Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Para eu conseguir estudar hoje, preciso de desligar o telemóvel. - For me to be able to study today, I need to turn off my phone.

If you said “para mim conseguir estudar”, it would sound wrong to most native speakers in Portugal, because mim cannot normally be the subject of a verb.

Compare:

Para eu conseguir estudar, preciso de silêncio.
For me to be able to study, I need silence. (I am the one who studies.)
Isto é para mim.
This is for me. (No verb after, so mim is fine as an object.)

Can I just say “Para conseguir estudar hoje, preciso de desligar o telemóvel” and drop “eu”?

Yes, that is completely correct and very natural:

Para conseguir estudar hoje, preciso de desligar o telemóvel.

The subject (eu) is already clear from preciso, so it can be omitted in the subordinate clause.

With “eu”:

Adds a slight emphasis or contrast: for *me to manage to study today… (as opposed to someone else)*.

Without “eu”:

Feels a bit smoother and more neutral in everyday speech.

Both forms are grammatically fine in European Portuguese.

What exactly does “conseguir” add here? Why not just “para estudar hoje”?

Conseguir means to manage to / to succeed in / to be able to (after effort or in spite of difficulty).

Para eu conseguir estudar hoje…
= For me to manage to study today…
It implies that studying today is difficult (because of distractions, etc.).

If you say:

Para estudar hoje, preciso de desligar o telemóvel.

this is also correct, but it’s more neutral: In order to study today…
You’re stating a condition for studying, without explicitly highlighting that it’s hard or might not happen.

So:

com conseguir → focus on being able to / managing to do it
without conseguir → focus just on the action of studying

What’s the difference between “conseguir” and “poder” here?

Both can translate to “can / be able to”, but the nuance is different:

poder = can / may (possibility, permission, general ability)
conseguir = manage to, succeed in (usually suggests difficulty or effort)

In this sentence:

Para eu conseguir estudar hoje…
Suggests: It’s hard to study today; I’ll only manage if I turn off my phone.

If you said:

Para eu poder estudar hoje, preciso de desligar o telemóvel.

It’s still understandable, but it sounds more like “in order for me to be allowed / able to study today”.
European Portuguese speakers would more naturally use conseguir in this specific “focus/concentration” context.

Why is there a comma after “hoje”?

Because the sentence starts with a subordinate clause:

Para eu conseguir estudar hoje, → subordinate clause (purpose)
preciso de desligar o telemóvel. → main clause

In Portuguese, when a subordinate clause comes before the main clause, it is usually separated by a comma.

If we reverse the order and put the main clause first, the comma normally disappears:

Preciso de desligar o telemóvel para eu conseguir estudar hoje.
(No comma needed here.)

Why is it “preciso de desligar” and not just “preciso desligar”?

In European Portuguese, the standard pattern is:

precisar de + noun/infinitive

So:

preciso de dinheiro – I need money
preciso de ajuda – I need help
preciso de estudar – I need to study
preciso de desligar o telemóvel – I need to turn off the phone

Saying “preciso desligar o telemóvel” without de is strongly influenced by Brazilian Portuguese and is not considered standard in Portugal, although it may be heard informally.

So in Portugal, keep “preciso de” before verbs and nouns.

Can I say “preciso de o desligar” or “preciso de desligá-lo” instead of “preciso de desligar o telemóvel”?

Yes, these are all grammatically possible, with slightly different styles:

Preciso de desligar o telemóvel.
- Neutral and very natural.
- Full noun phrase (o telemóvel) as the object.
Preciso de o desligar.
- Uses the object pronoun o before the infinitive (desligar).
- Grammatically correct, slightly more formal or written.
Preciso de desligá-lo.
- Infinitive + clitic pronoun attached at the end.
- Also correct; common in both speech and writing.

In everyday European Portuguese, (1) and (3) are the most natural.
Using the full noun (o telemóvel) is slightly clearer, especially if it hasn’t been mentioned before.

Why is “telemóvel” used and not “telefone” or “celular”?

This is a regional vocabulary difference:

telemóvel – European Portuguese for mobile phone / cell phone
celular – Brazilian Portuguese for mobile phone
telefone – telephone in general (can be landline or mobile, depending on context)

In Portugal, if you say telefone, many people will think of a landline first.
So for a mobile phone, telemóvel is the natural choice.

Why is it “o telemóvel” and not just “telemóvel” without the article?

Portuguese uses definite articles (o, a, os, as) more frequently than English does.

You often use “o/a + noun” when talking about:

a specific, known object:
- Desliga o telemóvel. – Turn off the phone (that you’re using / we know about).
something generic but seen as a whole category:
- O telemóvel distrai-me. – The mobile phone distracts me.

In English we’d normally just say “turn off my/your phone”, without “the”, but in Portuguese the article is normal and often required.

You could say “preciso de desligar o meu telemóvel” to be more explicit, but “o telemóvel” already sounds natural and clear.

Could I say “apagar o telemóvel” instead of “desligar o telemóvel”?

You can hear apagar used with devices, but the more natural verb in this context is:

desligar o telemóvel – to turn off the phone (power it down)

Nuance:

apagar is typically:
- to put out a light, a fire: apagar a luz, apagar o fogo
- to erase, delete: apagar uma mensagem, apagar o quadro

For electronic devices (phone, TV, computer), desligar is the default verb in European Portuguese.

Why is the structure “para eu conseguir estudar hoje, preciso de…” used instead of “para que eu consiga estudar hoje, preciso de…”?

Both are possible, but they differ in formality and feel:

Para eu conseguir estudar hoje, preciso de desligar o telemóvel.
- Uses para + infinitive (conseguir).
- Very natural, common, and slightly more informal.
- Typical way to express purpose in everyday speech.
Para que eu consiga estudar hoje, preciso de desligar o telemóvel.
- Uses para que + subjunctive (consiga).
- More formal or literary; sounds a bit heavier or more elaborate.

For normal spoken European Portuguese, “para eu conseguir…” is more idiomatic.

Can I move “hoje” to another place in the sentence?

Yes. Word order is fairly flexible. Some common options:

Para eu conseguir estudar hoje, preciso de desligar o telemóvel.
Para eu conseguir estudar, hoje preciso de desligar o telemóvel.
Preciso de desligar o telemóvel para eu conseguir estudar hoje.
Hoje, para eu conseguir estudar, preciso de desligar o telemóvel.

All are grammatically correct. The differences are mostly about emphasis and rhythm:

“Hoje” at the beginning → emphasizes today as a special situation.
“Hoje” near “estudar” → emphasizes studying today specifically.

Is it necessary to repeat “eu” in the main clause:
“Para eu conseguir estudar hoje, eu preciso de desligar o telemóvel”?

No, and it would normally sound unnatural or overly emphatic.

In Portuguese, subject pronouns (eu, tu, ele…) are usually dropped when the verb ending already shows the subject:

Preciso de desligar o telemóvel. → eu is clear from preciso.

You would only repeat eu in the main clause for strong emphasis or contrast:

Para eu conseguir estudar hoje, eu é que preciso de desligar o telemóvel, não tu.
(Something like: I’m the one who needs to turn off the phone, not you.)

In the neutral sentence, “Para eu conseguir estudar hoje, preciso de desligar o telemóvel.” is the natural choice.