A sala fica vazia durante a noite.

The living room becomes empty during the night.

Breakdown of A sala fica vazia durante a noite.

• a noite: the night
• durante: during
• ficar: to become
• vazio: empty
• a sala: the room

Questions & Answers about A sala fica vazia durante a noite.

Why is it “A sala” and not just “Sala”? Does “a” here mean “the”?

Yes, “a” is the definite article “the” for feminine nouns.

• A sala = the room (often specifically the living room, depending on context).
• In Portuguese, you usually cannot drop the article the way English sometimes can.
  
  • English: “Class starts at 9.”
  • Portuguese: A aula começa às 9. (you keep the article)

So “A sala fica vazia durante a noite.” literally has “the room”, not just “room” in general.

What exactly does “fica” mean here? I learned “ficar” as “to stay” or “to become”.

“Fica” is the 3rd person singular present of ficar.
Ficar is very flexible; it can mean:

1. To stay / remain

   • Ele fica em casa. – He stays at home.

2. To become / get (change of state)

   • Ele fica cansado. – He gets/becomes tired.

3. To be located

   • A escola fica perto daqui. – The school is (located) near here.

In “A sala fica vazia durante a noite”, it’s mainly “remains / ends up / is (becomes and stays)” empty.
You could loosely read it as: “The room is (left) empty at night.”

Could I also say “A sala está vazia durante a noite”? What’s the difference between “fica” and “está” here?

You can say “A sala está vazia durante a noite”, and it is correct, but there’s a nuance:

• fica vazia

  • Suggests a process or typical result:
    
    • The room ends up empty / remains empty every night.
  • Often used for habitual, repeated situations with a sense of change or resulting state.

• está vazia

  • Describes a state more neutrally:
    
    • The room is empty (during the night).
  • Sounds a bit more like plain description, less focus on the idea that it empties out or stays empty.

In everyday speech, “fica vazia” is very natural here because it implies:
People leave → then the room stays empty at night.

Why is it “vazia” and not “vazio”?

“Vazia” is the feminine form of the adjective “vazio” (empty).

• sala is a feminine noun: a sala.
• Adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun:

Singular:

• a sala vazia – the empty room (feminine singular)
• o quarto vazio – the empty bedroom (masculine singular)

Plural:

• as salas vazias – the empty rooms (feminine plural)
• os quartos vazios – the empty bedrooms (masculine plural)

So it must be “sala vazia”, not “sala vazio”.

Does “durante a noite” mean the same as “à noite” or “de noite”? Can I replace it?

All of these are possible, but they differ slightly in style and nuance:

• durante a noite – during the night

  • Slightly more explicit, a bit more formal or neutral.
  • Emphasizes the duration: throughout the night.

• à noite – at night / in the evening

  • Very common in speech.
  • Sounds natural and slightly more general/habitual.

• de noite – at night / by night

  • Also common, a bit more informal or colloquial.

You could say:

• A sala fica vazia durante a noite.
• A sala fica vazia à noite.
• A sala fica vazia de noite.

All are correct; the meaning in everyday use is very close. “Durante a noite” just spells out “during” more clearly.

Why is it “durante a noite” and not “durante noite” (without the article)?

In Portuguese, time expressions like a noite, a tarde, a manhã usually take a definite article when used with prepositions like durante:

• durante a noite – during the night
• durante a tarde – during the afternoon
• durante a manhã – during the morning

Saying “durante noite” (without a) sounds wrong to native speakers.
The article is part of the natural pattern: preposition + definite article + time-of-day.

Is the present tense “fica” here talking about a habitual action, like English “The room is empty at night”?

Yes. The simple present in Portuguese is used very often for:

• Habits / routines / general truths

So:

• A sala fica vazia durante a noite.
  ≈ “The room is (always/usually) empty at night.”

Just like English “The sun rises in the east”, Portuguese would say:

• O sol nasce no leste. (simple present, habitual / always true)

Can I change the word order to “Durante a noite, a sala fica vazia”?

Yes, that is completely natural:

• A sala fica vazia durante a noite.
• Durante a noite, a sala fica vazia.

Both are correct. Moving “Durante a noite” to the front just emphasizes the time frame a bit more (stylistic choice), but the meaning is the same.

How would I say this in the plural, if I mean “The rooms are empty at night”?

You need to make the article, noun, verb, and adjective all plural:

• As salas ficam vazias durante a noite.
  
  • As – plural feminine article
  • salas – plural of sala
  • ficam – plural (they stay)
  • vazias – plural feminine adjective

Singular:

• A sala fica vazia durante a noite.

Plural:

• As salas ficam vazias durante a noite.

Does “fica” here mean “is located”, like in “A escola fica perto daqui”?

In this sentence, “fica” is not “is located”.
It’s the “stay / become / remain” meaning.

Compare:

• A sala fica vazia durante a noite.
  → The room stays / remains / ends up empty at night. (state / condition)

• A sala fica no segundo andar.
  → The room is located on the second floor. (location)

Same verb (ficar), different sense.
Context tells you which meaning is intended.

How do you pronounce “fica vazia durante a noite” in Brazilian Portuguese?

Approximate pronunciation (Brazilian):

• fica – [FEE-kah] (stress on FI)
• vazia – [va-ZEE-ah] (stress on ZI)
• durante – [doo-RAN-chee] (“t” before e/i sounds like English “ch”)
• a – [ah]
• noite – [NOY-chee] (again, “t” + e → “ch” sound)

So, roughly:
[AH SAH-lah FEE-kah va-ZEE-ah doo-RAN-chee ah NOY-chee]
with main stresses on SA, FI, ZI, RAN, NOY.