A2 Text: Asking Directions

Getting around a Brazilian city means asking — and understanding — directions, and the grammar involved is wonderfully concentrated: a special "where is it" verb (ficar), a string of command forms (segue, vira), and a small kit of spatial expressions (à direita, do lado de, a pé). This short street exchange contains all of them, exactly as a passer-by would say it.

The text

A pedestrian (P) stops a local (L) on the sidewalk:

Let's unpack the directions toolkit.

"Onde fica" — ficar for fixed location

The question is Onde fica a estação?, not onde é or onde está. For the permanent, geographic location of a place, Brazilian Portuguese prefers ficar — a verb that, in this use, means "to be located / to be situated." It's the default for asking and stating where buildings, streets, cities, and landmarks are.

Why ficar and not estar? English uses "is" for everything ("the station is over there," "the keys are over there"), but Portuguese splits location by permanence. A fixed place that never moves takes ficar: a estação fica ali. A movable thing whose position is temporary takes estar: as chaves estão na mesa (the keys are on the table — they could be anywhere). Using estar for a building (a estação está ali) isn't wrong everywhere, but ficar is what sounds natural for a fixed location, and onde fica is the standard way to ask.

The wh-word onde (where) leads the question, with no auxiliary and no inversion — just like every Brazilian wh-question.

"Segue" and "vira" — commands for directions

Directions are delivered as a chain of imperatives: Segue reto (go straight), vira à direita (turn right). These are você-style commands — the everyday command form in Brazil. Although Brazilians address strangers with você, in spoken directions you'll constantly hear the bare tu-looking forms segue and vira (rather than the prescriptive siga, vire). This is the colloquial command, extremely common across most of Brazil.

You'll meet two registers here:

Both columns are understood everywhere; the left is what you'll actually hear on the street, the right is what signs and formal instructions use. Note reto here is an adverb-ish "straight ahead" (also em frente, direto).

Spatial expressions: à direita, do lado de, a pé

A small set of fixed phrases carries most of the spatial meaning:

• à direita / à esquerda — to the right / to the left. The à is the contraction of a
  • a (the feminine article), and it carries the grave accent (crase): à direita, never a direita.
• do lado de / ao lado de — next to, beside (do lado do banco = next to the bank; do = de + o).
• a pé — on foot; de carro / de ônibus / de metrô — by car / bus / metro (movement uses de, but walking is the exception: a pé).

The contraction logic is worth internalizing: de + o = do, de + a = da, a + a = à. So "next to the bank (o banco)" is do lado *do banco; "to the right" is *à direita. These mergers are obligatory, not optional.

"Dá uns dez minutos" — estimating with dar

To estimate distance or duration, Brazilians use dar impersonally: Dá uns dez minutos = "it's about ten minutes." Here dar means "to come to / amount to," and uns/umas before a number means "about / roughly."

Two handy patterns live in this one verb: dá uns X (it's roughly X) for estimates, and dá pra + infinitive (it's possible to / you can) for feasibility. Both are everywhere in casual speech. The question É longe? (Is it far?) uses ser because farness here is treated as a general property of the route.

"Se eu me perder" — the future subjunctive again

The pedestrian asks E se eu me perder? (And if I get lost?). Just like in weekend plans, an open future condition after se takes the future subjunctive: perder here is the future subjunctive of the reflexive se perder (to get lost). The reply É só perguntar ("just ask" — é só + infinitive = "all you have to do is...") is a neat, reassuring fixed expression.

Vocabulary and expressions

• com licença — "excuse me," to get attention or pass by; the standard polite opener.
• reto / em frente / direto — straight ahead.
• a esquina — the (street) corner; a quadra / o quarteirão — the block.
• o sinal / o semáforo — traffic light; a placa — sign.
• a segunda rua — the second street (ordinal numbers: primeira, segunda, terceira).
• é só perguntar — "just ask" (é só
  • infinitive).
• dá pra ir a pé — "you can walk there."

Cultural note

Brazilians are famously willing to help a lost stranger and will often over-explain, gesture, or even walk you part of the way. The opener com licença and a warm obrigado/obrigada at the end are expected. In big cities, directions lean on landmarks (do lado do banco, em frente à padaria) more than street names, so listening for "next to / across from" phrases pays off more than memorizing avenue names.

Common Mistakes

Key takeaways

• Onde fica...? — use ficar for the fixed location of places; estar is for movable things and people.
• Street commands use colloquial forms (segue, vira, atravessa) even with strangers; siga/vire are the formal versions.
• Spatial kit: à direita/esquerda (with crase), do lado de / ao lado de, a pé (vs de carro).
• Estimate with dá uns X minutos; check feasibility with dá pra + infinitive.
• Se
  • open future condition → future subjunctive (se eu me perder).