A professora diz que, praticando todos os dias, provavelmente havemos de falar português de forma natural.

The teacher says that, by practising every day, we will probably come to speak Portuguese naturally.

Breakdown of A professora diz que, praticando todos os dias, provavelmente havemos de falar português de forma natural.

• o dia: the day
• de: of
• falar: to speak
• que: that
• a professora: the teacher
• dizer: to say
• todo: every
• a forma: the way
• natural: natural
• o português: the Portuguese
• praticar: to practise
• haver de: to be going to
• provavelmente: probably

Questions & Answers about A professora diz que, praticando todos os dias, provavelmente havemos de falar português de forma natural.

Why is there a comma after que?

Because praticando todos os dias is an extra piece of information (an adverbial phrase) inserted into the clause.

The core reported sentence is:

• A professora diz que havemos de falar português de forma natural.

Then we add the condition/manner:

• praticando todos os dias

Since this gerund phrase is inserted into the middle, Portuguese punctuation separates it with commas:

• A professora diz que, praticando todos os dias, provavelmente havemos de falar...

So the comma is not “after que” because of que itself; it’s there to set off the inserted phrase praticando todos os dias.

What exactly is praticando here? Is it like English “practicing”?

Praticando is the Portuguese gerúndio (gerund), formed from the verb praticar.

In this sentence it works as an adverbial form, roughly meaning:

• “by practicing / if we practice / when we practice every day”

So:

• praticando todos os dias = by practicing every day / if we practice every day.

It does not act as a noun like English “Practicing every day is important.”
In Portuguese you wouldn’t say “Praticando todos os dias é importante”; for that you’d use the infinitive: Praticar todos os dias é importante.

Who is the subject of praticando? Is it “we”?

Yes. In Portuguese, when you have a gerund like praticando attached to a clause, it normally shares the same subject as the main verb.

• Main verb: havemos (de falar) → subject = nós (we)
• Gerund: praticando (todos os dias) → subject is also nós (we)

So it means:

• Nós, praticando todos os dias, havemos de falar português...

Could I say se praticarmos todos os dias instead of praticando todos os dias?

Yes. Both are correct, with slightly different feel:

• praticando todos os dias
  – more compact, a bit more literary or written-style;
  – implies something like “by practicing every day / if we practice every day”.

• se praticarmos todos os dias
  – explicit conditional clause (“if we practice every day”);
  – very common and completely natural in both spoken and written Portuguese.

A natural rewrite would be:

• A professora diz que, se praticarmos todos os dias, provavelmente havemos de falar português de forma natural.

What does havemos de mean exactly? How is it different from vamos?

Havemos de + infinitive is a future construction that expresses:

• a strong expectation, intention, or almost certain future.

Roughly:

• havemos de falar ≈ “we are bound to speak / we’re sure to end up speaking”.

Compared with:

• vamos falar – very common neutral future; often just “we’re going to speak / we’ll speak”.
• falaremos – simple future, often a bit more formal or written.

So:

• havemos de falar português de forma natural suggests a hopeful or confident prediction: “We’re bound to speak Portuguese naturally.”

Is havemos de common in European Portuguese?

Yes, it does exist in everyday European Portuguese, though it has a slightly formal or rhetorical flavor, and is used more in:

• optimistic statements,
• promises,
• strong expectations.

You’ll also hear other persons:

• hei de (I), hás de (you, singular), há de (he/she/it), hão de (they).

In Brazilian Portuguese, this construction sounds more old‑fashioned in everyday speech, except in some fixed expressions, so Brazilians would usually avoid it in casual conversation.

Why isn’t nós written? Where is “we” in the sentence?

Portuguese is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb endings show who the subject is.

• havemos (de falar) has the ‑emos ending from haver, which clearly marks 1st person plural (nós).

So:

• Havemos de falar português already means “We will speak Portuguese”; adding nós is optional:
  • Nós havemos de falar português – also correct, but with extra emphasis on we.

Could I just say falaremos português instead of havemos de falar português?

Yes, grammatically you can:

• provavelmente falaremos português de forma natural
  = “we will probably speak Portuguese naturally.”

Nuance:

• falaremos – straightforward simple future; neutral to slightly formal/written.
• havemos de falar – adds a nuance of hope, determination, or strong expectation, and is a bit more marked in style.

In many everyday contexts, a European Portuguese speaker might instead choose:

• vamos falar português de forma natural – very neutral and common.

Why is português lowercase and with no article (o) here?

In Portuguese:

• Names of languages are written with a lowercase initial: português, inglês, francês.
• After the verb falar, when you mean “speak a language” in a general sense, you normally don’t use the article:
  • falar português, falar inglês.

You can use the article if you qualify the language:

• falar o português do Brasil
• falar o português europeu

Why is provavelmente placed before havemos de falar? Can it go elsewhere?

Provavelmente is an adverb and can move around a bit. All of these are possible:

• ...que, praticando todos os dias, provavelmente havemos de falar português...
• ...que, praticando todos os dias, havemos de provavelmente falar português... (less natural)
• ...que, praticando todos os dias, havemos de falar provavelmente português de forma natural... (sounds a bit awkward)

In practice, the most natural positions here are:

• Provavelmente havemos de falar...
• ...praticando todos os dias, provavelmente havemos de falar...

Putting it before the verb group (havemos de falar) is the cleanest and most idiomatic in this sentence.

What’s the difference between de forma natural and naturalmente?

Both can mean “naturally / in a natural way”:

• falar português de forma natural
  – very literal “speak Portuguese in a natural way”;
  – slightly more formal/neutral, often preferred when you want to avoid ambiguity.

• falar português naturalmente
  – also “speak Portuguese naturally”;
  – but naturalmente can also mean “of course, obviously”, depending on context:

  • Naturalmente, isso vai demorar. = “Of course, this will take time.”

So de forma natural avoids that possible double meaning.

Why don’t we use the subjunctive (falemos) after diz que?

Because here diz que is introducing reported speech, not a wish, order, or doubt.

The structure is:

• A professora diz que [praticando todos os dias, provavelmente havemos de falar português de forma natural].

We’re reporting what the teacher says as a statement about the future, so we keep it in a future construction (havemos de falar), not in the subjunctive.

You would use the subjunctive after dizer que if the verb expressed a command, request, or desire, for example:

• A professora diz que pratiquemos todos os dias.
  = “The teacher says (insists) that we practice every day.”

How would a Brazilian Portuguese speaker be more likely to say this?

A natural Brazilian version (keeping the same idea) might be:

• A professora diz que, se praticarmos todos os dias, provavelmente vamos falar português de forma natural.

Main differences:

• Uses se praticarmos instead of the gerund praticando (more explicit “if we practice”).
• Uses vamos falar instead of havemos de falar (the latter is rare/old‑fashioned in everyday Brazilian speech).
• Everything else is basically the same and perfectly understandable on both sides of the Atlantic.