Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Mañana quiero pagar la matrícula en el portal del estudiante. - Tomorrow I want to pay the tuition on the student portal.

Mañana (tomorrow) is an adverb of time, and in Spanish it is very common to put time expressions at the start of the sentence for emphasis or clarity.

You could also say:

Quiero pagar la matrícula mañana en el portal del estudiante.
Quiero mañana pagar la matrícula en el portal del estudiante. (possible but less common; the mañana feels a bit more marked/emphatic)

All of these are grammatically correct. Putting mañana first is a natural and neutral way to set the time frame.

Why is it quiero pagar and not something like pagaré?

Quiero pagar literally means “I want to pay.” It expresses both intention and desire: you want to do it and plan to do it.

Pagaré is the simple future: “I will pay.” In Spanish, the simple future often sounds a bit more formal, distant, or like a prediction, not always like a concrete personal plan for tomorrow.

In everyday speech, when talking about a plan for the near future, Spanish speakers very often use:

Quiero pagar la matrícula mañana… (I want/plan to pay…)
Voy a pagar la matrícula mañana… (I’m going to pay…)

Pagaré la matrícula mañana is correct, but it can sound more like a promise or a decision stated more formally.

Why is it quiero pagar (infinitive) and not something like quiero pago?

After querer (to want) you must use an infinitive verb when you are expressing what you want to do:

Quiero comer. – I want to eat.
Quiero estudiar. – I want to study.
Quiero pagar. – I want to pay.

Using a conjugated verb after quiero (quiero pago) is incorrect in this structure. The pattern is:

querer + infinitive = to want to + verb

What exactly does matrícula mean here? Is it “tuition,” “registration,” or something else?

In Spain, la matrícula in a university or school context usually refers to:

the act of enrolling/registration, and
often the tuition or enrollment fee you pay to be officially registered.

So pagar la matrícula generally means “to pay the enrollment/tuition fee” for the course, program, or academic year. Context will tell you whether the focus is more on the act of registering or on the money, but in practice they go together.

Why is it la matrícula and not just matrícula without the article?

Spanish uses definite articles (el, la, los, las) more often than English. Here, la matrícula is a specific, known thing: your enrollment/tuition fee (for this course, this year, etc.).

Compare:

English: I want to pay tuition tomorrow. (no article)
Spanish: Mañana quiero pagar la matrícula.

If you removed the article: Mañana quiero pagar matrícula, it would sound odd or incomplete in standard Spanish, as if you were talking about “some kind of enrollment” in a very generic way.

Why is the preposition en used in en el portal del estudiante? Could you use por or a instead?

Here, en means “in / on / at” and is used for location (both physical and virtual):

en el portal del estudiante = on/at the student portal (the website/platform)

You would not use a here, because a is used more for direction (voy a la universidad – I’m going to the university).

You also wouldn’t use por here, because por would suggest means or cause in an odd way (pagar la matrícula por el portal sounds off; it’s not the usual expression).

For websites, platforms, and portals, Spanish usually uses en:

Lo vi en la página web. – I saw it on the website.
Tienes que registrarte en la plataforma. – You have to register on the platform.

What does portal mean here? Is it like “portal” in English, or just “website”?

In this context, portal in Spanish is very similar to the English “portal” when talking about a web portal: a site or platform where users log in to access services or information.

El portal del estudiante is usually:

an online platform / intranet
where students can pay fees, see grades, register for courses, etc.

You could also say el portal del alumno or la plataforma del estudiante, but portal is very common in Spain for institutional online platforms.

Why is it del estudiante and not de los estudiantes?

Del = de + el (of the).

el estudiante = the student (singular, generic)
los estudiantes = the students (plural)

In Spanish, you often see a singular noun used in a generic sense:

el estudiante = “the student” as a type/category
so el portal del estudiante ≈ “the student portal” (for students in general)

Many institutions also say portal del alumno (same idea: singular generic).
Portal de los estudiantes is also grammatically correct and understandable, but sounds a bit less conventional as a name for a service; institutions tend to choose the singular generic form.

What exactly is del in del estudiante?

Del is the contraction of de + el:

de = of / from
el = the (masculine singular)
de + el → del

So del estudiante literally means “of the student.”

This contraction only happens with de + el and a + el:

de + el → del
a + el → al

But de + la (de la) and a + la (a la) do not contract.

Could you say Mañana voy a pagar la matrícula en el portal del estudiante instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

Mañana voy a pagar la matrícula en el portal del estudiante.

This uses ir a + infinitive (voy a pagar) to express the near future, similar to English “I’m going to pay.”

Nuance:

Mañana quiero pagar… – focuses more on your desire/intention.
Mañana voy a pagar… – focuses more on a planned action in the near future.

Both are perfectly natural for talking about what you intend to do tomorrow. Context and tone will decide which sounds more appropriate.

Could you replace la matrícula with a pronoun, like Mañana quiero pagarla?

Yes. If it’s already clear from context that you’re talking about la matrícula, you can replace it with the direct object pronoun la (feminine singular):

Mañana quiero pagarla en el portal del estudiante. – Tomorrow I want to pay it on the student portal.

Position of the pronoun:

Before the conjugated verb:
- Mañana la quiero pagar en el portal del estudiante.
Attached to the infinitive:
- Mañana quiero pagarla en el portal del estudiante.

Both options are correct and common. Attaching it to the infinitive is very natural in speech.

Is this sentence formal or informal? Would it be okay in an email to the university?

The sentence is neutral in register—neither especially informal nor especially formal. It’s perfectly acceptable in an email to the university, especially if you slightly expand it:

Mañana quiero pagar la matrícula en el portal del estudiante, pero tengo algunas dudas.

If you wanted to sound a bit more formal, you might say:

Mañana tengo previsto pagar la matrícula en el portal del estudiante.
Mañana tengo intención de pagar la matrícula en el portal del estudiante.

But your original sentence is absolutely fine in most contexts.

Does pagar la matrícula en el portal del estudiante imply it’s done online rather than in person?

Yes, in modern usage it strongly implies an online action:

el portal del estudiante is almost always a digital platform.

So pagar la matrícula en el portal del estudiante naturally means “to pay the enrollment fee online through the student portal.” If it were an in‑person payment, you’d expect something like:

pagar la matrícula en secretaría – at the administration office
pagar la matrícula en el banco – at the bank