Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): O meu avô é teimoso e não quer mudar de rotina. - My grandfather is stubborn and doesn't want to change his routine.

Using the article makes the phrase sound more idiomatic and neutral in European Portuguese. Without it, in Portugal, it can sound a bit more formal, literary, or influenced by Brazilian Portuguese.

Can I say meu avô without the O? Does it sound different in Portugal and in Brazil?

Yes, you can say meu avô without the article, but the usual pattern depends on the variety:

Portugal (European Portuguese)
- Most natural: o meu avô
- meu avô is possible, but sounds more formal, emphatic, or “non‑native” if used all the time.
Brazil (Brazilian Portuguese)
- Most natural: meu avô (no article)
- o meu avô is also correct, but in many regions it may sound slightly more formal or marked.

So in Portugal, stick to o meu avô as your default.

What is the difference between avô and avó?

They differ in both meaning and pronunciation:

avô (with ô) = grandfather (masculine)
- Pronunciation (European Portuguese): roughly ah-VOH (closed o sound)
avó (with ó) = grandmother (feminine)
- Pronunciation: roughly ah-VAW or ah-VOH but with a more open sound

The accent mark tells you:

ô → close o (more like English “o” in “go”)
ó → open o (more like English “o” in “off”, but not exactly)

So:

o meu avô = my grandfather
a minha avó = my grandmother

Why is it é teimoso and not está teimoso?

Portuguese uses ser and estar differently:

ser (here: é) → more permanent or inherent characteristics
estar (here: está) → temporary states or conditions

In O meu avô é teimoso, we are describing a general character trait (he is a stubborn person in general), so ser is the natural choice.

If you said:

O meu avô está teimoso hoje.
That would suggest he is being stubborn right now or these days (more temporary), not necessarily always.

What exactly does teimoso mean? Is it always negative?

Teimoso means stubborn, obstinate, hard‑headed.

Connotations:

Often negative: someone who refuses to listen, won’t change their mind, insists on their way.
But it can be mildly affectionate or neutral in context, especially with older family members:
- O meu avô é um bocadinho teimoso. – “My grandad is a bit stubborn.” (can sound teasing/affectionate)

Rough English equivalents:

stubborn
headstrong
pig‑headed (more negative)

Context and tone decide how harsh it feels.

How does teimoso change for feminine and plural forms?

Teimoso is a regular adjective. It agrees in gender and number:

Masculine singular: teimoso
- O meu avô é teimoso. – My grandfather is stubborn.
Feminine singular: teimosa
- A minha avó é teimosa. – My grandmother is stubborn.
Masculine plural: teimosos
- Os meus avós são teimosos. – My grandparents are stubborn.
Feminine plural: teimosas
- As minhas tias são teimosas. – My aunts are stubborn.

The sentence uses teimoso because avô is masculine singular.

Why is the negation não placed before quer?

In Portuguese, the basic rule is:

não + conjugated verb

So:

não quer = “doesn’t want”
não gosta = “doesn’t like”
não sabe = “doesn’t know”

Here, quer is the conjugated verb (he wants), so the negation goes right before it:

não quer mudar de rotina = “he doesn’t want to change his routine”

Putting não after quer (e.g., quer não mudar) is possible but has a different, more marked meaning (see below).

Why is it não quer mudar de rotina and not não quer mudar a rotina?

Both are possible, but they have slightly different nuances:

mudar de rotina
- Literally “to change from (one) routine (to another)”
- Focus on switching routines, going out of the usual pattern.
- Very idiomatic: mudar de rotina, mudar de casa, mudar de roupa, mudar de ideias.
mudar a rotina
- Literally “to change the routine” (treating “routine” more like an object you modify)
- Emphasis on altering the routine, possibly in some specific way.

In this sentence, não quer mudar de rotina suggests he doesn’t want to leave his usual way of doing things. It sounds very natural and idiomatic in European Portuguese.

What does the structure quer + infinitive mean, and how common is it?

The pattern is:

conjugated querer + infinitive verb

It corresponds directly to English want to + verb:

Ele quer mudar. – He wants to change.
Não quer sair. – He doesn’t want to go out.
Quero aprender português. – I want to learn Portuguese.

In your sentence:

não quer mudar de rotina = “(he) doesn’t want to change (his) routine”

This is a very common, everyday structure in Portuguese.

Can I say quer não mudar instead of não quer mudar?

Grammatically: quer não mudar is possible, but the meaning is not the same and it sounds more marked.

não quer mudar = “he doesn’t want to change”
→ usual, neutral way to say it.
quer não mudar = roughly “he wants not to change”
→ emphasizes the wanting of the not changing; it’s unusual in normal speech and can sound awkward or overly formal/contrived.

In normal conversation, you should say não quer mudar.

Why do we use de in mudar de rotina? Can I just say mudar rotina?

With mudar, Portuguese often uses the pattern mudar de + noun when you change from one thing to another of the same type:

mudar de casa – to move house
mudar de roupa – to change clothes
mudar de emprego – to change job
mudar de ideias – to change one’s mind
mudar de rotina – to change routine

You cannot normally drop the de here:

✗ mudar rotina (sounds wrong/foreign in this meaning)

You could say mudar a rotina (different nuance, see above), but mudar rotina by itself is not idiomatic.

Would Brazilians say this sentence in the same way, or would they change something?

A Brazilian speaker would understand O meu avô é teimoso e não quer mudar de rotina perfectly.

Typical Brazilian choices might be:

Meu avô é teimoso e não quer mudar a rotina.
- Dropping the article before meu is more natural in Brazil.
- mudar a rotina is also very common in Brazilian Portuguese, though mudar de rotina is used too.

So:

Portugal (most typical): O meu avô é teimoso e não quer mudar de rotina.
Brazil (typical): Meu avô é teimoso e não quer mudar a rotina.

Grammatically, both variants are fine in both countries; it’s mainly about what sounds more “native” in each variety.

How do you pronounce the tricky words avô, não, quer, and de in European Portuguese?

Approximate European Portuguese pronunciations:

avô – roughly ah-VOH
- Stress on the second syllable; the ô is a closed “o”, like in English “go”.
não – roughly like now, but nasal:
- The ão is a nasal sound; say “now” while letting air also go through your nose.
quer – roughly kehɾ:
- Like “care” without the final “e” sound.
- Final r is often a light flap or almost not pronounced in some accents.
de – roughly dɨ:
- Very reduced vowel, a bit like the e in “roses” or the a in “sofa”.

In connected speech, não quer mudar de rotina will sound quite compressed, with de almost disappearing.

Can I omit de rotina and just say não quer mudar? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

O meu avô é teimoso e não quer mudar.

This means:

“My grandfather is stubborn and doesn’t want to change.”

Without de rotina, mudar is more general and vague:

change what? himself? his opinions? his life? his habits?

Adding de rotina specifies what he doesn’t want to change: his routine, his usual way of living his day-to-day life.