Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Eu quero passar de nível no curso de português. - I want to move up a level in the Portuguese course.

Quero passar de nível no curso de português. – perfectly natural
Eu quero passar de nível no curso de português. – also correct, with a bit more emphasis on I (as in “I want to move up a level…”).

You normally keep eu:

for emphasis or contrast: Eu quero passar, mas ele não quer.
when you really want to be clear who you’re talking about, in a longer or more complex sentence.

Why is it passar de nível and not something like “passar o nível” or “passar para o nível seguinte”?

Passar de nível is an idiomatic expression meaning to move up to the next level (in a course, game, etc.). Literally it’s “to pass from (one) level”.

passar de nível = to move up a level / go up a level
passar o nível = usually “to clear/beat the level” (more common with games or tests)
passar para o nível seguinte = more explicit version of “move to the next level”

So your sentence focuses on advancing from one level to another in the course, not just “passing” a single test.

What exactly does de do in passar de nível?

Here de roughly means “from”:

passar de nível ≈ “to pass from (this) level (to the next)”
Similar structures: mudar de casa (move house), trocar de roupa (change clothes), subir de nível (go up a level).

It marks a change from one state/level/thing to another, without necessarily naming the destination explicitly.

What is the difference between passar de nível and subir de nível?

They are very close in meaning and often interchangeable:

passar de nível – “to move up a level”, slightly more neutral.
subir de nível – literally “to go up a level”, with a bit more of a “rise/improvement” feeling.

Both sound natural with curso de português. In everyday speech, many people would say either without a big difference:

Quero passar de nível no curso de português.
Quero subir de nível no curso de português.

Why is it no curso and not em o curso?

No is just the contraction of em + o:

em + o → no
em + a → na
em + os → nos
em + as → nas

So:

no curso de português = em o curso de português (“in the Portuguese course”), but the contracted form no is what is always used in normal speech and writing.

Why is it curso de português and not something like curso português?

Portuguese usually uses de between two nouns where English might use a noun as an adjective:

curso de português – Portuguese course
aula de gramática – grammar class
livro de matemática – math book

You don’t normally say curso português to mean “Portuguese course”.
Without de, it would sound like “a course that is Portuguese (by nationality/origin)” rather than “a course of Portuguese (language)”.

Why is português not capitalised here?

In Portuguese:

Names of languages and nationalities are written with a lowercase initial:
- português, inglês, alemão, francês.
The country names are capitalised:
- Portugal, Inglaterra, Alemanha, França.

So:

curso de português – lower case, because it’s the language.
curso em Portugal – capital P, because it’s the country.

Is Eu quero… too direct or impolite? Should I say something like Gostaria de…?

Eu quero… is direct and neutral. In most learning contexts it’s absolutely fine:

Eu quero passar de nível… – “I want to move up a level…”

For extra politeness or softness, you can use:

Gostava de passar de nível… – literally “I would like to move up a level…”
Gostaria de passar de nível… – a bit more formal/polite.

Talking to a teacher, many people would choose Gostava de… to sound slightly less blunt, but Eu quero… is not rude by itself; it just sounds more straightforward.

Why is the verb in the present tense (quero) and not a future like “I will want” (quererei)?

Portuguese uses the present tense here to describe a current desire or intention:

Eu quero passar de nível… – “I want to move up a level (now / in this course).”

The simple future quererei is grammatically possible but sounds very unusual and stiff. For intentions, people normally use:

Quero… – present
or sometimes vou querer… – “I’m going to want…”, but that’s less common with this kind of sentence.

So quero is exactly the right tense here.

Do I need a word like “to” between quero and passar, like quero de passar?

No. In Portuguese, when you have two verbs together where the second is in the infinitive, you normally don’t put anything between them:

quero passar – I want to pass
posso falar – I can speak
vou estudar – I’m going to study

So:

✅ Eu quero passar de nível…
❌ Eu quero de passar de nível… (incorrect)

Can I change the word order and say No curso de português, eu quero passar de nível?

Yes. That’s perfectly correct and natural.

Eu quero passar de nível no curso de português. – neutral order.
No curso de português, eu quero passar de nível. – puts a bit more emphasis on “in the Portuguese course” (for contrast with other courses, for example).

Portuguese word order is flexible, especially for moving time/place expressions (no curso de português, amanhã, em casa, etc.) to the beginning of the sentence.

Can I omit no curso de português and just say Eu quero passar de nível?

Yes. Eu quero passar de nível is a complete sentence and means “I want to move up a level.”

Adding no curso de português just specifies where:

Eu quero passar de nível. – I want to move up a level (context will tell: in what?).
Eu quero passar de nível no curso de português. – explicitly “in the Portuguese course”.

Would a Brazilian speaker say this sentence the same way?

Yes, Eu quero passar de nível no curso de português is also understandable and acceptable in Brazilian Portuguese.

Small notes:

The expression passar de nível is used in both varieties (very common in games; also used for courses).
Pronunciation will differ, but the grammar and words are the same.
In both European and Brazilian Portuguese you might also hear subir de nível or passar para o próximo nível with similar meaning.