Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Se cumprirmos a meta semanal, havemos de nos sentir mais fortes no final do mês. - If we meet the weekly goal, we will surely feel stronger at the end of the month.

Future subjunctive of cumprir (to fulfill):
- eu cumprir
- tu cumprires
- ele/ela cumprir
- nós cumprirmos
- vós cumprirdes
- eles/elas cumprirem

We use it with conjunctions like se, quando, logo que, assim que when talking about a future event whose realization is uncertain:

Se cumprirmos a meta... = If we (do) meet the target (when that time comes)...
Quando cumprirmos a meta... = When we (eventually) meet the target...

If you said Se cumprimos a meta semanal, that normally sounds:

either habitual/generic: If we (normally) meet the weekly target
or just odd with a clear future result clause like havemos de….

So se + future subjunctive is the normal, “standard” choice for this future conditional.

What exactly does havemos de mean? Is it just “we will”?

Havemos de + infinitive is a very Portuguese (especially European) way to talk about the future.

Literal components:

havemos = present tense of haver (1st person plural: we),
de + infinitive = to + verb.

Function:

It expresses a future event, often with a nuance of:
- intention (we intend to),
- confidence / inevitability (we’re bound to / we’re sure to).

In this sentence:

havemos de nos sentir mais fortes ≈
- we’ll (eventually) feel stronger,
- we are bound to feel stronger,
- we’re sure to feel stronger.

It’s not strictly the same as English “shall”, but it’s in that territory: a bit more “coloured” than a plain neutral “will”, suggesting resolve or expectation rather than just a neutral prediction.

Could I replace havemos de nos sentir with vamos sentir-nos?

Yes, very naturally.

Havemos de nos sentir mais fortes
Vamos sentir-nos mais fortes

Both can translate as “We’ll feel stronger”.

Differences in nuance and register:

vamos sentir-nos:
- uses ir + infinitive, the most common spoken future.
- very neutral and colloquial: “we’re going to feel stronger”.
havemos de nos sentir:
- sounds a bit more emphatic or bookish / traditional, though still common in Portugal.
- can hint at determination or confident expectation.

In everyday European Portuguese, “Vamos sentir-nos mais fortes no final do mês” is probably the most frequent version, but the original with havemos de is also perfectly good.

What tense is havemos here? Is it a kind of future?

Grammatically, havemos is present indicative of haver (1st person plural: we).

The combination haver de + infinitive functions like a periphrastic future (“periphrastic” = formed with a helper verb):

havemos de sentir = we shall / we will feel
hei de sentir = I shall / I will feel
hás de sentir = you shall / will feel (singular)
há de sentir = he/she will feel
hão de sentir = they will feel

So the future meaning comes from the construction (haver de + infinitive), not from a special “future form” of havemos itself.

Could I say sentir-nos-emos instead of havemos de nos sentir?

In theory, yes, but in practice almost nobody would say it in normal conversation.

The simple future of sentir-se (“to feel” oneself) in standard grammar is:

sentir-nos-emos (we will feel)

However:

In modern spoken Portuguese (both PT and BR), the simple future is very often replaced by:
- ir + infinitive: vamos sentir-nos
- or, in European Portuguese, also haver de + infinitive: havemos de sentir-nos / havemos de nos sentir.

So:

Correct but very formal / old-fashioned in speech:
- Se cumprirmos a meta semanal, sentir-nos-emos mais fortes...
Natural in speech:
- Se cumprirmos a meta semanal, vamos sentir-nos mais fortes...
- Se cumprirmos a meta semanal, havemos de nos sentir mais fortes...

For learning purposes, focus on vamos sentir-nos and havemos de nos sentir, and treat sentir-nos-emos as something you’ll mainly see in formal writing or literature.

Why do we need nos at all? Why not just sentir mais fortes?

Portuguese distinguishes:

sentir = to feel (something: emotion, sensation, smell, etc.)
sentir-se = to feel (a certain way, in oneself: well, ill, strong, tired, happy...)

Examples:

Eu sinto frio. = I feel cold. (I feel the cold.)
Eu sinto tristeza. = I feel sadness.
Eu sinto-me cansado. = I feel tired. (my state)
Eu sinto-me bem. = I feel well.

In your sentence:

sentir-se mais forte = to feel stronger (as a person / in ourselves)
nos is the reflexive pronoun for nós (we), so:
- havemos de nos sentir mais fortes = we will feel stronger (ourselves).

Without nos it would sound incomplete/wrong in Portuguese in this meaning.

Why is it havemos de nos sentir and not havemos de sentir-nos? Are both correct?

Both forms exist; usage varies.

You’ll commonly hear both in European Portuguese:

havemos de nos sentir mais fortes
havemos de sentir-nos mais fortes

General tendencies:

In EP grammars, with constructions like ter de / haver de + infinitive, many recommend attaching the clitic to the infinitive:
- havemos de sentir-nos,
- temos de levantar-nos cedo.
In real spoken EP, it’s very common to put the pronoun before the infinitive:
- havemos de nos sentir,
- temos de nos levantar cedo.

So for you as a learner:

Accept both as correct in Portugal.
You’ll probably hear and use havemos de nos sentir more often in everyday speech.

What’s the difference between meta semanal and meta da semana?

Both are correct, but the nuance is slightly different:

meta semanal
- literally “weekly goal/target”.
- adjectival: “of a weekly type / defined per week”.
- Often sounds more generic or habitual:
  - Temos uma meta semanal de vendas. = We have a weekly sales target.
meta da semana
- literally “goal of the week”.
- more specific to this particular week:
  - A meta da semana é telefonar a 50 clientes.
    = This week’s goal is to call 50 clients.

In your sentence, meta semanal suggests a recurring weekly target as part of a longer plan (e.g. for the whole month), which fits well with no final do mês.

Why do we use no final do mês and not something like em o final do mês? And is fim different from final here?

no = em + o (contraction)

Portuguese usually contracts a preposition + definite article:

em + o = no
em + a = na
de + o = do
de + a = da

So no final do mês literally is em o final de o mês → at the end of the month.

fim vs. final

Here, fim and final both mean “end” and are often interchangeable:

no fim do mês
no final do mês

Both are fine. Final can sound a bit more formal, but in this context there’s no real difference in meaning.

Is cumprirmos a future subjunctive or a personal infinitive? They look the same.

Formally, the shape is the same, but the function is different. You tell them apart by the context.

Future subjunctive (after conjunctions like se, quando, logo que etc.):

Se cumprirmos a meta semanal...
- “If we meet the weekly target...”
Trigger: se (if) introducing a future condition.

Personal infinitive (after prepositions like para, por, sem, ao etc.):

Para cumprirmos a meta semanal, temos de trabalhar mais.
- “In order for us to meet the weekly target, we have to work more.”
Trigger: para (for/in order to), followed directly by an infinitive.

So:

After se referring to a future event → it’s future subjunctive.
After prepositions (para, por, sem, ao, de, em...) → it’s personal infinitive.

Would Brazilians say this sentence the same way?

The grammar of the if-clause is the same, but the main clause would normally change.

In Brazil, people would typically avoid havemos de in everyday speech and say:

Se cumprirmos a meta semanal, vamos nos sentir mais fortes no final do mês.

Differences:

se cumprirmos: still future subjunctive, same as in Portugal.
vamos nos sentir:
- ir + infinitive is also the usual spoken future in Brazil.
- The pronoun position is different:
  - EP: vamos sentir-nos (pronoun after infinitive),
  - BR: vamos nos sentir (pronoun before infinitive).

So:

Portugal: Se cumprirmos a meta semanal, havemos de nos sentir mais fortes no final do mês.
Brazil (more natural): Se cumprirmos a meta semanal, vamos nos sentir mais fortes no final do mês.

Does havemos de mean “we have to”, like temos de?

No, they’re not the same, although they look similar.

temos de + infinitive
- expresses obligation / necessity: we have to / we must.
- Temos de cumprir a meta semanal. = We have to meet the weekly target.
havemos de + infinitive
- expresses a future event with intention, hope or expectation: we’ll / we’re sure to / we shall.
- Havemos de cumprir a meta semanal. = We’ll (surely) meet the weekly target.

In older or more literary Portuguese, haver de can sometimes carry a sense of obligation, but in contemporary usage:

Use temos de / temos que for “we have to”.
Use havemos de for a somewhat emphatic future (“we shall / we’re bound to”).

How would the meaning change if we said Se cumpríssemos a meta semanal, havíamos de nos sentir mais fortes?

That moves the sentence into a more hypothetical / less likely world, similar to English “If we were to...” / “If we managed to...”.

Se cumprirmos a meta semanal, havemos de nos sentir...
- future real condition (1st conditional style):
- If we meet the weekly target, we’ll feel...
- Assumes that meeting the target is plausible / expected.
Se cumpríssemos a meta semanal, havíamos de sentir-nos... (or sentir-nos-íamos)
- hypothetical / less likely / imagined condition (2nd conditional style):
- If we were to meet the weekly target, we would feel...
- Suggests that meeting the target is uncertain, maybe unlikely, or we’re speaking more hypothetically.

So the original sentence is more optimistic/realistic; the imperfect subjunctive version (cumpríssemos) is more speculative.