Em maio, o Pedro passa a usar o manual todos os dias porque quer melhorar mais depressa.

Em maio means in May.

In Portuguese, months are normally used with em:

• em janeiro = in January
• em maio = in May
• em dezembro = in December

So Em maio sets the time frame for the whole sentence: this is when the change happens.

In European Portuguese, it is very common to use the definite article before a person's name:

• o Pedro
• a Ana
• o João

This does not mean the Pedro in a literal English sense. It is just a normal feature of the language, especially in spoken Portuguese and very common in Portugal.

So:

• Pedro passa a usar... = possible
• O Pedro passa a usar... = very natural in Portugal

Passar a + infinitive is a very common structure meaning:

• to start to
• to begin to
• to come to

So:

• passa a usar = starts using / begins to use

It often shows a change from one state or habit to a new one.

Examples:

• Ela passa a estudar mais. = She starts studying more.
• Nós passamos a trabalhar em casa. = We start working from home.

In this sentence, it suggests that from May onward, Pedro adopts a new habit.

Because usar and passar a usar do not mean exactly the same thing.

• usa = uses
• passa a usar = starts using / begins to use

If the sentence said:

• Em maio, o Pedro usa o manual...

that would simply describe what he does in May.

But:

• Em maio, o Pedro passa a usar o manual...

emphasizes a change: in May, he begins this new routine.

That a is required by the expression passar a + infinitive.

So the pattern is:

• passar a estudar
• passar a ler
• passar a usar

You cannot normally remove it here.

Compare:

• O Pedro passa a usar o manual. = Pedro starts using the manual.
• Without a, the structure would be wrong.

Manual usually means:

• manual
• textbook
• instruction book
• sometimes coursebook, depending on context

In a learning context, o manual often refers to the main study book or textbook.

So here it probably means Pedro starts using the textbook/course manual every day.

Todos os dias is the most common way to say every day in Portuguese.

• todos os dias = every day
• literally: all the days

Cada dia exists, but it more often means each day and is not the usual everyday translation of every day in this kind of sentence.

Examples:

• Estudo todos os dias. = I study every day.
• Cada dia aprendo uma coisa nova. = Each day I learn something new.

So in this sentence, todos os dias is the natural choice.

Because o manual is the direct object of usar, and todos os dias is a time expression.

So the structure is:

• usar o manual = use the manual
• todos os dias = every day

Putting them together:

• usar o manual todos os dias

This word order is very natural in Portuguese.

You could move todos os dias for emphasis in some contexts, but the original order is the most neutral and common.

Porque here means because and introduces the reason:

• He starts using the manual every day because he wants to improve faster.

In Portuguese, learners often confuse:

• porque = because
• porquê = the reason / why (a noun)
• por que = why / for which reason
• por quê = why? at the end of a question

In this sentence, the correct form is porque because it gives an explanation.

Portuguese often omits subject pronouns when the subject is clear from the verb form or context.

Here, quer means he/she wants, but the subject is already understood to be o Pedro.

So:

• porque quer melhorar mais depressa means
• because he wants to improve faster

You could say:

• porque ele quer melhorar mais depressa

but ele is unnecessary here and would usually only be added for emphasis or contrast.

Mais depressa means faster or more quickly.

• depressa = quickly / fast
• mais depressa = faster / more quickly

So:

• quer melhorar mais depressa = wants to improve faster

In Portuguese, this is a very natural way to express speed of improvement.

Because melhorar already means to improve.

So:

• melhorar = to improve
• melhorar mais depressa = to improve more quickly / to improve faster

If you said quer melhorar melhor, that would sound wrong or unnatural, because melhorar itself already contains the idea of becoming better.

The sentence is not saying he wants to improve better; it is saying he wants to improve faster.

Yes, often you could.

• mais depressa = faster / more quickly
• mais rápido = faster / more rapidly

Both are understandable, but mais depressa is extremely common and very natural in European Portuguese for actions.

So:

• quer melhorar mais depressa sounds very idiomatic.

Portuguese often uses the present tense to describe:

• current habits
• general facts
• events in a narrative style

Here:

• passa = starts
• quer = wants

Even though Em maio refers to a time period, the present tense can still be used naturally to describe what happens in that period.

It works like a straightforward statement:

• In May, Pedro starts using the manual every day because he wants to improve faster.

Yes, in many contexts they are very close.

• começa a usar = begins to use
• passa a usar = starts to use / comes to use / adopts as a new habit

Passa a usar often highlights the idea of a change of routine a bit more strongly.

So both are possible, but:

• passa a usar o manual todos os dias suggests that from that point on, using the manual every day becomes his new practice.

It modifies melhorar.

The idea is:

• quer melhorar = wants to improve
• quer melhorar mais depressa = wants to improve faster

So mais depressa tells us how he wants to improve, not how he wants.

A simple breakdown is:

• Em maio = time expression
• o Pedro = subject
• passa a usar = verbal expression, starts using
• o manual = direct object
• todos os dias = frequency expression
• porque = because
• quer melhorar mais depressa = reason clause

So the pattern is roughly:

Time + Subject + starts to do something + frequency + because + reason

That makes it a very useful model sentence for building similar sentences in Portuguese.