A pele ficou seca.

Here, ficou comes from the verb ficar and means something like became, got, or ended up.

So A pele ficou seca is literally close to The skin became dry or The skin got dry.

In European Portuguese, ficar is very commonly used for a change of state:

• ficar cansado = to get tired
• ficar doente = to get sick
• ficar vermelho = to turn red

So in this sentence, the idea is not just that the skin was dry, but that it became dry.

Because ficar often expresses a resulting change.

Compare:

• A pele ficou seca. = The skin became/got dry.
• A pele está seca. = The skin is dry.
• A pele era seca. = The skin was dry / used to be dry.
• A pele foi seca is generally not what you would say for this meaning.

So ficou seca focuses on the moment or process of the skin ending up in a dry state.

Ficou is the pretérito perfeito simples of ficar in the third person singular.

That means it refers to a completed event in the past:

• eu fiquei = I got / I became
• tu ficaste
• ele/ela/você ficou
• nós ficámos
• vocês ficaram
• eles/elas ficaram

In this sentence, A pele is singular, so the verb is ficou.

Because seca agrees with pele, and pele is a feminine singular noun.

In Portuguese, adjectives usually agree with the noun in gender and number:

• o cabelo seco = the dry hair
• a pele seca = the dry skin
• as mãos secas = the dry hands

So:

• pele = feminine singular
• therefore seca = feminine singular

Portuguese uses definite articles more often than English does.

So A pele ficou seca literally starts with The skin. In Portuguese, this is very natural even when English might sometimes say just skin in a more general way.

For example:

• A cabeça dói-me. = My head hurts.
• Os olhos estão cansados. = The eyes are tired / My eyes are tired.

With body parts, Portuguese often uses the definite article where English prefers a possessive or no article.

In Portuguese, pele is commonly used as a normal singular noun in this kind of sentence.

So:

• A pele ficou seca. = The skin got dry.

This is completely natural and does not sound unusual. Portuguese does not need a special structure here.

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• A pele ficou seca. = The skin became/got dry.
  Focus: change
• A pele estava seca. = The skin was dry.
  Focus: state

So if you want to describe the result of something, such as cold weather or soap, ficou seca is often the better choice.

For example:

• Depois do frio, a pele ficou seca. = After the cold, the skin got dry.
• No inverno, a pele estava seca. = In winter, the skin was dry.

The normal, neutral order is:

A pele ficou seca.

You might sometimes see a different order in poetry, emphasis, or very marked speech, but for a learner the standard pattern is: subject + verb + adjective

So the safest version is definitely A pele ficou seca.

In European Portuguese, ficou is pronounced approximately like fee-KOH, but with a more reduced unstressed vowel than in English.

A rough guide:

• fi- sounds like fee
• -cou sounds roughly like koh

Also, European Portuguese often reduces unstressed vowels more than Brazilian Portuguese, so the first syllable may sound shorter and less clear than an English speaker expects.

In European Portuguese, seca is roughly SEH-kɐ.

A simple approximation for an English speaker:

• se- like seh
• -ca ends with a very reduced a sound, not a full strong ah

So it is not pronounced like English seeker or secka. The final vowel is weaker.

Not always. Pele can mean:

• skin (human skin)
• sometimes hide or pelt, depending on context

But in A pele ficou seca, the natural meaning is clearly skin.

Yes, very often. It is a common pattern.

Examples:

• A roupa ficou seca. = The clothes got dry.
• O chão ficou seco. = The floor became dry.
• Os lábios ficaram secos. = The lips got dry.

So ficar + adjective is a very useful structure to learn.

It is grammatically possible, but it sounds less natural in everyday speech for this context.

• A pele ficou seca. = common, natural, everyday
• A pele tornou-se seca. = more formal or more literary, and less typical here

For ordinary spoken Portuguese, ficou seca is the best choice.

It works in both European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese.

The grammar and wording are natural in both varieties:

• A pele ficou seca.

The main difference would be pronunciation, not meaning or structure.