O ecoponto fica perto de casa.

Because ecoponto is a masculine noun in Portuguese. It is formed from eco- + ponto, and the base word ponto is masculine, so the whole noun takes o.

• o ecoponto
• um ecoponto

This is common with compound nouns in Portuguese: the grammatical gender often follows the main noun.

In Brazilian Portuguese, ficar is very commonly used to talk about location in the sense of is located.

So:

• O ecoponto fica perto de casa. = The ecopoint/recycling drop-off point is located near home.

If you said é, it would sound less natural here. Portuguese often prefers ficar when giving the location of places, buildings, stores, neighborhoods, and so on.

Examples:

• O banco fica na esquina. = The bank is on the corner.
• A escola fica longe. = The school is far away.

Here, fica is the 3rd person singular present form of ficar.

In this sentence, it means:

• is
• is located
• is situated

So fica does not mean stays here, even though ficar can also mean to stay in other contexts.

Compare:

• Ele fica em casa hoje. = He stays home today.
• O ecoponto fica perto de casa. = The ecopoint is located near home.

Yes. Perto normally works with de when you say what something is near.

So the pattern is:

• perto de + place/person/thing

Examples:

• perto de casa = near home
• perto do mercado = near the market
• perto da escola = near the school

When de combines with articles, it contracts:

• de + o = do
• de + a = da
• de + os = dos
• de + as = das

So:

• perto do parque
• perto da praia

Because casa often appears without an article when it means home.

So:

• perto de casa = near home
• em casa = at home
• voltar para casa = to go back home

But da casa would usually mean of the house or near the house, referring to a specific building rather than the idea of home.

Compare:

• Perto de casa = near home
• Perto da casa = near the house

This is a very common pattern in Portuguese.

Yes, absolutely.

• perto de casa = near home
• perto da minha casa = near my house/home

Both are correct, but they feel slightly different:

• perto de casa is more general and natural when the speaker means home.
• perto da minha casa is more explicit and specific.

Yes, it is fairly common in Brazil, especially in cities that have recycling or waste collection programs.

An ecoponto is usually a public drop-off point for recyclable materials, construction debris, bulky trash, or other waste that should not be left in ordinary household garbage.

So even if the exact translation has already been given, it helps to know that this is a real civic/urban word you may see on signs, city websites, and public notices.

Because Portuguese does not need a dummy subject like English sometimes does.

In English, you might say:

• It is near my house
• The ecopoint is near my house

In Portuguese, the actual subject is already there:

• O ecoponto

So there is no need for an extra it.

The sentence follows a very common Portuguese pattern:

• O ecoponto = subject
• fica = verb
• perto de casa = location expression

So it is:

Subject + verb + place/location

This is the most neutral and natural order.

You may also hear variations in other contexts, but O ecoponto fica perto de casa is the standard way to say it.

A simple approximate pronunciation is:

• o ecoponto ≈ oo eh-ko-PON-too
• fica perto de casa ≈ FEE-kah PEHR-too djee KAH-zah

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• o by itself often sounds like oo in unstressed position.
• e in ecoponto is a clear eh sound.
• perto has a tapped r in Brazilian Portuguese.
• de before a consonant is often pronounced like djee or a softer jee/dee depending on accent.
• casa usually has a z sound in the middle: KAH-zah.

Sometimes, but fica is usually more natural for a permanent or standard location.

• O ecoponto fica perto de casa. = The ecopoint is located near home.
• O ecoponto está perto de casa. = The ecopoint is near home.

The version with está is understandable, but fica sounds more idiomatic when talking about where a place is located.

A helpful shortcut:

• use ficar for where something is located
• use estar for temporary states or for location in many other contexts

You would change the article, noun, and verb:

• Os ecopontos ficam perto de casa.

Breakdown:

• o → os
• ecoponto → ecopontos
• fica → ficam

So the singular/plural pair is:

• O ecoponto fica perto de casa.
• Os ecopontos ficam perto de casa.