Se esta estratégia não funcionar, podemos tentar outra.

Se means if and introduces a conditional clause.

So:

• Se esta estratégia não funcionar = If this strategy doesn’t work
• podemos tentar outra = we can try another one

This is a very common Portuguese pattern:

• Se chover, ficamos em casa. = If it rains, we stay home.
• Se tiveres tempo, liga-me. = If you have time, call me.

After se, when Portuguese talks about a possible future situation, it often uses the future subjunctive.

In this sentence:

• Se esta estratégia não funcionar = If this strategy doesn’t work

The important point is that funcionar here is future subjunctive, not just the plain infinitive, even though it looks the same.

For many regular -ar verbs, the future subjunctive has the same form as the infinitive in some persons, especially singular ones. So:

• infinitive: funcionar
• future subjunctive:
  • eu funcionar
  • tu funcionares
  • ele/ela funcionar
  • nós funcionarmos
  • vós funcionardes
  • eles/elas funcionarem

That is why this can be confusing for learners.

A clearer example with an irregular verb is:

• Se for necessário... = If it is necessary...
• Se tiver tempo... = If he/she has time...

Here you can clearly see it is not the infinitive.

Esta means this, and it agrees with estratégia, which is feminine singular.

In European Portuguese, the demonstratives usually keep a clearer distinction:

• este/esta/isto = this, near the speaker
• esse/essa/isso = that, near the listener or already mentioned from a bit more distance
• aquele/aquela/aquilo = that over there

So esta estratégia suggests this strategy here / this current strategy.

In everyday usage, especially in speech, the distinction is not always followed perfectly, but in standard European Portuguese, esta is a very natural choice here.

Because estratégia is a feminine noun in Portuguese.

That is why the words around it must also be feminine:

• esta estratégia
• outra (standing for outra estratégia)

This is grammatical gender, so it does not mean the strategy is biologically feminine. It is just how the noun behaves in the language.

Não is the normal word for not in Portuguese, and it usually comes directly before the verb:

• não funcionar = not work
• não sei = I don’t know
• não podemos = we can’t

So:

• Se esta estratégia não funcionar = If this strategy does not work

This is very straightforward word order in Portuguese.

Podemos tentar literally means we can try.

Using podemos makes the sentence sound like a suggestion or possibility:

• podemos tentar outra = we can try another one

If you said tentamos outra, that would be more like we try another one or let’s try another one, depending on context, and it would not match the original nuance as closely.

So podemos adds the idea of possibility or option.

Portuguese often uses the present tense to talk about a future action, especially when the future is already understood from the context.

So:

• podemos tentar outra literally looks like we can try another one
• but in context it naturally means we can try another one then / next

Using poderemos is grammatically possible, but it sounds more formal or more explicitly future-oriented:

• Se esta estratégia não funcionar, poderemos tentar outra.

That is correct, but less natural in many everyday situations than podemos.

Outra is standing in for outra estratégia.

Portuguese, like English, often leaves out a noun when it is already understood.

So both are possible:

• podemos tentar outra
• podemos tentar outra estratégia

The shorter version is very natural because estratégia has just been mentioned.

Also, outra is feminine singular because it refers back to estratégia.

Compare:

• Tenho uma ideia. Podemos tentar outra.
  = I have an idea. We can try another one.

Because Portuguese often omits subject pronouns when the verb form already makes the subject clear.

• podemos already tells you the subject is we
• so nós podemos tentar outra is possible, but usually unnecessary

Portuguese is a language where subject pronouns are often dropped unless you want emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

For example:

• Podemos tentar outra. = We can try another one.
• Nós podemos tentar outra. = We can try another one.
  This may sound more emphatic, like we can try another one.

Because the sentence begins with a subordinate conditional clause:

• Se esta estratégia não funcionar, ...
• If this strategy doesn’t work, ...

In Portuguese, when a clause introduced by se comes first, it is normally separated from the main clause by a comma.

If the order is reversed, the comma is often not needed:

• Podemos tentar outra se esta estratégia não funcionar.

Both versions are correct.

It works perfectly in both European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese.

The grammar is standard in both varieties:

• Se esta estratégia não funcionar, podemos tentar outra.

A Brazilian speaker might say exactly the same thing.

The main differences would be pronunciation and, in some contexts, preferences in tone or word choice, but this sentence itself is natural in both varieties.

In European Portuguese, estratégia is pronounced approximately like:

• esh-TRA-teh-zhya

A few helpful points:

• the stress falls on té: es-tra-té-gia
• the final -gia in European Portuguese often sounds like zhya
• unstressed vowels are often reduced in European Portuguese, so the word may sound less fully pronounced than an English speaker expects

You do not need to pronounce every vowel very strongly. That is one of the main features of European Portuguese pronunciation.

Yes. That is a very natural alternative.

• funcionar = to work, to function
• resultar = to work out, to be effective, to produce results

With estratégia, both can work, but resultar can sound especially appropriate when you mean be successful / be effective.

So:

• Se esta estratégia não funcionar, podemos tentar outra.
• Se esta estratégia não resultar, podemos tentar outra.

Both are correct and natural. The first is slightly more general; the second can sound a bit more like if this strategy doesn’t produce the desired result.

Yes. A few more formal alternatives are possible:

• Se esta estratégia não funcionar, poderemos tentar outra.
• Caso esta estratégia não funcione, podemos tentar outra.
• Se esta estratégia não resultar, poderemos considerar outra.

Notes:

• caso is a more formal way to say if
• poderemos sounds more formal than podemos
• considerar outra sounds a bit more formal than tentar outra

The original sentence is neutral, natural, and perfectly good in everyday Portuguese.