Eu fico em silêncio quando estou nervoso.

I stay silent when I am nervous.

Breakdown of Eu fico em silêncio quando estou nervoso.

• eu: I
• estar: to be
• quando: when
• ficar: to become
• nervoso: nervous
• em silêncio: silent

Questions & Answers about Eu fico em silêncio quando estou nervoso.

Why is it fico and not estou here?

In this sentence, fico suggests a change or reaction:

• Eu fico em silêncio ≈ I go quiet / I become silent / I stay silent (as a reaction)
• Eu estou em silêncio ≈ I am silent (right now, just describing my current state)

With quando estou nervoso (when I’m nervous), you’re describing what usually happens in that situation. Using ficar is natural because it expresses what you end up doing or what state you move into when you’re nervous.

So:

• Eu fico em silêncio quando estou nervoso.
  → When I get nervous, I (tend to) go quiet.

Using estou in the main clause would sound more like a neutral description, not a typical reaction:

• Eu estou em silêncio quando estou nervoso.
  Grammatically OK, but unusual; it sounds a bit stiff and less natural for a habitual reaction.

What does the verb ficar generally mean?

Ficar is very common in Brazilian Portuguese and has a few main uses:

1. To become / to get (change of state):

   • Fico nervoso em provas. – I get nervous in exams.
   • Ela ficou triste. – She became / got sad.

2. To stay / to remain in a state or place:

   • Fiquei em casa ontem. – I stayed at home yesterday.
   • Fico em silêncio. – I stay / remain silent.

3. To be located:

   • Onde fica o banheiro? – Where is the bathroom located?

In your sentence, it’s mainly the “become / stay in a state as a reaction” meaning.

Why is it em silêncio and not something like silencioso?

Em silêncio is a very common fixed expression meaning “in silence” or “quietly, without speaking”. It focuses on the absence of speaking or noise.

• Eu fico em silêncio. – I go quiet / I stay silent (I don’t talk).

Silencioso is an adjective meaning “quiet, silent”, usually as a characteristic of a person, place, or thing:

• Ele é um menino silencioso. – He is a quiet boy.
• Um bairro silencioso. – A quiet neighborhood.

You could say:

• Fico silencioso quando estou nervoso.

This is understandable, but for “I go quiet / I stop talking”, Brazilians much more naturally say:

• Fico em silêncio.
• Fico calado.
• Fico quieto.

What is the role of em in em silêncio?

Em is the preposition “in / at / on”, and in this case it forms a fixed expression: em silêncio = in silence.

Portuguese uses em + noun for many adverb-like expressions about manner or position, for example:

• em silêncio – in silence
• em pé – standing (literally “on foot”)
• em casa – at home
• em paz – in peace

So em silêncio is basically “in a state of silence” → silent / quietly.

Do I have to say Eu, or can I just say Fico em silêncio quando estou nervoso?

You can absolutely drop Eu:

• Fico em silêncio quando estou nervoso.

In Portuguese, the verb ending (fico) already shows the subject is eu. Subject pronouns (eu, você, ele, etc.) are often omitted unless you want:

• emphasis:
  Eu fico em silêncio, mas ele fala muito.
• contrast or clarity in a longer sentence
• to sound a bit more careful or formal in speech.

Both are correct:

• Eu fico em silêncio quando estou nervoso.
• Fico em silêncio quando estou nervoso.

The version without eu is very natural and common in everyday speech.

Why is there no eu in quando estou nervoso? Can I say quando eu estou nervoso?

Both are correct:

• quando estou nervoso
• quando eu estou nervoso

Again, the verb ending -o in estou already tells you that the subject is eu, so you don’t need the pronoun.

Including eu adds a bit of emphasis or clarity, for example if you’re contrasting:

• Quando eu estou nervoso, fico em silêncio, mas quando ela está nervosa, ela fala mais ainda.

In your simple sentence, both versions are fine and natural:

• Eu fico em silêncio quando estou nervoso.
• Eu fico em silêncio quando eu estou nervoso. (slightly more emphatic)

Why is it estou nervoso and not sou nervoso?

Portuguese distinguishes strongly between:

• ser = an inherent characteristic, something more permanent
• estar = a temporary state, mood, or condition

So:

• Estou nervoso. – I’m nervous (right now, in this situation).
• Sou nervoso. – I’m a nervous person / I’m the type who gets easily upset.

In your sentence, you’re talking about how you feel in that moment, so estou nervoso is correct.

Also, in Brazilian Portuguese, sou nervoso often implies “I’m irritable / I have a short temper,” not just “I’m anxious.” For a current feeling/emotion, estar is normally used.

I’m a woman. Do I need to change nervoso?

Yes. Adjectives agree with the gender of the person they describe:

• A man: Estou nervoso.
• A woman: Estou nervosa.

So the full sentence for a woman would be:

• Eu fico em silêncio quando estou nervosa.

The pronoun eu doesn’t change, but the adjective (nervoso / nervosa) does, to match the speaker.

Does nervoso only mean “nervous,” or can it also mean “angry” in Brazilian Portuguese?

In Brazilian Portuguese, nervoso is a bit broader than English “nervous”:

1. Nervous / anxious / stressed:

   • Fico nervoso em entrevistas de emprego.
     I get nervous in job interviews.

2. Irritated / angry / upset (very common in everyday speech):

   • Fiquei nervoso com ele.
     I got mad at him. / He got on my nerves.

So, depending on context, nervoso can mean:

• emotionally tense, anxious
• annoyed, angry, worked up

If you want to emphasize anxious rather than angry, you can also use ansioso:

• Fico ansioso antes das provas. – I get anxious before exams.

Is this sentence talking about something I usually do, or what I’m doing right now?

With the simple present fico / estou, this sentence naturally describes a habitual reaction, something that generally happens when you’re nervous:

• Eu fico em silêncio quando estou nervoso.
  → Whenever I’m nervous, I (tend to) go quiet.

Portuguese, like English, uses the simple present for:

• habits: Eu estudo à noite. – I study at night.
• general truths: A água ferve a 100 graus.

Here it’s clearly a habit, not just this exact moment.

Can I change the word order, like Quando estou nervoso, eu fico em silêncio?

Yes. That’s perfectly natural and very common:

• Quando estou nervoso, eu fico em silêncio.

Notes:

• When the quando-clause comes first, you normally use a comma.

• You can also omit eu if context is clear:

  • Quando estou nervoso, fico em silêncio.

Another common variant:

• Quando fico nervoso, fico em silêncio.
  (Here you use fico in both clauses: When I get nervous, I go quiet.)

Are there other natural ways to say this in Brazilian Portuguese?

Yes, several. All of these are idiomatic, with slightly different nuances:

• Eu fico calado quando estou nervoso.
  → I keep my mouth shut / I stay quiet when I’m nervous.
  (calado = not speaking.)

• Eu fico quieto quando estou nervoso.
  → I stay quiet / I don’t talk much when I’m nervous.
  (quieto = quiet, not talking or not moving much.)

• Eu me calo quando fico nervoso.
  → I shut up when I get nervous.
  (me calo is reflexive, literally “I silence myself,” more expressive.)

All are good; ficar em silêncio is slightly more neutral/formal, ficar calado/quieto is very common in everyday speech.

How do you pronounce Eu fico em silêncio quando estou nervoso in Brazilian Portuguese?

Approximate pronunciation (Brazilian, neutral accent), with stressed syllables in CAPS:

• Eu – “eh-oo” (often closer to one sound: “ehw”)
• fico – FEE-coo
• em – nasal “ehn” (like saying “en” while letting air go through your nose)
• silêncio – see-LEN-see-oh (final “oh” is short)
• quando – KWAN-doo
• estou – es-TOH (the s often sounds like “ss”)
• nervoso – nehr-VOH-zoo (final o sounds like “oo”)

Putting it together:

• Eu fico em silêncio quando estou nervoso.
  ≈ EHW FEE-coo ehn see-LEN-see-oh KWAN-doo es-TOH nehr-VOH-zoo.

(If you’re a woman, change the last word to nervosa: nehr-VOH-zah.)