Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Se eu respeitar estes pequenos limites digitais, a minha mente fica mais calma. - If I respect these small digital limits, my mind becomes calmer.

In European Portuguese, when you talk about a future or hypothetical condition with “se” (if), you normally use the future subjunctive, not the present tense.

Se eu respeitar estes pequenos limites digitais…
= If I respect / When I respect these small digital boundaries (in the future)…

If you said:

Se eu respeito estes pequenos limites digitais, a minha mente fica mais calma.

this would sound more like a statement about a present, always true habit (“Whenever I respect them (as a rule), my mind is calmer.”). It’s possible, but it changes the nuance.

The original “Se eu respeitar…” is more like:

If I do manage to respect them / If I happen to respect them (from now on / in the future)…

Is “respeitar” here an infinitive, or some special tense?

Here “respeitar” is not a plain infinitive; it is the future subjunctive form of “respeitar”.

For regular -ar verbs, the future subjunctive (1st person singular) looks identical to the infinitive:

Infinitive: respeitar (to respect)
Future subjunctive:
- (eu) respeitar
- (tu) respeitares
- (ele/ela/você) respeitar
- (nós) respeitarmos
- (vós) respeitardes
- (eles/elas/vocês) respeitarem

So in “Se eu respeitar…”, it’s future subjunctive, even though it looks like the infinitive. The “se” (if/when) and the structure of the sentence tell you that it’s subjunctive, not infinitive.

Why do we use the future subjunctive here instead of the present subjunctive (se eu respeite)?

In European Portuguese, after “se” when you’re talking about a realistic future possibility, you normally use the future subjunctive, not the present subjunctive.

Se eu respeitar estes pequenos limites digitais… ✅ (normal EP)
Se eu respeite estes pequenos limites digitais… ❌ (wrong / not idiomatic in this context)

The present subjunctive is used after other triggers, such as “é possível que”, “espero que”, etc.:

Espero que eu respeite estes limites.
I hope (that) I respect these limits.

But with “se” + future event/condition, EP strongly prefers the future subjunctive.

Why is the second verb “fica” (present) and not future, like “ficará”?

In this kind of “se” clause + result clause, European Portuguese often uses:

Future subjunctive in the if-clause
Present indicative in the result clause

So:

Se eu respeitar estes pequenos limites digitais, a minha mente fica mais calma.

literally uses the present (fica), but it naturally refers to a future or general result:

If/When I respect these digital limits, my mind gets calmer / will be calmer.

You could also say:

Se eu respeitar estes pequenos limites digitais, a minha mente ficará mais calma.

This is also correct; it sounds a bit more explicitly focused on a specific future situation. The version with “fica” can sound slightly more general/habitual: that’s what tends to happen when you respect those limits.

Could I drop “eu” and just say “Se respeitar estes pequenos limites digitais…”?

Yes. Subject pronouns are often omitted in Portuguese when the verb ending already shows the subject clearly.

Se eu respeitar estes pequenos limites digitais…
Se respeitar estes pequenos limites digitais…

Both are fine. Omitting “eu” can sound a bit more natural and less heavy, especially in writing or more formal speech.

You would keep “eu” if you want to emphasize that it’s I (and not someone else):

Se eu respeitar estes pequenos limites digitais (e tu não), a minha mente fica mais calma.

Why is it “a minha mente” and not just “minha mente” or “a mente”?

In European Portuguese, it’s very common to use a definite article together with a possessive adjective:

a minha mente
literally “the my mind”

Compared to:

minha mente – possible, but in Portugal it can sound slightly more emphatic, poetic, or marked in many contexts.
a mente – “the mind” in a general or abstract sense, not clearly “my mind”.

So:

a minha mente fica mais calma
= my mind gets calmer (neutral, natural Portuguese (Portugal))
minha mente fica mais calma
= also my mind gets calmer, but in EP it feels more stylistic/marked, depending on context.

In everyday EP, “a + possessive + noun” is the default pattern:

o meu telefone – my phone
a tua casa – your house
os seus amigos – his/her/your/their friends

What is the nuance of “mente” here? Could you say “cabeça” instead?

mente = mind (thoughts, mental state, clarity, anxiety, etc.)
cabeça = head (literally the body part, but also used metaphorically)

In this sentence, “a minha mente fica mais calma” focuses on the mental/emotional state.

You could also hear in more colloquial speech:

Se eu respeitar estes pequenos limites digitais, eu fico mais calmo / mais calma.
If I respect these small digital limits, I feel calmer.

Or:

… a minha cabeça fica mais descansada.
… my head feels more at ease / more rested.

But “mente” keeps the meaning a bit more abstract and “psychological”.

What does “ficar” mean in “a minha mente fica mais calma”? Is it “be” or “become”?

“Ficar” is very flexible. Common meanings include:

To become / to get (change of state)
- A minha mente fica mais calma.
  My mind becomes / gets calmer.
To stay / remain
- Fica em casa. – Stay at home.
To be located
- Lisboa fica em Portugal. – Lisbon is (located) in Portugal.

Here, it clearly has the sense of a change of state:

fica mais calma = ends up calmer / becomes calmer, as a result of respecting the digital limits.

Using “é” or “está” instead would sound wrong or at least unnatural here:

a minha mente é mais calma – describes a permanent characteristic (my mind is calmer in general than something else)
a minha mente está mais calma – my mind is calmer (right now), but it doesn’t express the cause-and-effect as naturally as “fica mais calma” does.

Why “estes” and not “esses” or “aqueles”?

In Portuguese (Portugal), the demonstratives roughly map like this:

este / esta / estes / estas – “this / these” (near the speaker, or just introduced, or conceptually close to “me now”)
esse / essa / esses / essas – “that / those” (near the listener, or just mentioned by the listener, or a bit less close)
aquele / aquela / aqueles / aquelas – “that / those (over there)” (far from both, or more distant in time/space)

In practice, especially in modern spoken EP, the distinction between este and esse is often blurred, and both can be used for “these/those” in many contexts.

Here:

estes pequenos limites digitais suggests “these specific limits I’m talking about / I’m setting for myself.”

You could say “esses pequenos limites digitais” and it would still be understood, but “estes” feels quite natural if it’s the speaker’s own limits they’ve defined, or limits they are now introducing into the conversation.

Why is “digitais” at the end and not before “limites”?

In Portuguese, adjectives usually come after the noun:

limites digitais
literally “limits digital” → “digital limits”

Word order:

limites – noun (plural)
digitais – adjective (plural), agreeing with limites

Adjectives generally agree in gender and number:

limite digital – singular
limites digitais – plural

Some adjectives can come before the noun, but typically that has a stylistic or meaning change. Here, “digitais limites” would sound strange or poetic at best; the normal order is noun + adjective:

pequenos limites digitais
= “small digital limits”
(both pequenos and digitais agree with limites in number and gender)

Is there any special expression in Portuguese behind “respeitar limites”?

Yes, “respeitar limites” is a very common collocation meaning:

to respect boundaries / limits / rules / constraints

Some similar expressions:

respeitar os limites de velocidade – to respect the speed limits
respeitar os limites dos outros – to respect other people’s boundaries
respeitar os meus próprios limites – to respect my own limits

So “estes pequenos limites digitais” suggests things like:

time limits on phone use
not checking social media after a certain hour
no screens during meals, etc.

They are “small” and “digital”, but still “limites” you consciously choose to respect.