Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Eu quero aprender a tocar guitarra com a Ana.

aprender guitarra = “to learn guitar” (the instrument in general, as a subject)
aprender a tocar guitarra = “to learn to play the guitar” (the action/skill of playing)

In everyday speech, people usually say “aprender a tocar guitarra”, because you’re talking about learning the skill of playing, not studying the instrument as a theoretical subject.

Why do we say “tocar guitarra” and not “jogar guitarra” or something else?

Portuguese uses different verbs for different kinds of “play”:

tocar – play a musical instrument
- tocar guitarra, tocar piano, tocar violino
jogar – play games/sports
- jogar futebol, jogar cartas
brincar – play in the sense of children playing
- as crianças estão a brincar

So with musical instruments, you must use “tocar”:
✅ tocar guitarra
❌ jogar guitarra / brincar guitarra

Why is it “guitarra” and not “violão” like I’ve seen in Brazilian Portuguese?

This sentence is in European Portuguese (Portugal).

In Portugal, “guitarra” means “guitar” (usually a classical or acoustic guitar).
In Brazil, the everyday word for a standard acoustic/classical guitar is “violão”, and “guitarra” usually means “electric guitar”.

So in Portugal:

guitarra = guitar (unless you say “guitarra elétrica” for “electric guitar”)

Why is it “com a Ana” and not just “com Ana”?

In European Portuguese, people often use the definite article with people’s first names:

a Ana, o João, a Maria, o Pedro

After the preposition “com”, you still keep the article:

com a Ana – with Ana
com o João – with João

So:

Eu quero aprender a tocar guitarra com a Ana.

In Brazilian Portuguese, it’s much more common to drop the article:

com Ana, com João

But in Portugal, “com a Ana” sounds more natural.

Is the “a” before “Ana” the same “a” as in “aprender a”?

No, they are different:

In “aprender a tocar”, “a” is a preposition that links aprender to tocar.
In “com a Ana”, “a” is the definite article (“the”) for the feminine noun Ana (proper names are treated like nouns and often take an article in European Portuguese).

So:

aprender a (preposition)
a Ana (definite article + name)

Why is it “com a Ana” and not “da Ana” or “de Ana”?

Because the meaning is “with Ana”, not “from Ana” or “of Ana”.

com = with
- com a Ana – with Ana
de (often contracts with the article) = of / from
- da Ana = de + a Ana → “of Ana” / “belonging to Ana”

So:

Vou aprender guitarra com a Ana.
= I will learn guitar with Ana (she is your teacher or partner).

If you say:

Vou usar a guitarra da Ana.
= I’m going to use Ana’s guitar (the guitar belongs to her).

Why is it “Eu quero aprender…”? Can I drop “Eu” and just say “Quero aprender a tocar guitarra com a Ana”?

Yes, you can drop “Eu”. Portuguese is a “pro-drop” language: the subject pronoun is often omitted because the verb ending already shows the person.

Eu quero aprender…
Quero aprender… (still means “I want to learn…”)

Both are correct:

Saying “Eu quero” can give a bit more emphasis to “I”.
In everyday speech, you will very often hear “Quero aprender a tocar guitarra com a Ana.”

How is “quero” formed from “querer”, and what tense is it?

querer is the infinitive: to want.
quero is the present indicative, 1st person singular:

Conjugation in the present (just for reference):

eu quero – I want
tu queres – you want (informal singular)
ele/ela/você quer – he/she/you want
nós queremos – we want
vocês querem – you (plural) want
eles/elas querem – they want

So “Eu quero aprender…” = “I want to learn…” in the present tense.

Is “quero” rude or too strong? Are there more polite ways to say this?

“Quero” is neutral and very common; it is not automatically rude. However, in some situations (especially when talking to service staff, strangers, or in very formal contexts), Portuguese often softens direct “I want” expressions.

More polite/softer options:

Gostava de aprender a tocar guitarra com a Ana.
= I’d like to learn to play guitar with Ana.
Queria aprender a tocar guitarra com a Ana.
= I wanted / I would like to learn to play guitar with Ana.

In casual conversation about your own plans, “Eu quero aprender a tocar guitarra…” is perfectly fine.

Why is there no article before “guitarra”? Could I say “tocar a guitarra”?

Both are possible, but they sound slightly different:

tocar guitarra – play guitar (in general, as a skill or activity)
tocar a guitarra – play the guitar (a specific guitar, or more definite)

In practice:

Eu quero aprender a tocar guitarra.
= I want to learn to play guitar (the instrument in general).

You would use “a guitarra” if you’re talking about a particular guitar already known in the context:

Podes tocar a guitarra que está na sala.
= You can play the guitar that is in the living room.

Why is “guitarra” feminine? How does that affect the rest of the sentence?

Portuguese nouns have grammatical gender. “guitarra” ends in -a and is feminine:

a guitarra – the guitar
uma guitarra – a guitar

Gender affects:

Articles: a guitarra, not o guitarra
Adjectives: guitarra nova, guitarra cara
Pronouns: you could refer to it as “ela” (she/it) in context.

In this sentence, you don’t see an article or adjective before “guitarra”, so gender isn’t visible, but it’s important when you expand the sentence:

Eu quero aprender a tocar uma guitarra elétrica nova.
(all feminine: uma, elétrica, nova)

Could I move “com a Ana” to another place in the sentence, like “Eu quero com a Ana aprender a tocar guitarra”?

The most natural position is at the end:

✅ Eu quero aprender a tocar guitarra com a Ana.

You can also front it for emphasis on Ana, but that’s more marked:

Com a Ana, eu quero aprender a tocar guitarra.
(Focus on with Ana; sounds a bit “contrastive”: with Ana, not with someone else.)

“Eu quero com a Ana aprender a tocar guitarra” is grammatically understandable but sounds awkward and unnatural in everyday European Portuguese.

Does “a” in “aprender a tocar” ever contract to “à”?

No. The contraction “à” happens when:

a (preposition) + a (definite article, feminine singular) → à
- e.g. vou à escola (vou a + a escola)

In “aprender a tocar”, the “a” is just a preposition before an infinitive verb (tocar), not before a noun with an article, so:

✅ aprender a tocar
❌ aprender à tocar

Why is “Ana” capitalized but “guitarra” is not?

Portuguese capitalization is similar to English:

Proper names (people, cities, countries) are capitalized:
- Ana, João, Lisboa, Portugal
Common nouns (including instruments) are not capitalized:
- guitarra, piano, carro, casa

So:

com a Ana (name, capitalized)
tocar guitarra (instrument, lowercase)