Breakdown of Quando estou de mau humor, aviso os meus amigos para não discutirmos por nada.
Questions & Answers about Quando estou de mau humor, aviso os meus amigos para não discutirmos por nada.
De mau humor literally means of bad mood, i.e. in a bad mood.
In European Portuguese, estar de bom/mau humor is a fixed expression:
- estar de mau humor – to be in a bad mood
- estar de bom humor – to be in a good mood
Here, de is just part of the idiom; you do not change it to em.
So:
- Quando estou de mau humor = When I am in a bad mood
Not: ❌ Quando estou em mau humor (sounds wrong/unnatural)
Portuguese distinguishes:
- mau – adjective (bad), agrees with a noun
- mal – adverb (badly), or noun (evil), or conjunction (although), depending on context
In mau humor:
- humor is a noun (masculine)
- We need an adjective that agrees with it → mau (masculine singular)
So:
- mau humor – bad mood
- bom humor – good mood
Contrast:
- Ele fala mal. – He speaks badly. (mal = adverb)
- Isto é mau. – This is bad. (mau = adjective, referring to isto)
So mal humor is incorrect in standard Portuguese; it should be mau humor.
Portuguese is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns (like eu, tu, ele) are often omitted because the verb ending already shows the person.
- estou – clearly 1st person singular (I)
- aviso – also clearly 1st person singular
So:
- Quando estou de mau humor, aviso os meus amigos…
means the same as - Quando eu estou de mau humor, eu aviso os meus amigos…
Adding eu is usually for emphasis or contrast:
- Eu aviso os meus amigos, mas o meu irmão não avisa ninguém.
I warn my friends, but my brother doesn’t warn anyone.
In a neutral sentence like this, leaving eu out is more natural.
In Portuguese, for general or habitual situations, the present indicative is used in both clauses, even when English uses the present in one clause and sometimes a future in the other.
Here, we are talking about a general habit:
- Quando estou de mau humor, aviso os meus amigos…
When I am in a bad mood, I warn my friends…
This is the normal pattern:
- Quando chego a casa, janto. – When I get home, I have dinner.
- Quando tenho tempo, leio. – When I have time, I read.
You would only use the future for specific future events like:
- Quando estiver de mau humor amanhã, aviso os meus amigos.
When I’m in a bad mood tomorrow, I’ll warn my friends.
Avisar means to warn, to let (someone) know, to give advance notice.
Structure:
- avisar alguém (de/para/que…)
In this sentence:
- aviso os meus amigos – I warn my friends / I let my friends know
Compare:
- Aviso os meus amigos para não discutirmos.
I warn my friends so that we don’t argue.
You could also say:
- Aviso os meus amigos que estou de mau humor.
I tell my friends that I’m in a bad mood.
Avisar is slightly stronger than just dizer (to say), because it suggests you are preventing a problem or preparing them:
- Digo aos meus amigos… – I tell my friends… (neutral)
- Aviso os meus amigos… – I warn my friends / give them a heads‑up… (there might be a consequence if they ignore it)
In European Portuguese, it is very common (and usually more natural) to use the definite article before possessives:
- os meus amigos – my friends
- a minha casa – my house
- o meu carro – my car
So aviso os meus amigos is the default in Portugal.
In Brazilian Portuguese, the article is often omitted in speech:
- aviso meus amigos – common in Brazil
- aviso os meus amigos – also possible, but feels more formal or emphatic in Brazil
In European Portuguese, dropping the article (aviso meus amigos) is possible but sounds a bit more literary, formal, or stylised. Everyday speech prefers os meus amigos.
The verb avisar can take a direct object in Portuguese:
- avisar alguém – to warn someone
So:
- Aviso os meus amigos – I warn my friends.
You might also see avisar alguém de algo:
- Aviso os meus amigos do perigo. – I warn my friends about the danger.
In some contexts, you can find avisar a alguém, but it is regionally and stylistically marked and much less common. Standard, everyday usage here is:
- avisar alguém (direct object, no a) → aviso os meus amigos
Discutirmos is the personal infinitive, 1st person plural (we) of discutir.
The personal infinitive of discutir is:
- discutir – (for me / him / her / it) to argue
- discutires – for you (singular) to argue
- discutir – for him/her to argue
- discutirmos – for us to argue
- discutirdes – for you (plural) to argue
- discutirem – for them to argue
So não discutirmos = for us not to argue.
After para, when we want to express purpose and the subject is clear (the same group: I + my friends), Portuguese often uses this personal infinitive:
- para não discutirmos – so that we don’t argue
Both are grammatically possible, but they have different focuses:
- para não discutir – more general: so as not to argue (doesn’t explicitly mark who)
- para não discutirmos – explicitly includes us (I + my friends): so that we don’t argue
In this sentence, the idea is clearly we (the speaker and the friends) arguing with each other, so para não discutirmos is more precise and natural.
Structure:
- aviso os meus amigos para não discutirmos
I warn my friends so that we don’t argue.
If you said:
- aviso os meus amigos para não discutir
it could be understood as I warn my friends not to argue (in general), focusing more on what they should do (or not do), and is less clear that you include yourself in that action.
Both structures exist, but they feel different in modern usage:
With para
- personal infinitive (very common):
- para não discutirmos – so that we don’t argue
With para que
- present subjunctive (more formal / bookish today):
- para que não discutamos – so that we may not argue
In everyday, natural European Portuguese, para + personal infinitive is much more frequent:
- faço isto para não nos chatearmos
- disse isso para não discutirem
- aviso os meus amigos para não discutirmos
So para não discutirmos is idiomatic and contemporary; para que não discutamos is grammatically correct but sounds more formal and less common in speech.
In Portuguese, discutir usually means to argue, to quarrel, often with a sense of conflict or raised voices.
- discutir com alguém – to argue with someone
- Discuti com o meu irmão. – I argued with my brother.
For a calm exchange of ideas, Portuguese often uses:
- conversar – to talk, to have a conversation
- debater – to debate
- falar sobre – to talk about
So in this sentence:
- para não discutirmos por nada
is best understood as
so that we don’t argue about nothing, not so that we don’t discuss anything.
Por nada here means over nothing, about nothing important, for no good reason.
The whole chunk:
- não discutirmos por nada
= not to argue over nothing / not to argue for no reason
The preposition por can indicate the cause / motive:
- Discutem por tudo e por nada. – They argue about everything and nothing.
- Brigaram por uma coisa sem importância. – They fought over something unimportant.
So por nada emphasises the triviality of the cause: tiny, silly reasons that aren’t worth an argument.
Yes, the sentence is clearly European Portuguese, mainly because of the possessive with article and the overall feel:
- Quando estou de mau humor, aviso os meus amigos para não discutirmos por nada.
In Brazilian Portuguese, a more natural version might be:
- Quando estou de mau humor, aviso meus amigos pra gente não discutir por nada.
Main differences:
- os meus amigos (EP) → meus amigos (BP often omits the article)
- para → pra (very common in spoken BP)
- não discutirmos (personal infinitive, EP very natural) → a gente não discutir (using a gente as we is very common in BP)
But both varieties understand each other; the original sentence is just more typical of Portugal.