

Por + infinitive is much less common and usually doesn’t express purpose. It’s more about cause, reason, or means, and in most cases it would sound wrong or very unusual here. So for “in order to / so as to” you should use para + infinitive.