Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Eu tento convencer o Pedro a estudar português todos os dias. - I try to convince Pedro to study Portuguese every day.

Eu tento convencer o Pedro… and Tento convencer o Pedro… are both correct.
With no context, Tento… is normally understood as I try… because of the verb ending -o in tento (1st person singular).
You might keep Eu for emphasis (e.g. contrasting with someone else: Eu tento, mas ela não tenta. – I try, but she doesn’t).

Why is there an o before Pedro? Do names really take an article in Portuguese?

In European Portuguese, it is very common to use the definite article before a person’s first name:

o Pedro, a Maria, o João

So convencer o Pedro means literally to convince the Pedro, but in English we just say to convince Pedro.

Notes:

This use is standard in Portugal and sounds natural in most contexts.
In Brazilian Portuguese, using the article before a first name is less common and can sound regional or informal (depending on the area). There you will more often hear convencer Pedro without o.
In very formal or written European Portuguese, the article can be dropped, but in everyday speech you will hear it a lot.

Why is it tento convencer and not tento a convencer?

The verb tentar (to try) is followed directly by an infinitive, without a preposition:

tentar fazer – to try to do
tentar convencer – to try to convince

So:

Eu tento convencer o Pedro… ✅
Eu tento a convencer o Pedro… ❌ (ungrammatical)

If another verb requires a preposition, you will see it (for example começar a fazer, aprender a falar), but tentar does not take a before the next verb.

Why is it convencer o Pedro a estudar and not convencer o Pedro de estudar?

With the meaning to persuade someone to do something, Portuguese uses this pattern:

convencer alguém a fazer (alguma coisa)
- convencer o Pedro a estudar – to convince Pedro to study

The preposition de is used with convencer in a different structure:

convencer alguém de que…
- Convenci o Pedro de que isto era importante. – I convinced Pedro that this was important.

So:

convencer o Pedro a estudar ✅ (persuade him to study)
convencer o Pedro de estudar ❌ (not idiomatic; sounds wrong to natives)

What exactly is the a doing in a estudar?

The a here is a preposition required by convencer in this construction. The pattern is:

convencer (alguém) a (fazer alguma coisa)

So:

convencer o Pedro a estudar – to convince Pedro to study
convencer os alunos a praticar mais – to convince the students to practise more

You can think of a as the equivalent of English “to” in to do something after convince/persuade.

Could I say Eu tento convencer o Pedro para estudar português?

You will sometimes hear para in spoken language, but the standard and most natural form in European Portuguese after convencer is a, not para:

Eu tento convencer o Pedro a estudar português. ✅ (recommended)
Eu tento convencer o Pedro para estudar português. ⚠️ (non‑standard / colloquial, often corrected in formal settings)

So for careful, correct Portuguese, stick with a estudar after convencer.

Why is português not capitalized in this sentence?

In Portuguese, names of languages and adjectives of nationality are not capitalized (unless they begin a sentence):

português, inglês, francês, alemão
um estudante português, uma professora espanhola

So:

Eu estudo português. – I study Portuguese.
O Pedro é português. – Pedro is Portuguese.

This is different from English, where Portuguese, English, French are capitalized.

Does português here mean “Portuguese language” or “Portuguese (as in a Portuguese person)”?

In this sentence, português is the language:

estudar português – to study Portuguese (the language)

If you want to be very explicit, you can say:

estudar a língua portuguesa – to study the Portuguese language

As nationality:

O Pedro é português. – Pedro is Portuguese (a Portuguese person)

Context tells you whether português is language or nationality. After estudar, it is clearly the language.

Can I move todos os dias to another place in the sentence?

Yes, you have some flexibility. All of these are possible in European Portuguese:

Eu tento convencer o Pedro a estudar português todos os dias.
Eu tento convencer o Pedro todos os dias a estudar português.
Todos os dias, eu tento convencer o Pedro a estudar português.

Differences:

Putting Todos os dias at the start adds emphasis to every day.
The version in your sentence (time expression at the end) is very natural and common.

Just avoid splitting a estudar português unnaturally; keep a estudar with português.

Are there other ways to say “every day” besides todos os dias?

Yes. The most common alternative is:

todos os dias – every day (neutral, most common)
diariamente – daily (more formal/written)

Less neutral options:

todos os santos dias – every single day (colloquial, a bit expressive)

Cada dia exists, but it is less common and often has a slightly different nuance (“each day” in a more reflective sense). For everyday speech, todos os dias is your safest default.

If I replace o Pedro with “him”, how does the sentence change?

In European Portuguese, with a pronoun, the most natural sentence is:

Eu tento convencê‑lo a estudar português todos os dias.

Points to notice:

convencer + o (him) contracts to convencê‑lo (infinitive + enclitic pronoun ‑lo).
In European Portuguese, pronouns very often attach to the verb like this (enclisis), especially after an infinitive (convencer, estudar) or at the beginning of an independent sentence.

You could also say (less neutral in EP):

Eu o tento convencer a estudar português todos os dias. – grammatically possible, but enclisis convencê‑lo is more typical and natural in European Portuguese here.

How would this sentence typically look in Brazilian Portuguese compared to European Portuguese?

Your original sentence is European-flavoured:

(EP) Eu tento convencer o Pedro a estudar português todos os dias.

In Brazilian Portuguese, you’d more typically see:

(BP) Eu tento convencer Pedro a estudar português todo dia.

Main differences:

The article o before Pedro is often omitted in Brazil: convencer Pedro instead of convencer o Pedro.
todos os dias is used in Brazil too, but todo dia (without os) is very common in Brazilian speech.
Pronoun placement is different in BP if you replace o Pedro with a pronoun; for example:
- Eu tento convencê‑lo… (BP, formal/written)
- Eu tento convencer ele… (very common in spoken BP, though not prescriptive).