Sempre olho a etiqueta antes de comprar uma camisa.

In Portuguese, the subject pronoun is often omitted when the verb form already makes the subject clear.

• olho = I look
• So Sempre olho naturally means I always look

You could say Eu sempre olho, but eu is not necessary here unless you want emphasis or contrast.

Yes — olho can mean two different things:

• olho = I look (from the verb olhar)
• olho = eye (the noun)

They are written the same way, so context tells you which one it is. In Sempre olho a etiqueta, it is clearly the verb: I always look at the label.

Portuguese often uses definite articles more than English does.

• a etiqueta = the label/tag

In English, we might say I always check the label, and in Portuguese that usually also includes the article: olho a etiqueta.

Dropping the article can sound less natural in many everyday contexts.

No. Here, a is just the feminine singular definite article, meaning the.

So:

• olho = I look
• a etiqueta = the label

Literally, Portuguese says I look the label, but in natural English we say I look at the label or I check the label.

This is just a difference in how the verb works in each language.

Antes de means before when followed by a verb.

Structure:

• antes de + infinitive

So:

• antes de comprar = before buying / before I buy

The de is required here. You normally cannot say antes comprar.

Examples:

• antes de sair = before leaving
• antes de comer = before eating

Because after antes de, Portuguese uses the infinitive.

• comprar = to buy / buying
• compro = I buy

So:

• antes de comprar uma camisa = before buying a shirt
• not antes de compro

This is a very common pattern in Portuguese: after many prepositions, you use the infinitive.

Uma camisa means a shirt. It is singular because the sentence is talking about the typical act of buying one shirt at a time.

This is a common way to express a general habit:

• Sempre olho a etiqueta antes de comprar uma camisa. = I always check the label before buying a shirt.

Portuguese often uses the singular indefinite article in these general statements, just like English can.

You could also see plural versions in other contexts, but uma camisa sounds completely natural here.

Not necessarily. In this sentence, the present tense expresses a habitual action.

• Sempre olho... = I always look/check...

Because of sempre, the meaning is clearly habitual: this is something the speaker usually does, not just something happening at this exact moment.

Yes, but the original word order is the most natural.

• Sempre olho a etiqueta... = very natural
• Eu sempre olho a etiqueta... = also natural
• Olho sempre a etiqueta... = possible, but less common in everyday speech

Putting sempre at the beginning is very common and sounds smooth.

Here, etiqueta means label or tag, like the one on clothing that shows size, fabric, washing instructions, price, etc.

Be careful: etiqueta can also mean etiquette or good manners in other contexts.

So the word has more than one meaning:

• etiqueta da camisa = shirt label/tag
• etiqueta social = social etiquette

Context tells you which meaning is intended.

In Brazilian Portuguese, olho is approximately OH-lyoo, but the lh sound is important.

• lh is a special Portuguese sound, similar to the lli in some pronunciations of million, though not exactly the same everywhere in English.
• olho sounds roughly like O-lyo

A useful breakdown:

• o = open o
• lh = soft palatal sound
• o at the end is often pronounced like oo in Brazilian Portuguese speech

So olho is not pronounced like English oh-lo.

Approximate Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation:

• etiqueta ≈ eh-chee-KEH-ta
• camisa ≈ ka-MEE-za in many Brazilian accents

A couple of notes:

• In etiqueta, the ti often sounds like chee in Brazil
• In camisa, the s between vowels usually sounds like z

These are approximate guides, but they will get you close.

Yes, but the meaning or tone changes a little.

• olho a etiqueta = I look at/check the label
• vejo a etiqueta = I see/look at the label
• checo a etiqueta = I check the label
• verifico a etiqueta = I verify/check the label

In everyday speech, olhar works very naturally here. It can mean not just physically looking, but also checking something.

So Sempre olho a etiqueta... sounds very normal and idiomatic.

Yes, but it changes the meaning.

• uma camisa = a shirt, any shirt in general
• a camisa = the shirt, a specific shirt

So:

• antes de comprar uma camisa = before buying a shirt / any shirt
• antes de comprar a camisa = before buying the shirt / that specific shirt

The original sentence is about a general habit, so uma camisa is the better choice.