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O centro da cidade não fica longe daqui.

O centro da cidade não fica longe daqui.
The city centre is not far from here.
FromLesson 25inHardcore Portuguese (Portugal)
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Questions & Answers about O centro da cidade não fica longe daqui.

Why do we use fica here instead of é or está?
In Portuguese, we don’t use ser (é) for location; we use estar (está) or ficar. Ficar is especially common to talk about the placement or distance of a place or building (“este restaurante fica no centro”, “o museu fica longe”). While you could say O centro da cidade está longe daqui, fica is more idiomatic when you’re describing how far something is.
What’s the difference between aqui and daqui?

Aqui means here (emphasizing position). Daqui is a contraction of de + aqui and means from here. After words like longe (far), you need the idea of “from”:
• longe daqui = “far from here.”

Why does não come before fica?
In Portuguese, the negation não normally goes directly before the verb. You say não fica to mean “doesn’t lie/doesn’t sit” somewhere. Putting não after the verb (fica não) is ungrammatical.
What part of speech is longe, and how does it work?
In this sentence, longe functions as an adverb of place (it modifies the verb fica). It tells us how far something is. It can’t be used with a direct object; if you want an adjective meaning “distant,” you’d use distante.
Why do we have da cidade and not just de cidade?
Portuguese contracts de + a into da when the noun is feminine. Cidade is feminine, so de + a cidade becomes da cidade.
Can we omit da cidade and say O centro fica longe daqui?
Yes, you can if context is clear. But just o centro could mean “the center” of a mall, a department, etc. Da cidade clarifies that you’re talking about the city center.
Are there synonyms for longe in this context?

You could use distante, but it’s an adjective, so you’d need estar or ficar plus the preposition de:
• O centro da cidade está distante daqui.
You can also intensify longe:
• O centro da cidade não fica muito longe daqui.
For the opposite idea (“near”), use perto:
• O centro da cidade fica perto daqui.

How do you pronounce centro, cidade, fica, longe and daqui in European Portuguese?

Approximate sounds:
• centro: /ˈsẽ.tɾu/ (“SEN-troo”)
• cidade: /si.ˈða.ðɐ/ (“see-DAH-duh”)
• fica: /ˈfi.kɐ/ (“FEE-kuh”)
• longe: /ˈlõ.ʒɨ/ (“LOHN-zhuh”)
• daqui: /da.ˈki/ (“da-KEE”)

More from this lesson

o centrolongeir a péSe fores a pé, verás que o centro parece menos longe do que pensavas.a rádioCostumo ouvir a rádio enquanto faço o pequeno-almoço.gravarNós gravamos o vídeo da festa.
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