Eu odeio quando a reunião fica chata e ninguém faz perguntas.

I hate it when the meeting becomes boring and nobody asks questions.

Breakdown of Eu odeio quando a reunião fica chata e ninguém faz perguntas.

• eu: I
• e: and
• quando: when
• ficar: to become
• a reunião: the meeting
• ninguém: nobody
• fazer perguntas: to ask questions
• odiar: to hate
• chato: boring

Questions & Answers about Eu odeio quando a reunião fica chata e ninguém faz perguntas.

Why is it odeio and not ódio?

Odeio is the verb form (1st person singular of odiar, to hate):

• Eu odeio = I hate

Ódio is a noun meaning hatred:

• Eu sinto ódio = I feel hatred

In this sentence you need a verb (I hate), so you use odeio, not ódio.

Can I drop the Eu and just say Odeio quando a reunião fica chata…?

Yes. In Portuguese, the subject pronoun is often omitted because the verb ending shows the person.

• Eu odeio... and Odeio... both mean I hate...
• The -o ending in odeio already indicates eu (I).

Including eu makes it slightly more emphatic: Eu odeio... = I (personally) hate...

What exactly does fica mean here, and why not just use é?

Fica is the 3rd person singular of ficar, which often means “to become / to get” (a change of state).

• a reunião fica chata ≈ the meeting gets boring / becomes boring

If you said:

• a reunião é chata = the meeting is boring (describes it as boring in general, a more permanent characteristic)
• a reunião fica chata = the meeting becomes boring (it turns boring at some point during it)

So fica emphasizes the moment or process when it turns boring, not a permanent quality.

Why is it chata and not chato?

Adjectives in Portuguese agree in gender and number with the noun.

• a reunião is feminine singular
• So chato must also be feminine singular → chata

Examples:

• o filme é chato (the movie is boring – masculine)
• a reunião é chata (the meeting is boring – feminine)

Why is there an a before reunião: a reunião?

The a is the definite article (“the”).

• a reunião = the meeting (a specific meeting that both speakers know about or can infer)
• uma reunião = a meeting (any meeting, not specified)

In this sentence, a reunião sounds like “the meeting” we are both aware of (e.g., the regular team meeting).

How would the meaning change if I said quando a reunião é chata instead of fica chata?

• quando a reunião fica chata
  → when the meeting gets/becomes boring (it changes, it turns boring at some point)

• quando a reunião é chata
  → when the meeting is boring (describes it as boring in that situation, more as a characteristic of that kind of meeting)

In practice, both can sometimes be understood similarly, but fica highlights a change; é sounds more static.

What’s the difference between ninguém faz perguntas and ninguém pergunta nada?

Both mean roughly nobody asks questions, but there are small differences:

• ninguém faz perguntas
  Literally: no one makes questions → the standard way to say no one asks questions; very common and neutral.

• ninguém pergunta nada
  Literally: no one asks anything → a bit more colloquial in tone, but also very common.

You can use either, depending on style, but ninguém faz perguntas is slightly more “textbook”/neutral.

Why is perguntas plural? Could I say ninguém faz pergunta?

In Portuguese, using plural here is the natural, idiomatic way:

• ninguém faz perguntas = nobody asks (any) questions

You can say ninguém faz pergunta, but it sounds less natural and can feel a bit incomplete or unusual in most contexts. Native speakers overwhelmingly prefer the plural perguntas in this structure.

Is ninguém considered negative? Do I need não too?

Ninguém is already a negative word meaning nobody / no one.

In this kind of sentence, you do not add não:

• ✅ Ninguém faz perguntas. = Nobody asks questions.
• ❌ Ninguém não faz perguntas. (wrong in standard Portuguese)

Portuguese does allow double negatives in other patterns (e.g. não vejo ninguém – I don’t see anyone), but not here because ninguém is the subject.

Can I change the word order to say Eu odeio a reunião quando fica chata...?

You can, and it’s grammatically correct:

• Eu odeio quando a reunião fica chata... (more natural)
• Eu odeio a reunião quando fica chata... (also possible)

The original version (odeio quando...) emphasizes the situation (when the meeting gets boring) more than the meeting itself.

Eu odeio a reunião quando... puts slightly more focus on the meeting, but the overall meaning is very similar.

Does quando here mean “when” as in a specific time, or “whenever” (a repeated situation)?

In this sentence, quando has a habitual / general sense, so it’s closer to “whenever”:

• Eu odeio quando a reunião fica chata...
  ≈ I hate it whenever the meeting gets boring...

Portuguese often uses quando for both “when” (specific time) and “whenever” (repeated situation); the context tells you which.

How do you pronounce reunião and ninguém?

Approximate Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation:

• reunião → [hew-nee-OWN] (with a nasal ão)

  • reu = he-oo quickly → hew
  • ni = nee
  • ão = nasal sound like the end of English down but through the nose: ãw

• ninguém → [neen-GENG] (final ém is nasal)

  • nin = neen
  • guém = like geng, with a nasal ém (similar to the end of fang but nasal and with an e vowel)

These are approximations; listening to native audio will help a lot with the nasal sounds.