Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Hoje visto calças de ganga porque são práticas para caminhar. - Today I am wearing jeans because they are practical for walking.

The verb visto is the 1st person singular (I) of vestir.
Other forms are:
- eu visto – I wear / I put on
- tu vestes – you wear / you put on
- ele/ela veste – he/she wears / puts on

Because visto can only be I (in the present tense), eu is not necessary.
Saying Hoje eu visto calças de ganga… is possible, but it sounds more emphatic (e.g. contrasting with someone else).

Why is it visto and not something like estou a vestir or estou a usar for “I am wearing”?

European Portuguese often uses the present simple to talk about what someone is wearing right now.

Hoje visto calças de ganga
Literally: Today I wear jeans, but in context it usually means Today I’m wearing jeans.

Estar a + infinitive (progressive) is more about the ongoing action of putting clothes on:

Estou a vestir as calças – I am (in the process of) putting on the trousers.

You could also say:

Hoje estou a usar calças de ganga – Today I’m wearing jeans.

But visto is very natural and common when talking about what you are wearing today.

What exactly does calças de ganga mean? Why is it plural?

Calças de ganga literally means trousers of denim, i.e. jeans.

calças – trousers / pants (always plural in Portuguese, like trousers in British English)
ganga – denim

So:

calças de ganga = jeans
calças pretas = black trousers
umas calças de ganga = a pair of jeans

In Portuguese, trouser-like clothing is normally plural: estas calças, umas calças novas, etc.

Why is it calças de ganga and not just ganga like “jeans” in English?

Ganga is the fabric (denim), not the piece of clothing itself.
So you normally say:

calças de ganga – denim trousers → jeans
casaco de ganga – denim jacket
saia de ganga – denim skirt

Using ganga alone to mean jeans is not standard; you need a noun like calças with it.

Why is it são práticas and not é prático?

The adjective must agree in gender and number with the noun it describes.

calças is feminine plural (even though there is no -a at the end).
Therefore, the adjective is also feminine plural: práticas.

Comparisons:

As calças são práticas. – The trousers are practical.
A camisola é prática. – The sweater is practical. (fem. singular)
O casaco é prático. – The coat is practical. (masc. singular)
Os casacos são práticos. – The coats are practical. (masc. plural)

So calças → são práticas is grammatically consistent.

What does porque mean here, and how is it different from porquê or por que?

In this sentence, porque means because:

…porque são práticas para caminhar.
…because they are practical for walking.

The different forms are:

porque – because
- Não vou, porque estou cansado. – I’m not going, because I’m tired.
porquê – why (as a noun, usually at the end of a sentence)
- Não entendo o porquê. – I don’t understand why / the reason why.
por que – literally for what, used mainly in questions in European Portuguese
- Por que estás triste? – Why are you sad?

Here, you need porque (because), joining the reason with the main clause.

Why para caminhar and not just para caminhar a pé or para andar? Are there differences?

Para caminhar literally means for walking.

caminhar – to walk (often with a sense of walking some distance, or walking for exercise)
andar – very general to walk / to go / to move (has many uses)

Possible versions:

são práticas para caminhar – they are practical for walking (neutral)
são práticas para andar – they are practical for walking / moving around (a bit broader)
são práticas para caminhar a pé – literally to walk on foot (a bit redundant, because walking is already on foot).

All are understandable; the original para caminhar is natural and clear.

Is the word order fixed? Could I say Visto calças de ganga hoje instead?

Word order is somewhat flexible, but Hoje usually comes at the beginning when you want to emphasise “today”.

Natural options:

Hoje visto calças de ganga… – most neutral and common.
Visto hoje calças de ganga… – possible, but sounds more marked or poetic.
Visto calças de ganga hoje… – also possible; the focus feels more on visto calças de ganga and then you add today.

In everyday speech, Hoje visto… is the most typical for this kind of sentence.

Why is there no article before calças de ganga? Why not as calças de ganga?

Both are possible, but there is a slight nuance:

Hoje visto calças de ganga.
More generic: I’m wearing jeans today (type of clothing, not a specific pair).
Hoje visto as calças de ganga.
Refers to some specific jeans that the listener probably already knows about (e.g. those jeans we’ve been talking about).

In many everyday contexts, especially when talking generically about what you’re wearing, European Portuguese can omit the article here, as in the original sentence.

Is visto here the same word as visto meaning “seen” from ver?

They are spelled and pronounced the same, but they are different words:

From vestir (to wear / to put on)
- eu visto – I wear / I put on
- In the sentence: Hoje visto calças de ganga…
From ver (to see)
- visto – past participle: seen
- Example: Nunca tinha visto isto. – I had never seen this.

Context tells you which visto is being used. In your sentence, because it’s followed by calças de ganga and fits the present-tense pattern, it’s clearly “I wear” or “I am wearing.”

How is visto pronounced in European Portuguese?

In European Portuguese, visto is pronounced approximately:

[ˈviʃtu], roughly “VEESH-too”
- vi – like vee
- s before t sounds like the sh in she
- final o is close to oo in book, not a long oo as in food

So the whole sentence sounds roughly like:

Hoje visto calças de ganga porque são práticas para caminhar.
→ OH-zh(uh) VEESH-too KAL-sɐsh dɨ GUN-gɐ poor-KEH sɐ̃w PRAH-ti-kɐsh PAH-rɐ kɐ-mi-NYAR (approximate guide only).