Portuguese Phrase
Tenho muita vontade de melhorar minhas habilidades.
Meaning
The sentence means ‘I really want to improve my skills.’ It conveys a strong personal desire to develop one’s abilities, often in a professional or academic context.
When to use
Use this phrase when talking about personal development goals, such as learning a new language, mastering a tool at work, or preparing for a certification. It works well in both informal conversations and more formal discussions about career plans.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Tenhomuitavontadedemelhorarminhashabilidades
Ter (presente)
‘Tenho’ is the first‑person singular present of the verb ‘ter’, used here to express possession of a feeling.
Adjective agreement
‘muita’ agrees in gender and number with the feminine noun ‘vontade’.
Preposition ‘de’ + infinitive
The preposition ‘de’ links the noun ‘vontade’ to the infinitive verb ‘melhorar’, meaning ‘to improve’.
Possessive adjective
‘minhas’ matches the plural feminine noun ‘habilidades’.
Plural noun
‘habilidades’ is the plural form of ‘habilidade’, meaning ‘skill’ or ‘ability’.
🗨In Conversation
Você tem algum objetivo para este ano?
Do you have any goal for this year?
Tenho muita vontade de melhorar minhas habilidades.
I really want to improve my skills.
✕Common Mistakes
Tem muita vontade de melhorar minhas habilidades.
‘Tem’ is third‑person singular; the subject is ‘eu’, so you need ‘tenho’.
Tenho muita vontade para melhorar minhas habilidades.
The correct preposition after ‘vontade’ is ‘de’, not ‘para’.
Tenho muita vontade de melhorar minha habilidades.
‘Habilidades’ is plural, so the possessive must be plural ‘minhas’.
↔Alternatives
Quero muito aprimorar minhas competências.
I really want to enhance my competencies.
Tenho grande desejo de desenvolver minhas habilidades.
I have a strong desire to develop my abilities.
Estou ansioso para melhorar minhas habilidades.
I’m eager to improve my skills.
Cultural Tip
In Brazil, expressing personal ambition with ‘vontade de’ is common and sounds natural in everyday speech. For a more formal tone, you can replace ‘vontade de’ with ‘desejo de’ or ‘intenção de’. Also, ‘habilidades’ can be swapped for ‘competências’ when referring to professional or academic abilities.