Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Eu não quero falar sobre a culpa hoje. - I don't want to talk about the guilt today.

Eu não quero falar sobre a culpa hoje. – perfectly correct, and slightly more explicit/emphatic on I.
Não quero falar sobre a culpa hoje. – also perfectly correct; this is what you’ll probably hear most often in normal speech.

Use eu:

when you want to emphasize I (as opposed to someone else):
Eu não quero falar sobre a culpa, mas tu podes falar se quiseres.
“I don’t want to talk about guilt, but you can talk if you want.”
or when the context isn’t clear and you want to avoid ambiguity.

Otherwise, it’s natural in European Portuguese to leave eu out.

Why does não go before quero? Could I put it somewhere else?

In Portuguese, não normally comes right before the conjugated verb:

Eu não quero falar…
Não quero falar…

You cannot move não to the end, like English “I want not to talk…” or “I want to talk not…”. Those sound wrong in Portuguese.

If you have more than one verb (as here: quero + falar), não goes before the first (conjugated) verb:

Eu não quero falar.
Eu quero não falar. – grammatically possible but unusual and very marked; not what you want here.

Why is it quero falar and not something like quero de falar?

The verb querer is followed directly by an infinitive, with no preposition:

Quero falar. – I want to talk.
Quero comer. – I want to eat.
Quero sair. – I want to go out.

Some other verbs do take a preposition before an infinitive, e.g.:

Gostava de falar.
Preciso de falar.

But querer → no preposition → infinitive.

What’s the difference between falar sobre and falar de?

Both can mean “to talk about”, and in this sentence either would be understood:

Não quero falar sobre a culpa hoje.
Não quero falar de culpa hoje.

Nuances (especially in European Portuguese):

falar de is very common and can sound a bit more neutral/everyday.
falar sobre can feel slightly more “topic-focused” or formal, like English “to speak on the topic of…”.

In most everyday contexts, you can treat them as interchangeable when they mean about.

Why is it a culpa and not just culpa like English “talk about guilt”?

Portuguese uses the definite article a with abstract nouns much more often than English:

a culpa – literally “the guilt / the blame”
a liberdade – “freedom”
a felicidade – “happiness”

So:

Não quero falar sobre a culpa hoje.
feels natural as a general statement about guilt/blame.

You can sometimes drop the article, but that often slightly changes the feel:

Não quero falar de culpa hoje. – also fine; often sounds a bit more general or conceptual.

In many cases, both versions are acceptable; you need to learn by exposure which abstract nouns typically take an article. With culpa, a culpa is very common.

Can I move hoje to another place in the sentence?

Yes. Hoje (today) is quite flexible. All of these are correct, with small differences in emphasis:

Eu não quero falar sobre a culpa hoje.
Neutral; today is just tacked on at the end.
Hoje não quero falar sobre a culpa.
Emphasis on today – “Today, (of all days,) I don’t want to talk about it.”
Hoje eu não quero falar sobre a culpa.
Similar to the previous one, with a bit more emphasis on eu as well.

What you can’t do is split não and quero with hoje:

❌ Eu não hoje quero falar… – wrong.

Is quero the right tense here? Why not a continuous form like English “I’m not wanting to talk…”?

Portuguese normally uses the simple present where English might use the present continuous:

Eu não quero falar… = “I don’t want to talk…” / “I’m not wanting to talk…”

There is a continuous form (e.g. estou a falar, in European Portuguese), but with stative verbs like querer (to want), the simple present is the natural choice:

Eu quero – I want
Eu não quero – I don’t want

You would not say ✗ estou a querer falar here.

Is this sentence polite in European Portuguese, or does it sound too direct?

Eu não quero falar sobre a culpa hoje. is straightforward and direct, but not rude by itself. Tone and context matter a lot.

To sound softer or more polite, especially in formal situations, European Portuguese speakers often use more indirect forms, for example:

Preferia não falar sobre a culpa hoje. – “I’d rather not talk about guilt today.”
Não gostava de falar sobre a culpa hoje. – Literally “I wouldn’t like to talk about guilt today.”
Desde que possível, preferia não falar sobre a culpa hoje. – “If possible, I’d prefer not to talk about guilt today.”

In informal contexts (friends, family), your original sentence is perfectly acceptable.

How is this sentence pronounced in European Portuguese?

Approximate European Portuguese pronunciation (Lisbon-type accent), using rough English hints:

Eu – like “AY-oo” but shorter, [eu]
não – roughly “nuhng”, nasal vowel, [nɐ̃w̃]
quero – “KEH-roo”, with a tapped r (like Spanish r), [ˈkɛɾu]
falar – “fah-LAR”, final r often very soft or almost not pronounced in casual speech, [fɐˈlaɾ] / [fɐˈla]
sobre – “SO-breh”, [ˈsoβɾɨ] or [ˈsobɾɨ] (b/v-like sound)
a – like a short “uh”, [ɐ]
culpa – “KOOL-puh”, [ˈkuɫpɐ] (dark l)
hoje – roughly “OH-zh(uh)”, [ˈoʒ(ɨ)]

Spoken more naturally, the sentence flows together:

[eu nɐ̃w̃ ˈkɛɾu fɐˈlaɾ ˈsobɾɨ ɐ ˈkuɫpɐ ˈoʒ(ɨ)]
“eu não quero falar sobre a culpa hoje.”

Could culpa mean “fault” or “blame” here, not just “guilt”?

Yes. culpa in Portuguese can mean:

guilt – the feeling:
- Sinto muita culpa. – “I feel a lot of guilt.”
fault / blame – responsibility for something bad:
- A culpa foi minha. – “It was my fault.”
- De quem é a culpa? – “Whose fault is it?”

So Não quero falar sobre a culpa hoje. could mean:

“I don’t want to talk about guilt today,” or
“I don’t want to talk about (who is) to blame today,”

depending on the broader context.