Breakdown of Quando o shopping fica lotado, eu saio da praça de alimentação e espero o trem do lado de fora.
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Questions & Answers about Quando o shopping fica lotado, eu saio da praça de alimentação e espero o trem do lado de fora.
Why does the sentence say o shopping?
In Brazilian Portuguese, shopping commonly means shopping mall. It is a shortened form of shopping center. So o shopping does not usually mean the activity of shopping here; it means the place.
It is treated as a masculine noun, so you get forms like:
- o shopping
- no shopping
- do shopping
This usage is very common in Brazil.
Why is it fica lotado instead of está lotado?
Ficar often means to become, to get, or to end up being. So o shopping fica lotado suggests the mall gets crowded.
By contrast, está lotado simply describes its state: it is crowded.
So the difference is roughly:
- fica lotado = gets crowded / becomes crowded
- está lotado = is crowded
In a sentence about a repeated situation, fica lotado sounds very natural.
Why is quando followed by fica and not ficar?