Antes de fazer um empréstimo, compare a taxa e os juros.

Because antes is normally followed by de when the next verb stays in the infinitive.

• antes de fazer = before doing / before making
• antes de sair = before leaving
• antes de comprar = before buying

So antes de + infinitive is the standard pattern here.

After the preposition de, Portuguese commonly uses the infinitive form of the verb.

So in:

• antes de fazer um empréstimo

the verb fazer is not conjugated because it is part of the structure antes de + infinitive.

If you wanted a fully conjugated clause instead, you would usually need something like:

• antes que você faça um empréstimo

But that is a different structure and sounds more complex than the original sentence.

Yes, literally it looks like make a loan, but that is just how the expression works in Portuguese.

In Brazilian Portuguese, fazer um empréstimo commonly means:

• to take out a loan
• to get a loan

Languages do not always match word-for-word. So even though English would usually say take out a loan, Portuguese naturally says fazer um empréstimo.

You may also hear:

• pegar um empréstimo = take/get a loan

That is also understandable and common in everyday speech.

Empréstimo means loan.

It can refer to money borrowed from a bank or lender, which is the meaning here.

Examples:

• fazer um empréstimo no banco = take out a loan at the bank
• pagar o empréstimo = pay back the loan

Be careful not to confuse it with emprestar, which is the verb to lend / to loan.

Compare is the imperative form of comparar used with você.

So this sentence is giving advice or an instruction:

• compare = compare

In Brazilian Portuguese, commands for você often look like the present subjunctive form:

• comparar → compare
• falar → fale
• abrir → abra

So the implied subject is:

• (você) compare a taxa e os juros

It is not necessarily extremely formal, but it matches the very common Brazilian Portuguese use of você.

So this sentence sounds natural in:

• advertisements
• financial advice
• public information
• neutral written language

If someone were using tu, the command might be:

• compara a taxa e os juros

But in much of Brazil, você is more common in standard neutral usage, so compare fits well.

Because the nouns have different grammatical number and gender:

• taxa is feminine singular → a taxa
• juros is masculine plural → os juros

So:

• a = feminine singular article
• os = masculine plural article

This is just normal agreement between article and noun.

In Portuguese, juros is very often used in the plural when talking about financial interest.

So:

• os juros = the interest / interest charges

There is also a singular form juro, but in financial contexts the plural juros is much more common when referring to interest in general.

Examples:

• juros altos = high interest
• taxa de juros = interest rate

This is one of those places where Portuguese and English organize the idea differently.

This is a very common learner question, because in English both can relate to interest.

In this sentence:

• taxa usually refers to the rate
• juros refers to the interest charged/paid

So the idea is something like:

• compare the rate
• and compare the interest amount or interest conditions

In financial language, taxa often appears in phrases like:

• taxa de juros = interest rate
• taxa anual = annual rate

Meanwhile, juros refers more directly to the interest itself:

• pagar juros = pay interest
• juros altos = high interest

Portuguese uses articles more often than English does.

Here, a taxa e os juros sounds natural and complete, especially in informational or advisory language. It can refer to those financial factors in a general but concrete way:

• compare the rate and the interest

In Portuguese, leaving out the articles is sometimes possible in headlines or very compressed styles, but in a normal sentence the articles are expected.

The comma separates the introductory phrase from the main command.

• Antes de fazer um empréstimo, = Before taking out a loan,
• compare a taxa e os juros. = compare the rate and the interest.

This is similar to English punctuation with an introductory phrase. It helps readability, especially in written advice.

Yes. Pegar um empréstimo is also very natural in Brazilian Portuguese.

Compare:

• fazer um empréstimo = common, standard, often seen in formal or neutral contexts
• pegar um empréstimo = common, a bit more everyday and conversational

So both work, but fazer um empréstimo fits well in financial guidance or official-style wording.

In taxa, the x is pronounced like sh in Brazilian Portuguese.

So taxa sounds approximately like:

• TAH-sha

This is one reason spelling with x can be tricky in Portuguese: the letter x can have different sounds in different words.

In Brazilian Portuguese, juros is approximately:

• ZHOO-ros

A few notes:

• the j sounds like the s in measure or the zh sound
• the u is like oo
• the r in the middle is softer than an English r

So it is definitely not pronounced like English jury or joo-rōs.

A rough Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation is:

• em-PRES-chee-mo or em-PRES-ti-mo, depending on accent and speech style

Helpful points:

• the stressed syllable is PRÉS
• the em at the beginning has a nasal quality
• in many Brazilian accents, ti before a vowel can sound a bit like chi, so -timo may sound close to -chimo

You do not need to nasalize it perfectly right away; the most important thing is stressing PRÉS correctly.

Yes. Portuguese often uses singular nouns to talk about things in a general category.

So:

• um empréstimo = a loan, in a general sense
• a taxa = the rate, meaning the relevant rate
• os juros = the interest, meaning the relevant interest charges

The sentence is not necessarily talking about one specific loan already known to both speakers. It is giving general advice about what to compare before borrowing money.