Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Nós queremos estabelecer um plano claro para o exame. - We want to establish a clear plan for the exam.

can emphasize the subject (e.g., we as opposed to they), or
can make the sentence feel a bit more explicit or formal, especially in writing or careful speech.

In everyday European Portuguese, you’ll very often hear people drop Nós and just say Queremos….

What nuance does queremos have here? Is it “we want”, “we would like”, or “we are going to”?

Queremos literally means we want.

In context, it often softens a bit, depending on tone:

We want to establish a clear plan… (literal)
Can feel close to “we’d like to” if said politely.

It does not by itself mean “we are going to” in the sense of a firm future plan. That would usually be:

Vamos estabelecer um plano claro… = We are going to establish a clear plan…

So here it mainly expresses intention or desire, not a scheduled future action.

Why do we use queremos + estabelecer (two verbs) instead of just conjugating estabelecer?

This structure is very common in Portuguese:

querer + infinitive = to want to + verb

So:

Queremos estabelecer = We want to establish

You cannot collapse it into one verb in Portuguese. You need:

a conjugated verb (queremos) +
an infinitive (estabelecer).

This is the same pattern as gostar de fazer, começar a estudar, etc. Here, querer is the main verb, estabelecer is the action you want to do.

Is estabelecer the most natural verb here? Could I say fazer um plano or definir um plano?

You have several good options, with slightly different nuances:

estabelecer um plano – to establish / set up a plan (quite formal, common in written or professional contexts)
fazer um plano – to make a plan (more neutral, everyday speech)
definir um plano – to define a plan (often used in business, planning, strategy)

All three are correct; the sentence with estabelecer sounds a bit more formal or “official” than fazer.

Why is it um plano claro and not um claro plano?

In Portuguese, adjectives usually come after the noun:

um plano claro = a clear plan
uma casa grande = a big house
um livro interessante = an interesting book

Putting the adjective before the noun (um claro plano) is possible but:

sounds poetic, literary, or very marked in most cases
can slightly shift the focus or meaning in some phrases.

For everyday, natural Portuguese, um plano claro is the normal order.

What exactly does claro mean in this context? Is it “clear” as in “not dark”, or “clear” as in “easy to understand”?

Here claro means clear / well-defined / easy to understand, not “not dark”.

So um plano claro = a plan that is:

well explained
easy to follow
not confusing

claro can also mean “light” in colour or brightness, but context decides which meaning is intended.

Why is it para o exame and not para exame or para o teste?

para o exame
- para = for
- o exame = the exam
  This is the standard way to say for the exam (a specific, known exam).
para exame
- Normally sounds incomplete/odd in this sentence.
- You’d usually keep the article here: para o exame.
para o teste
- teste is more like a test/quiz, often smaller or less formal than an exame.

So:

If you’re referring to an official or important assessment, exame is typical.
You keep the article: para o exame = for the (specific) exam.

What’s the pronunciation of Nós queremos estabelecer um plano claro para o exame in European Portuguese?

In European Portuguese, a careful pronunciation (roughly) is:

Nós – [nɔʃ] (final s sounds like “sh”)
queremos – [kɨˈɾe.muʃ] (the e in que- is more like the u in supply)
estabelecer – [ɨʃ.tɐ.bɨ.lɨˈseɾ]
um – [ũ] (nasal vowel, like French un)
plano – [ˈplɐ.nu]
claro – [ˈkla.ɾu]
para – often reduced to [pɐɾ] or [pɾɐ] in fast speech
o – [u]
exame – [ɨˈzɐ.mɨ]

In natural, fast speech, it can sound like:

Nóʃ kɨˈɾe.muʃ ʃtɐ.bɨ.lɨˈseɾ ũ ˈplɐ.nu ˈkla.ɾu pɾɐu ɨˈzɐ.mɨ

Why is the article masculine in o exame? How do I know the gender of exame and plano?

Both exame and plano are masculine nouns:

o exame – the exam
o plano / um plano – the plan / a plan

There’s no 100% reliable rule, but some tendencies:

Nouns ending in -o are often masculine (like plano).
Nouns ending in -e can be either masculine or feminine; exame happens to be masculine.

You generally have to learn the gender with the noun:

o exame
o plano
um plano claro (all masculine: um
- plano
  - claro)

Could I say Nós gostaríamos de estabelecer um plano claro para o exame instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, that’s correct, and it sounds more polite / softer:

Nós queremos estabelecer… = We want to establish… (direct, neutral)
Nós gostaríamos de estabelecer… = We would like to establish… (more formal, more courteous)

In many formal contexts (emails, meetings, proposals), gostaríamos de + infinitive is preferred over queremos because it feels less blunt.

Why is it um plano claro and not um plano claramente definido or something more literal like “clearly defined plan”?

You could say:

um plano claramente definido = a clearly defined plan

But:

um plano claro is shorter and very natural; in Portuguese, claro already carries the idea of well-defined / easy to understand.
claramente definido is more formal, heavier, or more technical.

So um plano claro is the most idiomatic everyday version of a clear plan.

Could para o exame ever become a contraction like p’ro exame in European Portuguese?

In informal, fast speech, many speakers reduce para o:

Spoken: something like p’ro exame [ˈpɾu ɨˈzɐ.mɨ]
This is common in both European and Brazilian Portuguese, though writing it as pr’o / pro is mostly informal or non‑standard.

In standard writing, you keep it as:

para o exame.