Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): É normal cometer erros quando estudamos português. - It is normal to make mistakes when we study Portuguese.

Está normal would mean something like “it is back to normal / it is (temporarily) normal now”, which doesn’t fit here. Also, the pattern É normal + infinitive (É normal cometer…) is a very common fixed structure in Portuguese for “It’s normal to …”.

Why do we say cometer erros and not fazer erros?

In Portuguese, the natural collocation is:

cometer erros = to make mistakes
cometer um erro = to make a mistake

The verb cometer is used for “doing” something that is usually negative, wrong, or undesirable:

cometer um crime – to commit a crime
cometer um pecado – to commit a sin
cometer uma gafe – to commit a faux pas

Fazer erros is not idiomatic; it sounds like a transfer from English. You might hear it from learners, but native speakers say cometer erros.

Why is cometer in the infinitive, but estudamos is conjugated?

The sentence has two different structures:

É normal cometer erros
- Here, cometer is in the infinitive because cometer erros functions as the idea / action being described as normal.
- Structurally: É normal + [infinitive phrase]
- Roughly: “To make mistakes is normal.”
quando estudamos português
- estudamos is conjugated in the present indicative, 1st person plural (we).
- This is a full clause introduced by quando (“when”), so it needs a finite verb (a conjugated verb).

So you have:

Main clause: É normal cometer erros
Subordinate clause: quando estudamos português

What person and tense is estudamos, and what does it mean here?

Estudamos is:

Person: 1st person plural (nós – we)
Tense: Present indicative

It can mean:

“we study” (literally), but
In this kind of sentence, it’s often a generic “we”, similar to English “when we study Portuguese” meaning “when people / learners study Portuguese in general”.

The present tense in Portuguese is used not only for actions happening now, but also for habitual actions and general truths, which is exactly the case here.

Could we say quando nós estudamos português? What changes?

Yes, you can say:

É normal cometer erros quando nós estudamos português.

The difference:

quando estudamos português – neutral, typical everyday phrasing. The subject nós is understood from the verb ending -amos.
quando nós estudamos português – adds a bit of emphasis on nós (“we”), as in “when we (as opposed to others) study Portuguese”.

In Portuguese, subject pronouns (eu, tu, ele, nós, vocês, eles) are often omitted because the verb ending already shows the person.

Can quando estudamos here be understood as “when you study” or “when one studies”?

Yes. The “we” in Portuguese (and also in English) can be inclusive and generic:

quando estudamos português
→ “when we study Portuguese”
→ understood as “when one studies Portuguese / when people study Portuguese / when you study Portuguese (in general)”.

If you wanted other options:

quando se estuda português – very generic, like “when one studies Portuguese”
quando estudas português – “when you (singular, informal) study Portuguese”
quando vocês estudam português – “when you (plural) study Portuguese”

But the original quando estudamos is very natural and commonly used generically.

Why is português not capitalized?

In English, language names are capitalized (Portuguese, English, Spanish).
In Portuguese, they are not capitalized:

português – Portuguese (language or adjective)
inglês – English
espanhol – Spanish
francês – French

So:

Estudo português. – I study Portuguese.
Ela é professora de inglês. – She is an English teacher.

The country names are capitalized:

Portugal, Inglaterra, Espanha, França

Why is there no article before português? Could we say o português?

Both are possible in many contexts:

estudar português
estudar o português

In this sentence, É normal cometer erros quando estudamos português, omitting the article is very natural, especially with verbs like:

estudar português – study Portuguese
falar inglês – speak English
aprender francês – learn French

With prepositions, the article is much more common:

erros de português – mistakes in Portuguese
o professor de português – the Portuguese teacher
gosto do português europeu – I like European Portuguese

So quando estudamos português sounds slightly more neutral/natural than quando estudamos o português, but the version with the article is not wrong.

Why is erros in the plural and not just erro?

Portuguese, like English, often uses the plural to talk about something in a general way:

cometer erros – “to make mistakes (in general)”
cometer crimes – “to commit crimes”
dizer palavrões – “to say swear words”

Using the singular erro would usually refer to one specific mistake:

Cometi um erro. – I made a mistake.
É normal cometer um erro. – It’s normal to make a (single) mistake. (Possible, but the focus shifts to one error.)

In the original sentence, we’re talking about mistakes in general, so erros (plural) is the natural choice.

Can we change the word order to É normal, quando estudamos português, cometer erros? Is that still correct?

Yes, that word order is grammatically correct and natural:

É normal, quando estudamos português, cometer erros.

Portuguese word order is somewhat flexible. The differences:

É normal cometer erros quando estudamos português.
– A bit more straightforward; the time clause comes at the end.
É normal, quando estudamos português, cometer erros.
– Slightly more emphasis on “when we study Portuguese” as a condition or context in which this normal thing happens.

Both versions are fine in everyday use.

How would this sentence look using a gente instead of nós?

In informal European Portuguese, you can use a gente (literally “the people”) to mean “we”, but it takes a 3rd person singular verb:

É normal cometer erros quando a gente estuda português.

Compare:

quando nós estudamos português – formal/neutral “we study”
quando a gente estuda português – informal “we study”

Grammar point: a gente always takes ele/ela verb forms:

a gente estuda, a gente fala, a gente comete, etc.

How should I pronounce the key words in this sentence in European Portuguese?

Main points (European Portuguese):

É – short, open é sound.
normal – stress on -mal: nor-MAL. The r is soft, almost like a light tap.
cometer – stress on -ter: come-TER. The co is like “co” in “copy” (but shorter).
erros – é is open like in É; rr is a strong, throaty sound (like French r), and final -s sounds like sh: É-rrosh.
estudamos – stress on -DA: es-tu-DA-mos. Initial es- is /ʃ/, so it starts like “shtudamos” to English ears.
português – stress on -guês: portu-GUÊS. The ê is a closed e (like ay in “say” but shorter), and final -s is again like sh: portuguêsh.

In connected speech, you may hear some linking, for example:

cometer_erros – the r of cometer links into erros.