Breakdown of Eu quero pedir desculpa ao Pedro hoje.
Questions & Answers about Eu quero pedir desculpa ao Pedro hoje.
Both are possible, but they’re not quite the same:
Eu peço desculpa ao Pedro hoje.
= I apologise to Pedro today / I’m apologising to Pedro today.
This describes the action: you’re (going to be) actually apologising.Eu quero pedir desculpa ao Pedro hoje.
= I want to apologise to Pedro today.
This focuses on your desire/intention, not the action itself.
So quero + infinitive (quero pedir) is like English want to + verb. It’s very common and sounds natural in European Portuguese when you talk about plans, intentions or wishes.
In European Portuguese, the most natural and common set expression is:
- pedir desculpa (a alguém)
literally: to ask for apology (from someone)
Using the singular desculpa is the default idiomatic form in Portugal.
In Brazil, you much more often see:
- pedir desculpas (a alguém)
with the plural desculpas.
In Portugal, pedir desculpas (plural) is also understood and not wrong, but pedir desculpa is what you’ll hear most in everyday speech.
So for European Portuguese, Eu quero pedir desculpa ao Pedro hoje is exactly what you want.
Ao is a contraction:
- a (to) + o (the, masculine singular) → ao
So:
- ao Pedro = a + o Pedro = to Pedro
In this sentence, Pedro is the indirect object (the person you apologise to), so you need the preposition a:
- pedir desculpa a alguém
to apologise to someone
Because Pedro is a masculine name and you usually use the article with first names in European Portuguese, it becomes:
- a o Pedro → ao Pedro
Portuguese is a pro‑drop language, which means subject pronouns (eu, tu, ele…) are often omitted when the verb ending already shows who the subject is.
- Eu quero → quero
- The ending ‑o in quero already marks first person singular (I want).
So both are correct:
- Eu quero pedir desculpa ao Pedro hoje.
- Quero pedir desculpa ao Pedro hoje.
In speech, the version without eu is more common and sounds very natural. You normally include eu when you want to emphasize I, e.g.:
- Eu quero pedir desculpa, não ele.
I want to apologise, not him.
Yes. Hoje (today) is quite flexible. All of these are correct, with slightly different emphasis:
Eu quero pedir desculpa ao Pedro hoje.
Neutral; very natural order.Hoje quero pedir desculpa ao Pedro.
Emphasises today (today, unlike other days).Eu hoje quero pedir desculpa ao Pedro.
Also emphasises today; common in speech.
The most “default” sounding for a learner is the original:
- (Eu) quero pedir desculpa ao Pedro hoje.
This is just an idiomatic verb–noun combination in Portuguese:
- pedir desculpa (a alguém)
literally: to ask for apology (from someone)
It corresponds to English to apologise or to say sorry.
So:
- Quero pedir desculpa ao Pedro.
I want to apologise to Pedro.
Other verbs would sound wrong in this meaning:
- fazer desculpa ✗
- dar desculpa ✗ (this sounds like to give an excuse, which is different)
That’s grammatically possible but not the usual way to express this idea in European Portuguese.
More natural alternatives:
- Quero pedir desculpa ao Pedro hoje. ✅ (best)
- Quero desculpar‑me perante o Pedro hoje. ✅ (more formal / literary)
Desculpar‑se a alguém exists, but everyday speech strongly prefers pedir desculpa a alguém for to apologise to someone.
So if you want to sound natural in Portugal, stick to:
- (Eu) quero pedir desculpa ao Pedro hoje.
Because with pedir desculpa, the usual preposition is a:
- pedir desculpa a alguém
to apologise to someone
The preposition a often marks the indirect object (the person affected by or receiving the action), like:
- dar o livro ao Pedro – to give the book to Pedro
- telefonar ao Pedro – to phone Pedro
Para focuses more on direction/purpose (for, in order to):
- Isto é para o Pedro. – This is for Pedro.
So, with pedir desculpa, you should use a → ao Pedro, not para o Pedro.
Not really. In Portuguese, Quero + infinitive is very common and not automatically rude.
Nuances:
- Quero pedir desculpa ao Pedro.
Neutral and fine in most contexts.
If you want to sound extra polite, you can soften it, similar to English:
Gostava de pedir desculpa ao Pedro.
I’d like to apologise to Pedro.Queria pedir desculpa ao Pedro.
Literally I wanted to apologise to Pedro; used as a polite “I’d like to” in many situations.
But in everyday conversation, Quero pedir desculpa ao Pedro hoje is perfectly acceptable.
You simply change the verb querer (to want) to a verb of obligation:
- Tenho de pedir desculpa ao Pedro hoje.
I have to apologise to Pedro today.
In European Portuguese, tenho de is more common than tenho que, though you’ll hear both:
- Tenho de pedir desculpa ao Pedro hoje. ✅
- Tenho que pedir desculpa ao Pedro hoje. ✅ (also heard, slightly less standard in PT‑PT)
Approximate European Portuguese pronunciation (Lisbon area):
quero → [ˈkɛɾu]
- que‑ like “keh” (as in get, but a bit more open)
- ‑ro with a tapped r (quick single r, like Spanish pero)
pedir → [pəˈðiɾ] (often) or [peˈðiɾ], depending on the speaker
- Unstressed pe‑ can sound like a weak pə
- ‑dir with a soft d that becomes something like ð (as in English this), and a tapped final r (if pronounced; some accents weaken it).
The main points:
- The r inside words like quero, pedir is a tap (quick “flap”) in most of Portugal, not the English r.
- e in unstressed syllables often reduces to a schwa sound, like pə‑ in pedir.