Breakdown of O treinador fica satisfeito quando nós cumprimos o plano.
Questions & Answers about O treinador fica satisfeito quando nós cumprimos o plano.
The verb ficar here means “to become / to get” in the sense of entering a state.
- fica satisfeito ≈ “gets / becomes satisfied/pleased”, or simply “is satisfied” as a reaction to something.
- está satisfeito describes someone who is (temporarily) satisfied right now, without focusing on how they got that way.
- é satisfeito would sound odd in this context; it would suggest a permanent characteristic (“he is a satisfied person in general”), and that’s not what we mean.
So O treinador fica satisfeito quando nós cumprimos o plano =
“The coach gets / is pleased whenever we follow the plan.”
It highlights the change of mood caused by us following the plan.
In European Portuguese, it is very common to use the definite article (o / a / os / as) before nouns like this, even where English might drop “the”.
- O treinador fica satisfeito… = The coach gets satisfied…
- Without the article (Treinador fica satisfeito) sounds wrong here.
Some patterns:
- With professions in general statements:
- O treinador é exigente. – The coach is demanding.
- O médico chegou. – The doctor arrived.
- You drop the article mainly:
- After ser when talking about someone’s profession:
- Ele é treinador. – He is a coach.
- In direct address (vocative):
- Treinador! = Coach!
- After ser when talking about someone’s profession:
So the article o in o treinador is completely normal and expected in this kind of sentence.
You can drop nós:
- O treinador fica satisfeito quando nós cumprimos o plano.
- O treinador fica satisfeito quando cumprimos o plano.
Both are correct.
Portuguese is a “pro‑drop” language: subject pronouns (eu, tu, nós, eles…) are often omitted, because the verb ending already shows the person:
- cumprimos clearly tells you it’s “we” (1st person plural).
Using nós:
- can add a bit of emphasis (“we follow the plan”),
- can help avoid ambiguity in speech in some cases,
- is also common in more careful or formal speech.
In everyday European Portuguese, both versions are natural; without nós is probably slightly more common in neutral speech here.
In Portuguese, after time words like quando (when), logo que (as soon as), assim que, etc., you normally do not use the future indicative inside the quando‑clause.
Instead, you use:
Present indicative for general / habitual situations:
- O treinador fica satisfeito quando cumprimos o plano.
→ Whenever we follow the plan (in general), he’s satisfied.
- O treinador fica satisfeito quando cumprimos o plano.
Future subjunctive for specific future situations:
- Quando cumprirmos o plano, o treinador vai ficar satisfeito.
→ When we (eventually) follow the plan, the coach will be satisfied.
- Quando cumprirmos o plano, o treinador vai ficar satisfeito.
So:
- ✗ quando cumpriremos o plano
sounds wrong or very unnatural. - You choose between quando cumprimos (general habit) and quando cumprirmos (a future event).
You can say it, but there’s a nuance:
Quando nós cumprimos o plano, o treinador fica satisfeito.
– Describes a habitual or general rule: whenever we follow the plan, he gets pleased.Quando cumprirmos o plano, o treinador fica satisfeito.
– Uses future subjunctive (cumprirmos) and usually refers to a specific future situation:
“When we (at some point) follow the plan, the coach gets / will be pleased.”
If you want it clearly future and one‑off, you’d typically also put the main verb in the future:
- Quando cumprirmos o plano, o treinador ficará satisfeito.
– When we follow the plan, the coach will be satisfied.
So:
- cumprimos → generic / habitual
- cumprirmos → future event (real but not yet realised)
Here cumprir (o plano) means something like:
- to comply with the plan
- to carry out the plan properly
- to do what was agreed / what the plan says
Some comparisons:
- cumprir o plano – do it as it’s supposed to be done, respect it.
- seguir o plano – follow the plan, similar idea but emphasizes following steps/directions.
- fazer o plano – just do the plan (more generic; doesn’t strongly imply “as agreed” or “as required”).
In a sports context:
- cumprir o plano de jogo is very idiomatic: sticking to the game plan.
- seguir o plano is also possible and understandable.
- fazer o plano sounds weaker and less idiomatic here.
So cumprimos o plano is a very natural choice in European Portuguese.
Cumprimos can be:
Present indicative, 1st person plural
- nós cumprimos = we fulfill / we follow / we comply (now / generally)
Pretérito perfeito (simple past), 1st person plural
- nós cumprimos = we fulfilled / we followed / we complied (completed action)
The form is the same for present and past in nós:
- Presente: nós cumprimos
- Pretérito perfeito: nós cumprimos
You know which one it is from context:
Quando nós cumprimos o plano, o treinador fica satisfeito.
– Present (habitual rule).Ontem cumprimos o plano, e o treinador ficou satisfeito.
– Past (we followed the plan yesterday).
In Portuguese, adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.
Here the subject is:
- O treinador – masculine, singular
So the adjective must be:
- satisfeito – masculine, singular
Other possibilities:
- A treinadora fica satisfeita. – female coach → feminine singular
- Os treinadores ficam satisfeitos. – male/mixed group of coaches → masculine plural
- As treinadoras ficam satisfeitas. – all female group of coaches → feminine plural
The ending ‑o / ‑a / ‑os / ‑as is doing the agreement work.
Yes. Both word orders are correct:
- O treinador fica satisfeito quando nós cumprimos o plano.
- Quando nós cumprimos o plano, o treinador fica satisfeito.
When the quando‑clause comes first, you normally add a comma before the main clause.
The difference is mainly one of emphasis and rhythm:
- Starting with O treinador… focuses more on the coach.
- Starting with Quando nós cumprimos o plano… highlights the condition / situation first.
Both are perfectly natural in European Portuguese.
The sentence is grammatically correct and natural in both European and Brazilian Portuguese.
Differences you might see:
- In Brazil, people very often use a gente instead of nós in speech:
- O treinador fica satisfeito quando a gente cumpre o plano. (BR)
- In European Portuguese, nós cumprimos is very standard and common in both spoken and written language.
Vocabulary:
- treinador is used in both varieties, though Brazilians also say técnico a lot in sports.
- ficar satisfeito and cumprir o plano are fine and idiomatic in both.
So the sentence as given works in Portugal and in Brazil; it just sounds particularly natural in European Portuguese with nós.
Some informal / colloquial European Portuguese versions:
O míster fica todo contente quando cumprimos o plano.
- míster = common slang for a football coach in Portugal.
- todo contente = “really happy”.
Ele fica todo satisfeito quando fazemos o que ele quer.
- Slightly looser: “He gets really happy when we do what he wants.”
Quando seguimos o plano, o míster fica logo todo satisfeito.
- logo adds the idea of “straight away”.
All keep the same basic idea but sound more like casual locker‑room talk.
Approximate European Portuguese pronunciation:
treinador → /tɾɐj.nɐˈðoɾ/
Roughly: “tray-nah-DOR”, but:- r is a quick tapped sound (like the Spanish r in pero).
- ei sounds like “ay” (English day).
- The final r is quite soft.
cumprimos → /kũˈpɾimuʃ/
Roughly: “koom-PREE-moosh”, but:- um is nasal: like oo with air through the nose.
- Final s in Portugal usually sounds like “sh” [ʃ] at the end of a word.
So the whole sentence, roughly:
- O treinador fica satisfeito quando nós cumprimos o plano.
≈ oo tray-nah-DOR FEE-kɐ sɐ-tish-FAY-too KWAHN-do nosh koom-PREE-moosh oo PLAH-no (very approximate).