Breakdown of Ficámos no aeroporto até tarde, sentados numa cadeira junto ao cartaz de segurança.
de
of
em
in
tarde
late
até
until
ficar
to stay
uma
a
sentar-se
to sit
o aeroporto
the airport
a cadeira
the chair
junto a
by
a segurança
the safety
o cartaz
the poster
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Questions & Answers about Ficámos no aeroporto até tarde, sentados numa cadeira junto ao cartaz de segurança.
What tense and person is ficámos?
It’s the pretérito perfeito do indicativo, first-person plural of ficar (we stayed).
Why does ficámos carry an accent on the á?
In European Portuguese the accent marks the stressed vowel and distinguishes the past tense ficámos from the present ficamos. Brazilian Portuguese writes both forms as ficamos and relies on context and pronunciation to tell them apart.
Why use ficámos instead of estivemos or permanecemos?
Ficámos (“we stayed/remained”) emphasizes the action of staying in one place. Estivemos simply states “we were” there, and permanecemos is more formal/literary for “we remained.”
What does até tarde mean here?
Literally “until late.” It indicates that they stayed at the airport into the late hours (well after the usual evening).
Why is no used before aeroporto?
No is the contraction of the preposition em plus the masculine singular article o:
em + o → no
Hence no aeroporto means “in/at the airport.”
What role does sentados play in this sentence?
Sentados is the past participle of sentar used adjectivally in a non-finite clause. It describes their state (“sitting”) at the time they stayed in the airport. You could rephrase it as estávamos sentados but the participle clause is more concise.
Why use uma cadeira (an indefinite chair) rather than a cadeira?
The indefinite article uma indicates they’re referring to any available chair, not a specific one previously mentioned.
How does junto ao cartaz de segurança work, and does segurança here mean “security” or “safety”?
Junto a means “next to.” When combined with the masculine article o it contracts to junto ao.
Cartaz de segurança can be translated as either “security poster” or “safety poster,” since Portuguese segurança covers both concepts depending on context.
Could you say assento instead of cadeira for “seat” in an airport?
Yes. Assento is common in formal registers (e.g. airline seat), while cadeira is more colloquial and widely used for any chair-like seat, including airport seating.