Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Quando o objetivo parece impossível, lembro-me de pequenas vitórias passadas. - When the goal seems impossible, I remember small past victories.

o objetivo ≈ the goal / the objective
objetivo on its own sounds incomplete in this context, almost like you’re missing something (it’s mainly used as a bare noun in lists, titles, or after certain verbs).

Here, o objetivo refers to a specific goal that is known from the broader context (for example, the goal I’m working towards right now). That’s why the definite article o is natural and almost required.

Why is it parece impossível and not something like é impossível or está impossível?

The verb parecer means to seem / to appear. Using parece impossível keeps the idea subjective:

parece impossível = it seems impossible (how it appears to me)
é impossível = it is impossible (stating it as a fact)
está impossível is usually used more about temporary states or conditions, often in a more colloquial way (e.g. Esta rua está impossível hoje. – This street is a nightmare today.).

So:

Quando o objetivo parece impossível…
= When the goal seems impossible… (from my point of view at that moment)

Why is there a comma before lembro-me?

The sentence has two clauses:

Quando o objetivo parece impossível – a subordinate clause (introduced by quando = when)
lembro-me de pequenas vitórias passadas – the main clause

In Portuguese, when a quando-clause comes first, it’s standard to separate it from the main clause with a comma:

Quando o objetivo parece impossível, lembro-me…

If you change the order, the comma is usually not used:

Lembro-me de pequenas vitórias passadas quando o objetivo parece impossível.

Why is it lembro-me and not me lembro, like in Brazilian Portuguese?

This is a key difference between European and Brazilian Portuguese:

European Portuguese (Portugal) prefers the pronoun after the verb (enclisis) in most neutral sentences:
- lembro-me (I remember)
- chamo-me João (My name is João / I call myself João)
Brazilian Portuguese usually places the pronoun before the verb:
- me lembro
- me chamo João

So lembro-me is the standard, natural European Portuguese form here. In writing from Portugal, me lembro would look Brazilian.

Why is there a hyphen in lembro-me?

In European Portuguese, when the clitic pronoun (like me, te, se, nos, vos, o, a, lhe, etc.) comes after the verb, it is joined with a hyphen:

lembro-me
levanta-se
chamamo-nos

This is just the standard spelling rule for enclitic pronouns in Portuguese. When the pronoun comes before the verb (more common in Brazil, or in certain structures in Portugal), there is no hyphen:

me lembro
se levanta

In this sentence, the structure is neutral and in European Portuguese the pronoun goes after the verb, so: lembro-me.

What is the difference between lembrar and lembrar-se?

They are related but not used in exactly the same way.

lembrar-se de = to remember (reflexive, very common)
- Lembro-me de pequenas vitórias passadas.
  I remember small past victories.
lembrar algo a alguém = to remind someone of something
- Isso lembra-me a minha infância. (EP word order)
  That reminds me of my childhood.
In spoken European Portuguese, many people also use lembrar without reflexive in the sense of “remember”, but lembrar-se de is the textbook-safe and clearly correct form for remember.

So in your sentence, lembro-me de… is the natural way to say I remember….

Why is it lembrar-me de pequenas vitórias and not lembrar-me pequenas vitórias?

With the reflexive form lembrar-se, the normal construction is:

lembrar-se de + noun / pronoun / verb in the infinitive

Examples:

Lembro-me de ti. – I remember you.
Lembra-te do que disseste. – Remember what you said.
Lembramo-nos de estudar. – We remember to study.

So you need the preposition de:

lembro-me de pequenas vitórias passadas

Without de, the sentence is ungrammatical in this reflexive meaning.

Why is it de pequenas vitórias passadas and not das pequenas vitórias passadas?

Both forms are possible, but they have different nuances:

de pequenas vitórias passadas
= of small past victories in general, not specified which ones. It sounds more generic, like an indefinite category.
das pequenas vitórias passadas
= of the small past victories (those particular ones that we both know about). It sounds more specific/definite.

In the original sentence, the idea is more general and reflective, so de pequenas vitórias passadas feels more natural and less “anchored” to a specific, known list of victories.

Why does passadas come after vitórias, and why is it feminine plural?

Position of the adjective
In Portuguese, adjectives often come after the noun:
- vitórias passadas – past victories
- objetivo impossível – impossible goal
Many adjectives can come before the noun, but the default, neutral position is usually after it.
Agreement
Adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun:
- vitória – feminine singular
  → vitória passada
- vitórias – feminine plural
  → vitórias passadas
- objetivo – masculine singular
  → objetivo passado

So passadas is feminine plural to match vitórias (feminine plural).

Could we use the subjunctive and say Quando o objetivo parecer impossível instead of parece? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

Quando o objetivo parecer impossível, lembro-me de pequenas vitórias passadas.

This uses the future subjunctive (parecer) instead of the present indicative (parece).

Quando o objetivo parece impossível…
Sounds like a general statement about situations that occur from time to time; it’s the usual, neutral choice for habitual actions.
Quando o objetivo parecer impossível…
Also acceptable; it leans slightly more towards a future or hypothetical scenario: whenever / if at some point the goal seems impossible… It can sound a bit more formal or literary in this context.

For a straightforward, habitual meaning (like “whenever this happens, I do X”), parece (present indicative) is very natural and common.

Can I change the word order to put lembro-me first?

Yes. You can say:

Lembro-me de pequenas vitórias passadas quando o objetivo parece impossível.

Differences:

Meaning: essentially the same.
Style:
- Original: Quando o objetivo parece impossível, lembro-me…
  Emphasizes the condition/situation first.
- Reordered: Lembro-me… quando o objetivo parece impossível.
  Emphasizes the act of remembering first.

In both versions, in European Portuguese, lembro-me (with hyphen, pronoun after verb) is still preferred in this kind of neutral sentence.