O meu pai diz que é melhor travar cedo do que acelerar à pressa.

In European Portuguese, it is very common to use the definite article before a possessive:

• o meu pai = my father
• a minha mãe = my mother

So o meu pai sounds completely natural in Portugal.

You may sometimes hear meu pai without the article, but in standard European Portuguese, o meu pai is the usual choice.

Diz means says, from the verb dizer.

• O meu pai diz = My father says
• O meu pai diz que... = My father says that...

The word que means that.
Just like in English, that can sometimes be omitted in translation:

• O meu pai diz que é melhor...
• My father says it’s better...

So que is required in Portuguese here, even if English may leave out that.

After é melhor, Portuguese normally uses the infinitive when talking about actions in a general way.

• É melhor esperar. = It’s better to wait.
• É melhor sair agora. = It’s better to leave now.
• É melhor travar cedo. = It’s better to brake early.

So travar stays in the infinitive because the sentence is talking about the general action of braking early, not about a specific person doing it in a fully conjugated clause.

Here, travar means to brake.

In other contexts, travar can also mean things like:

• to lock
• to jam
• to engage
• to stop movement

But in a driving context, travar cedo clearly means to brake early.

A learner may also know frear, which is more common in Brazilian Portuguese for to brake. In European Portuguese, travar is very natural.

Cedo means early.

So:

• travar cedo = to brake early

It refers to doing something sooner than later. In this sentence, it suggests acting cautiously in advance rather than reacting too late.

Yes. In this sentence, do que means than.

Portuguese often uses do que after comparative expressions such as melhor:

• É melhor X do que Y = It’s better to X than to Y

So:

• é melhor travar cedo do que acelerar à pressa
• it’s better to brake early than to accelerate in a rush

You will also see comparisons like:

• mais... do que = more... than
• menos... do que = less... than
• melhor... do que = better... than

Because the sentence is comparing two actions in a general way:

• travar cedo
• acelerar à pressa

After é melhor, and especially in a comparison like this, Portuguese commonly uses infinitives for both actions.

It is similar to English:

• It’s better to brake early than to accelerate in a rush.

English can sometimes omit the second to, but Portuguese keeps both verbs in the infinitive.

À pressa means in a hurry, hurriedly, or in a rush.

It is a fixed expression:

• fazer alguma coisa à pressa = to do something in a hurry

So:

• acelerar à pressa = to accelerate in a rush / hurriedly

It suggests haste, lack of calm, or possibly poor judgment.

Because à is the contraction of:

• a
  • a = à

In this expression, Portuguese uses the preposition a plus the feminine article a before pressa:

• a + a pressa = à pressa

This is very common in Portuguese with many feminine nouns:

• à direita = to the right / on the right
• à noite = at night
• à pressa = in a hurry

So this is both a grammar point and a fixed expression.

That is a very good question. Literally, it may sound slightly repetitive to an English speaker, because accelerate already involves speed.

But here à pressa does not just mean physical speed. It adds the idea of:

• haste
• panic
• rushing a decision
• acting without enough care

So the contrast is really:

• brake early, calmly, and safely
• rather than
• speed up in a rushed, reckless, or last-minute way

The phrase works naturally because à pressa describes the manner of the action, not just the fact that the car goes faster.

Because é melhor expresses a general judgment: it is better.

• ser is used for general qualities, definitions, evaluations, and lasting characteristics
• estar is used more for states or conditions

Here the speaker is making a general statement about what is preferable:

• É melhor travar cedo... = It’s better to brake early...

Using está melhor would sound wrong in this context.

It is mainly giving advice or expressing a principle.

The structure é melhor + infinitive often means:

• it’s better to...
• one should rather...
• it is preferable to...

So this sentence sounds like a piece of practical wisdom, especially about driving or reacting cautiously.

Normally, no. In Portuguese, after dizer, you usually keep que when introducing a clause.

• Ele diz que vem. = He says he’s coming.
• O meu pai diz que é melhor...

In English, that is often optional:

• My father says that it’s better...
• My father says it’s better...

But in Portuguese, que is normally needed here.

It sounds natural and idiomatic in European Portuguese.

A European Portuguese speaker would easily understand it as something like a cautious, common-sense remark about driving:

• better to brake early
• than to react too late and speed up in a rush

The grammar, vocabulary, and use of o meu pai, é melhor, do que, and à pressa all fit normal European Portuguese usage.