To say something is about to happen — the bus is about to arrive, I'm about to leave — Brazilian Portuguese reaches for estar para + infinitive and a couple of close cousins. But estar para carries a second, even more common everyday meaning: "to be in the mood to" or "to feel like." This page covers both, and shows you how three near-synonyms (estar para, estar a ponto de, estar prestes a) differ by register.
Estar para + infinitive: imminence
In its temporal sense, estar para + infinitive means the action is on the verge of happening — imminent, expected at any moment.
Eu estou para sair, me dá só dois minutos.
I'm about to leave, just give me two minutes.
O ônibus está para chegar, já vi ele lá na esquina.
The bus is about to arrive, I already saw it at the corner.
O bebê está para nascer a qualquer momento.
The baby is about to be born any moment now.
The logic: estar places you in a current state, and para (toward, for) points forward to an action that is just ahead. You are positioned toward doing something. It frames the action as imminent but not yet started.
The more common meaning: 'in the mood to'
Here is the twist that catches learners off guard. In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, estar para + infinitive far more often means "to be in the mood to / to feel like" — and it shows up overwhelmingly in the negative.
Não estou para conversar agora, tive um dia péssimo.
I'm not in the mood to talk right now, I had a terrible day.
Ela não tá para brincadeira hoje, melhor não provocar.
She's not in the mood for joking around today, better not provoke her.
Não tô pra sair de casa com esse frio.
I don't feel like leaving the house in this cold.
When you hear não tô pra..., almost always the meaning is "I don't feel like / I'm not in the mood to," not "I'm not about to." Context disambiguates: o ônibus está para chegar is clearly imminence (a bus has no moods), while não estou para discussão is clearly disposition. With a person + negative, lean toward "in the mood."
Estar a ponto de: on the verge
A neutral, slightly more emphatic way to express imminence is estar a ponto de + infinitive — literally "to be at the point of." It stresses that you were this close to doing something, often something dramatic.
Estou a ponto de desistir desse projeto.
I'm on the verge of giving up on this project.
Ela estava a ponto de chorar quando recebeu a notícia.
She was on the verge of tears when she got the news.
A ponto de feels more intense than plain para — it suggests a threshold about to be crossed. It is register-neutral: equally at home in speech and writing.
Estar prestes a: formal imminence
For formal and written registers, estar prestes a + infinitive ("to be about to / on the brink of") is the elevated choice. You'll meet it in journalism, official statements, and careful prose.
O acordo está prestes a ser assinado pelos dois países. (formal)
The agreement is about to be signed by the two countries.
A empresa estava prestes a falir quando recebeu o investimento. (formal)
The company was on the brink of bankruptcy when it received the investment.
You would not normally say tô prestes a sair to a friend — it sounds stiff. Save prestes a for writing and formal speech.
Comparing the three
| Construction | Register | Nuance | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| estar para | (informal) neutral | imminent; OR (negative) "in the mood to" | O trem está para chegar. |
| estar a ponto de | neutral | on the verge, threshold about to be crossed | Estou a ponto de explodir. |
| estar prestes a | (formal) / (literary) | imminent, elevated tone | O foguete está prestes a decolar. |
How this differs from English
English has one tidy phrase, "about to," that covers all of these. Portuguese spreads the idea across three constructions sorted by formality, and — crucially — overloads estar para with a disposition meaning that English handles with an entirely different phrase ("in the mood to / feel like"). So a single English "about to" sentence has to be re-routed depending on register, and you must stay alert that não estou para in conversation usually isn't about timing at all.
Spanish learners should note that Spanish estar para + infinitive can also mean "to be in a state/mood to," so the disposition sense will feel familiar — but Spanish more often uses estar a punto de for pure imminence, the cognate of estar a ponto de.
Common Mistakes
❌ Eu estou para falar com você. (meaning: I'm about to call you)
Ambiguous/wrong — a Brazilian may hear 'I don't feel like talking'; use 'vou' or 'estou a ponto de' for clear imminence.
✅ Estou a ponto de te ligar.
I'm about to call you.
❌ Não estou para conversar agora porque estou ocupado a falar.
Incorrect — 'a falar' is European Portuguese gerund; BR uses '-ndo'.
✅ Não estou para conversar agora porque estou falando ao telefone.
I'm not in the mood to talk now because I'm on the phone.
❌ O acordo está para de ser assinado.
Incorrect — 'estar para' takes no 'de'; that confuses it with 'a ponto de'.
✅ O acordo está prestes a ser assinado.
The agreement is about to be signed.
❌ Tô pra brincadeira hoje, vamos rir.
Incorrect — the idiom is negative; the affirmative reverses the intended meaning.
✅ Não tô pra brincadeira hoje.
I'm not in the mood for joking today.
❌ Eu estou prestes a sair, te ligo já já.
Off-register in casual speech — 'prestes a' is formal.
✅ Tô pra sair, te ligo já já.
I'm about to head out, I'll call you in a sec.
Key Takeaways
- estar para + infinitive = "about to" (imminence) OR, very commonly in the negative, "in the mood to."
- Inanimate subject → imminence; não estou para with a person → mood/disposition.
- estar a ponto de = neutral "on the verge"; estar prestes a = formal/written "about to."
- In casual speech, para reduces to pra and estou to tô: tô pra sair.
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Periphrastic Verb Constructions: OverviewA1 — A tour of the verb + verb constructions that dominate spoken Brazilian Portuguese, with the key BR vs. European Portuguese contrasts.
- Acabar de + Infinitivo: Just DidA2 — The Brazilian Portuguese way to say 'just did' something — acabar de plus an infinitive.
- Ir + Infinitivo: The Periphrastic FutureA1 — How to form Brazilian Portuguese's default future with ir plus an infinitive — and why there is no 'a' in between.
- Present Indicative of EstarA1 — How to conjugate estar in Brazilian Portuguese, when to use it for states and locations, and the standard tô/tá/tão contractions of everyday speech.
- Preposition 'Para': For, To, TowardA1 — How 'para' marks purpose, destination, recipient, deadline, and opinion in Brazilian Portuguese — its near-universal spoken reduction to pra/pro and a preview of para vs por.