Portuguese verb FICAR

By James Hall / / (3) Intermediate Portuguese
ficar

The Portuguese verb FICAR is mainly used to express: to remain/stay, become & to be located.

to remain/stay: Vou ficar aqui. » I'm going to stay here.
to become: Está ficando tarde. » It's getting late.
to be located: Onde fica o banco? » Where's the bank located?

ficar in the present tense

to remain, stay, become ficar
I stay eu fic o
you/he/she stay(s) você/ele/ela fic a

Complete conjugation of the Portuguese verb ficar.

All would be well and good if not for the fact that the verb SER (to be) can also do much of what FICAR can. This generates a great deal of confusion.

Portuguese verb ficar

ser & ficar: When they have the same meaning

When talking about something permanent – a post office, the park, your home you can use either ser or ficar to describe where exactly it is.

Onde é? » Onde fica? » Where is it (located)?
O hotel é aqui. » O hotel fica aqui. » The hotel is (located) here.

When talking about becomming or getting to be.

É muito difícil. » Fica muito difícil. » It gets difficult. / It becomes really difficult.

Other expression using FICAR

there are lots of great casual/slang expressions used in everyday conversation!

Ficar de olho. » Keep an eye on it.

*Members can see this one in action here: Ficar de Olho.

Fique tranquilo! » Stay calm!

*Notice faicar is in the imperative mood here. You can also say just, fica tranquilo or even, tranquilidade!

Estamos ficando! » We're lovers!

*Ficando = staying, and in this context ~someone talking about their intimate relationship, it means that they are in a steady, committed, usually sexual relationship. Not bouncing around ~STEADY! NAMORANDO.