• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Street Smart Brazil

We teach smart Portuguese

  • Contact
  • My Account
  • Cart
  • Policies
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Disclaimer
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Speak Portuguese With Ease
  • Home
  • About
  • Shop for Lessons
  • Starter Kit
  • Testimonials
  • Resources
  • Blog
Fique de olho: Brazilian Portuguese Words & Expressions that are Good to Know

Fique de olho: Brazilian Portuguese Words & Expressions that are Good to Know

posted on April 28, 2015

Fique de olho: Useful Brazilian Portuguese Vocabulary

In my third “From the Headlines” series, I’ll show you another exercise on how to learn Brazilian Portuguese from the news. This time, I’ll cover a headline from Globo! It has a great colloquial expression and I will also get into other words to expand your vocabulary. This is a simple exercise to learn Brazilian Portuguese from the media.

Defesa do Consumidor: Words that end in -dor

We start with the phrase above the image, “Defesa do consumidor”, which literally means “consumer defense”, though it translates better as “consumer protection”.

Consumir is the verb “to consume”; thus consumi + dor is a person who does this action. In these cases, you’d just take off the last letter of the verb and add the ending –dor, which usually tells you the word refers to an agent, profession or instrument of action. Other such words, which you may already be familiar with, are educador (educator), importador (importer), and coordenador (coordinator).

Mind you, -dor words don’t always have to be a person. Assustador (scary) comes to mind, as does abrangedor (comprehensive), from the verb “abranger”, meaning to comprehend, encompass, comprise or include.

I also want to add that not all words can be formed using the -dor pattern above. For example, the one who sings (cantar) is a cantor (cantora in the feminine).

Nas compras: Looking at contractions

Next, we look at the first part of the headline, “Nas compras de Natal” which refers to Christmas shopping, but implies “during” or “while” (ie, During/While Christmas shopping).

We are using the contraction of the preposition “em” with the article “as”. It is important to become familiar with these contractions, as they are very common in the language. Literally they are the contraction of “in (on, at) the”. For example, to say that we are going to do something “on the weekend” we say “no fim de semana”.

Fique de olho: A good Brazilian Portuguese expression to know

Then we have fique de olho, which is a good expression to know.

  • Fique is the imperative tense of ficar (to stay, remain, be).
  • De olho is literally “of eye”,

This makes the phrase carry the meaning of “Be attentive!” or “Keep an eye on/open for…”

We can use “Fique de olho” as a stand-alone phrase or complement it with more information, such as, “Fique de olho na data de validade!” (Keep an eye on the expiration date!).

Política & Troca: Good vocabulary to have

And last, we have “na política de troca”, meaning “on the exchange policy”. See the contraction “na” again?

Trocar is a great verb. It means to exchange. If you buy a shirt and decide it is too small, you need to trocar it for a larger one. When you come home from the gym, you need to trocar de roupa (change clothes or get changed) before going out for dinner.

Interesting note about the word política: it means policy as in the phrase above, and it also means politics.

The full phrase

Therefore the full phrase in the article can be translated to something to the tune of: “While Christmas shopping, keep your eyes on the exchange policy.”

Return Policy in Brazil

From my experience buying items in Brazil and, at times, trying to return them, I’d say you should always stay alert (no matter the month) to what the exchange policies are on just about anything you buy, before you buy it. In most cases you cannot get a refund no matter what the issue with the product is. You need to trocar (exchange) the product or get a store credit. Also, often times the store credit is associated to your CPF (like your SSN), so only you can use it later.

Serious about being fluent in Portuguese? There’s only so much that software can do for you. Take the next: Book a Trial Lesson with Street Smart Brazil to see the difference it makes to learn with trained and passionate professionals.

book my trial 684x356

Related Posts:

  • Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: Words beginning in PS
  • 4 language learning hacks for your Portuguese
  • 12 Ways to Say You are Welcome in Brazil - Portuguese lesson

About Adam Lee

Adam is a writer and a researcher who has studied Brazilian culture for over a decade and created several Brazil-themed blogs going back to 2008. Having taught himself Portuguese, he put it to practical use by spending three years doing Brazil on a budget (and living in favelas), from Rio de Janeiro to the Amazon.

He now resides in Lisbon, Portugal, developing a startup and dreaming about having a beachside B&B in the Northeast of Brazil.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Want to see your pic by your comment? Get a free custom avatar at Gravatar.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Categories

  • Brazil
  • Brazilian music
  • Brazilian Portuguese
  • Business Culture
  • Culture and History
  • Flashcards
  • Food
  • Grammar
  • Idiomatic Expressions
  • Learning Languages
  • Pronunciation
  • Resources
  • Video lessons
  • Visiting Brazil
  • Vocabulary

Schedule a Trial Session

Testimonials

Started my first Portuguese class tonight with Street Smart Brazil! Foi ótimo. Now I’m even more excited for the second! It turns out group classes online actually work pretty well. Congratulations to… Read more
Steve
Street Smart Brazil is in my opinion the very best site for Portuguese learners on the web. Their teachers and lessons are definitely five-star quality. They not only teach you the language, but in a… Read more
Jack
I can highly recommend learning Portuguese with Street Smart Brazil. I have very good tutoring. My teacher is competent and nice. Her classes are great and she challenges me every single time in a ver… Read more
Marina
My classes are awesome – I’m learning A LOT and it’s fun, convenient, and enjoyable. My instructor is a wonderful teacher, and she gives me a nice balance of grammar and oral & written comprehension.… Read more
Vanessa

Find Resources

Make your learning fun and easy with good resources.
Learn More

51 Portuguese Idioms – Speak Like a Brazilian

You will learn each expression inside a real-life context: everyday situations that could happen to any of us.
Purchase Now >

Recent Posts

  • Meio or Meia? How to say KIND OF in Portuguese
  • Family Vocabulary in Portuguese
  • The Power of Rehearsal to Improve Language Learning
  • Learn the Numbers in Portuguese: All you need to know
  • The Difference Between ESTE, ESSE, ISSO in Portuguese

Search

Cart

Classes

  • Trial Lesson
  • One-on-One Portuguese Lessons via Video Meetings – Subscription
  • One-on-One Portuguese Lessons via Video Meetings – Packages
  • Celpe-Bras Prep Classes with Street Smart Brazil

Footer Subscribe

Books

  • 51 Portuguese Idioms
  • Master the Word MESMO in Portuguese

Footer Video CTA

Subscribe to my YouTube channel to get all the new video lessons

Subscribe

https://youtu.be/xoNtWBolAzE

Footer Full CTA

Book a Trial Lesson today to get started.

Get Started Now

Footer CTA

Street Smart Brazil

  • About
  • Shop For a Portuguese Class
  • Testimonials
  • Blog

Portuguese Classes

  • Trial Lesson
  • One-on-One Portuguese Lessons via Video Meetings – Subscription
  • One-on-One Portuguese Lessons via Video Meetings – Packages
  • Celpe-Bras Prep Classes with Street Smart Brazil

Books

  • 51 Portuguese Idioms
  • Master the Word MESMO in Portuguese


Street Smart Brazil, LLC

phone 415.573.8180
email info@streetsmartbrazil.com
Oakland, California

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Disclaimer
  • Sitemap

© 2014–2023 Street Smart Brazil, All Rights Reserved.