Breakdown of Estou a tentar ser mais humilde quando falo das minhas vitórias.
Questions & Answers about Estou a tentar ser mais humilde quando falo das minhas vitórias.
Both mean I am trying, but they belong to different varieties of Portuguese:
- Estou a tentar – normal in European Portuguese (Portugal).
- Estou tentando – normal in Brazilian Portuguese.
In Portugal, the progressive aspect is usually formed with:
- estar + a + infinitive
- estou a tentar – I am trying
- estava a falar – I was speaking
In Brazil, it’s usually:
- estar + gerúndio (-ndo form)
- estou tentando – I am trying
- estava falando – I was speaking
So for Portugal, estou a tentar is the natural choice.
You can, but the nuance changes slightly:
Estou a tentar ser mais humilde…
Emphasises the ongoing effort right now. It’s like saying I’m working on being more humble.Tento ser mais humilde…
Describes a habit or general tendency: I try to be more humble (in general, as a rule).
Both are correct; choose based on whether you want to focus on the current ongoing process (estou a tentar) or a general habit/attitude (tento).
Because humilde in this context is seen as part of your character / attitude, not a temporary state.
ser is used for:
- permanent or long‑term qualities
- character traits
- definitions / identity
estar is used for:
- temporary states
- moods
- locations
Saying tentar ser mais humilde suggests you want to change your character or usual behaviour, not just be humble for a short moment.
Estar mais humilde would sound like a temporary mood or phase, and is less idiomatic here.
- mais humilde means more humble – a comparison with your previous level of humility.
- ser humilde means simply to be humble (no comparison).
In this sentence:
- ser mais humilde = to be more humble than I have been until now, to increase humility.
- ser humilde = to be humble (full stop), which doesn’t underline that change or improvement.
You could say Estou a tentar ser humilde…, but you would lose the explicit idea of improvement / “more than before”.
Both are possible, but they focus on slightly different things:
quando falo das minhas vitórias
- present simple
- describes a general, repeated situation
- means whenever I talk about my victories (as a rule)
quando estou a falar das minhas vitórias
- present progressive
- focuses on a specific moment or ongoing action
- more like when I’m (in the middle of) talking about my victories
Here, the idea is a general habit (in general, when I talk about them), so quando falo is the natural, idiomatic choice.
Das is a contraction of de + as:
- de (of, from, about) + as (the – feminine plural) → das
So:
- de as minhas vitórias → incorrect / never written like this
- das minhas vitórias → correct
Portuguese almost always contracts these combinations:
- de + a(s) → da / das
- de + o(s) → do / dos
So das minhas vitórias literally is of the my victories (structure-wise), which English simplifies to about my victories here.
Both are possible, but the prepositions have slightly different flavours:
falar de = to talk about (very common, neutral)
- falo das minhas vitórias – I talk about my victories
falar sobre = to talk about / on the topic of, slightly more formal or topic‑focused
- falo sobre as minhas vitórias – I talk on the topic of my victories
In everyday speech, falar de + [thing] is extremely common and natural.
In this specific sentence, das minhas vitórias with de is more idiomatic than sobre.
Both are grammatically correct; the meaning changes:
- das minhas vitórias – my victories (possessive, specific to the speaker)
- das vitórias – the victories (could be anyone’s: a team’s victories, our victories, etc.)
The sentence is about the speaker’s own victories, so minhas is added for clarity.
Note that the definite article is still needed:
- das minhas vitórias = de + as + minhas vitórias
You would not normally say de minhas vitórias in European Portuguese; de + as → das is standard here.
In Portuguese, nouns have gender, and adjectives/possessives must agree in gender and number:
- vitória ends in -a and is feminine
- singular: a vitória
- plural: as vitórias
The possessive meu/minha/meus/minhas also changes:
- masculine singular: meu (meu carro)
- feminine singular: minha (minha casa)
- masculine plural: meus (meus amigos)
- feminine plural: minhas (minhas vitórias)
Since vitórias is feminine plural, you need minhas vitórias, not meus vitórias.
In Portuguese, the verb ending already shows the subject, so the pronoun is often dropped:
- falo – already tells us it’s I (eu)
You can say:
- quando eu falo das minhas vitórias – correct, just more emphatic
- quando falo das minhas vitórias – normal, neutral
Portuguese is a “pro-drop” language: subject pronouns (eu, tu, ele…) are not obligatory when the verb form is clear.
Yes, that is perfectly correct and very natural:
- Quando falo das minhas vitórias, estou a tentar ser mais humilde.
Portuguese allows flexible word order for clauses. Changing the position of the quando‑clause:
- Estou a tentar ser mais humilde quando falo das minhas vitórias.
- Quando falo das minhas vitórias, estou a tentar ser mais humilde.
Both are grammatical and mean the same thing. The second version slightly highlights the condition (when I talk about my victories) first, but it’s a stylistic choice.
Both can work, but they’re not identical:
vitórias – victories, usually in a more literal or competitive sense
- sports wins, competitions, clear “wins” in life
conquistas – achievements, accomplishments, or things I have gained
- can be broader: goals reached, progress, professional or personal achievements
So:
- das minhas vitórias – about my wins / victories
- das minhas conquistas – about my achievements / things I’ve achieved
The original with vitórias has a stronger sense of “wins” (like “bragging about my wins”).