Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Hoje quero apenas descansar em casa.

Emphasis or contrast:
- Eu hoje quero descansar, tu é que queres sair.
  (I want to rest today; it’s you who wants to go out.)
Clarity in long or ambiguous sentences.

In a simple sentence like Hoje quero apenas descansar em casa, leaving out eu is the most natural option.

What tense is quero, and why is it used to talk about something happening today (possibly later)?

Quero is the present indicative, 1st person singular of querer (to want).

In Portuguese, the present tense is often used for:

Current wishes / intentions that include the near future, especially with a time word like hoje:
- Hoje quero descansar. = Today I want to rest / I’m just going to rest today.

Using something like vou querer (I’m going to want) here is usually unnecessary or odd. The simple present quero already covers the idea that at some point today, your plan or intention is to rest at home.

How is quero formed, and what are the other forms of querer in the present?

Quero comes from the verb querer (to want), which is irregular in the present:

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

In Hoje quero apenas descansar em casa, quero = eu quero, with eu omitted because it’s clear from the verb ending.

Why is it querer + descansar (an infinitive) and not something like “quero descansando”?

In Portuguese, when one verb expresses want, need, like, plan, start, etc., the second verb normally stays in the infinitive:

Quero descansar. – I want to rest.
Preciso dormir. – I need to sleep.
Começo a trabalhar às 9. – I start working at 9.

Using a form like descansando is not parallel to English “resting” here. The Portuguese gerúndio (‑ndo form) is used mainly for actions in progress:

Estou a descansar. (PT) / Estou descansando. (BR) – I am resting.

So:

Quero descansar = I want to rest (correct)
Quero descansando = wrong in this meaning.

What does apenas mean here, and how is it different from só or somente?

In this sentence, apenas means “only / just”:

Hoje quero apenas descansar em casa.
= Today I only want to rest at home / I just want to rest at home today.

Comparison in European Portuguese:

só – very common in speech, neutral:
- Hoje só quero descansar em casa.
apenas – a bit more formal / written, but also used in speech; can sound slightly more careful, toned‑down, or polite depending on context.
somente – also means only / just, more formal / literary, frequent in writing and more in Brazil than in everyday European speech.

All three (apenas, só, somente) can often replace one another here without a big change in meaning. In everyday talk in Portugal, many people would say:

Hoje só quero descansar em casa.

Can apenas be placed in other positions, and does the meaning change?

Yes. In Portuguese, the position of apenas can slightly change the focus or meaning.

Hoje quero apenas descansar em casa.
- Main reading: I only want to rest (as an activity), at home, today.
- Implies: I don’t want to go out, work, do chores, etc.
Hoje apenas quero descansar em casa.
- Focus on “today, I just want to…”
- Slightly emphasizes your attitude today vs other days.
Hoje quero descansar apenas em casa.
- Now apenas is closer to em casa, so it tends to be understood as:
  I want to rest only at home, not in other places (not at the beach, not at a café, etc.).
- The restriction is more about location than about activity.

All are grammatically possible. Native speakers rely on context and prosody to disambiguate, but the safest neutral version for “I only want to rest (and do nothing else)” is the original word order:
Hoje quero apenas descansar em casa.

Why is it em casa and not na casa or em a casa?

Em casa is a special, very common expression meaning “at home”, without any article:

Estou em casa. – I’m at home.
Vou ficar em casa. – I’m going to stay at home.

Using an article changes the meaning:

na casa = em + a casa → “in the house / at the house” (some specific house, not necessarily your home):
- Estou na casa do João. – I’m at João’s house.

If you say em minha casa / em casa da minha mãe, you’re specifying whose home:

Hoje quero descansar em minha casa. – Today I want to rest in my (own) home.
Vou ficar em casa da minha avó. – I’ll stay at my grandmother’s house.

In Hoje quero apenas descansar em casa, em casa is the neutral way to say at home, and that’s why there’s no article.

Could you drop em casa and just say Hoje quero apenas descansar?

Yes, that’s perfectly correct, but the meaning becomes more general:

Hoje quero apenas descansar.
= Today I only want to rest. (Doesn’t say where.)
Hoje quero apenas descansar em casa.
= Today I only want to rest *at home.* (Adds the idea of not going out.)

So em casa adds the nuance that your plan is to stay home rather than rest somewhere else (e.g. at the beach or at a friend’s place).

Can Hoje go at the end, like Quero apenas descansar em casa hoje?

Yes, time expressions like hoje are flexible in position:

Hoje quero apenas descansar em casa.
Quero apenas descansar em casa hoje.
Quero hoje apenas descansar em casa. (possible, a bit more marked)

All of these are grammatical. The default, neutral positions are usually:

At the beginning: Hoje quero…
Or right after the verb phrase: Quero descansar em casa hoje.

Putting hoje at the beginning often sounds slightly more emphatic about today as a special day:
Hoje, as for today, what I want is just to rest at home.

Is quero here polite, or can it sound too strong or rude?

In this sentence (stating your own plan), quero is completely neutral:

Hoje quero apenas descansar em casa.
= Today I (simply) want to rest at home.

However, when asking for things from other people, quero can sound too direct or even rude, especially in Portugal:

At a café:
- Quero um café. – Can sound bossy.
- More polite: Queria um café, por favor. (I would like a coffee, please.)

So:

To talk about your own wishes/plans: quero is fine.
To ask someone for something: prefer queria, gostava de, or podias/podia…? for politeness.

How do you pronounce Hoje quero apenas descansar em casa in European Portuguese?

Approximate European Portuguese pronunciation (Lisbon area):

Hoje – /ˈoʒ(ɨ)/
- h is silent; j = voiced “zh” (like s in measure).
quero – /ˈkɛɾu/
- e is open, like e in English bed.
apenas – /ɐˈpenɐʃ/
- Initial a is very reduced (almost like a weak “uh”); final s = /ʃ/ (like English sh).
descansar – /dɨʃkɐ̃ˈsaɾ/
- The e is reduced /ɨ/; sc before a becomes sk; ã is nasal (air flows through the nose).
em – usually /ẽj̃/ before consonants in fast speech (nasalized vowel, often with a glide).
casa – /ˈkazɐ/
- s between vowels = /z/ (like English z), final a is reduced /ɐ/.

Said naturally, many sounds reduce and link together, something like:

/ˈoʒɨ ˈkɛɾu ɐˈpenɐʃ dɨʃkɐ̃ˈsaɾ ẽj̃ ˈkazɐ/

You don’t need to hit every vowel strongly; European Portuguese tends to reduce unstressed vowels and speak quite quickly.