Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Durante a promoção, até as pulseiras ficam muito baratas. - During the sale, even the bracelets become very cheap.

In European Portuguese, promoção usually refers to a sales event or discount period in a store, not a career advancement. Here it means “sale” or “discount promotion,” so durante a promoção = “during the sale.”

Why is there a definite article in durante a promoção? Could we say durante promoção?

Portuguese often uses the definite article with general time periods or events. Durante a promoção (“during the sale”) sounds natural. Omitting the article (durante promoção) is grammatically possible but unusual and sounds less idiomatic.

What does até mean here?

Here até means “even.” It emphasizes that wristbands, which are already inexpensive items, also become very cheap because of the sale: “even the wristbands get very cheap.”

What tense or mood is ficam?

Ficam is the present indicative, third-person plural of ficar. It describes a general fact about what happens to the bracelets during the sale.

Why use ficar instead of ser or estar?

Ficar + adjective often expresses a change of state or result: “to become” or “to end up.” Saying ficam muito baratas highlights that, as a result of the promotion, the bracelets become very cheap. Estar would simply state their temporary condition without the nuance of change, and ser isn’t used for such temporary outcomes.

Why is baratas feminine plural?

Adjectives in Portuguese must agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify. Pulseiras is feminine plural, so the adjective baratas is also feminine plural.

Could we place muito after baratas, as in baratas muito?

No, standard Portuguese places degree adverbs like muito before the adjective: muito baratas (“very cheap”). Putting it after (baratas muito) would sound awkward or emphatic in a way that native speakers don’t use.

What’s the difference between até as pulseiras and até pulseiras (without the article)?

Até as pulseiras refers specifically to the bracelets in that store or sale (“even the bracelets [here]”). Até pulseiras (no article) is more general: “even bracelets [in general] become very cheap.” The article makes it clear you’re talking about the particular bracelets on promotion.