Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): O Pedro fica concentrado quando estuda para o exame. - Pedro becomes focused when he studies for the exam.

In European Portuguese, using the article with names is standard in everyday speech:
- O Pedro está em casa. – Pedro is at home.
In Brazilian Portuguese, the article is normally not used: they would usually say Pedro está em casa, without o.
In more formal writing or very careful speech in Portugal, the article can be omitted, but in ordinary conversation O Pedro is what you’ll hear most.

So O Pedro here is just “Pedro”, following the typical European Portuguese pattern of adding the article before a personal name.

What exactly does fica mean here? Is it “becomes”, “stays”, or just “is”?

The verb ficar is very flexible in Portuguese. In this sentence, fica concentrado is best understood as:

“gets focused” / “becomes focused” and “stays in that state (for a while)”.

Some main uses of ficar:

To become / to get (change of state):
- O Pedro fica nervoso antes dos exames.
  Pedro gets nervous before exams.
To stay / to remain (stay in a state):
- Ele ficou calado.
  He stayed silent / remained quiet.
To be located:
- A escola fica perto de casa.
  The school is (located) near home.

In O Pedro fica concentrado, ficar is a linking verb connecting the subject (O Pedro) to the adjective (concentrado), with the idea of entering and remaining in that focused state while he studies.

You could roughly translate it as:

“Pedro gets/stays focused when he studies for the exam.”

What’s the difference between fica concentrado and está concentrado?

Both are possible, but they’re not quite the same:

O Pedro fica concentrado quando estuda para o exame.
Emphasises the change into that state and the fact that he tends to get focused when that condition is met. It’s habitual: Whenever he studies, he (then) gets/stays focused.
O Pedro está concentrado quando estuda para o exame.
Sounds more like a simple description of his state at that time, and is less natural as a general habit sentence. It might be used in a more specific, descriptive context, but fica is much better here.

Compare:

Quando há barulho, o Pedro não fica concentrado.
When there’s noise, Pedro doesn’t get/stay focused.

Here, fica nicely expresses that his state changes depending on the situation. Using está would sound more static and less “cause and effect”.

Why is it concentrado and not concentrada or concentrados?

Concentrado is an adjective and it must agree with the gender and number of the subject.

Subject: O Pedro → masculine singular
Adjective form: concentrado (masculine singular)

Other possible forms:

A Maria fica concentrada. (feminine singular)
O Pedro e o João ficam concentrados. (masculine plural)
A Maria e a Ana ficam concentradas. (feminine plural)

So in the original sentence, concentrado matches Pedro (masculine, singular).

Why is the verb in the present tense (fica, estuda)? Could we translate it with “gets” / “studies” / “is studying”?

In Portuguese, the simple present often expresses:

Habitual actions
General truths or regular patterns

So:

O Pedro fica concentrado quando estuda para o exame.
Literally: “Pedro gets/stays focused when he studies for the exam.”
Meaning: Whenever he studies for the exam, he tends to be focused.

Possible English translations:

“Pedro gets focused when he studies for the exam.”
“Pedro is (usually) focused when he studies for the exam.”

If you used está a estudar (“is studying”) in Portuguese:

O Pedro fica concentrado quando está a estudar para o exame.
This sounds more like you’re talking about specific ongoing situations, not a general habit.

The original with estuda and fica is the natural way to describe a regular, repeated pattern.

Why isn’t there ele in the second part, like quando ele estuda?

Portuguese is a pro‑drop language, which means subject pronouns (like eu, tu, ele) are often omitted when the subject is clear from context and verb endings.

Here, the subject is already identified as O Pedro, and nothing changes, so it’s clear that estuda also refers to Pedro:

O Pedro fica concentrado quando estuda para o exame.
= Pedro gets focused when he studies for the exam.

Adding ele is possible but usually unnecessary:

O Pedro fica concentrado quando ele estuda para o exame.
This is grammatically correct, but feels a bit heavy or overly explicit in normal speech, unless you need to avoid ambiguity.

Could we say O Pedro concentra-se quando estuda para o exame instead of fica concentrado? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say both, but they highlight slightly different things:

O Pedro fica concentrado quando estuda para o exame.
Focuses on the state that results:
- He gets / is in a focused state when he studies.
O Pedro concentra-se quando estuda para o exame.
Uses the reflexive verb concentrar-se = “to concentrate (oneself)”:
- He concentrates when he studies for the exam (focus on the action of concentrating).

Subtle nuance:

fica concentrado → the resulting state of mind.
concentra-se → the deliberate action of focusing.

Both are very natural. In many contexts, they’ll be understood almost the same, but fica concentrado feels a bit more like describing his condition during study.

Why is it para o exame and not something like no exame or ao exame?

The preposition para often expresses purpose or destination.

Estuda para o exame.
He studies for the exam (with the exam as the goal/purpose).

Breakdown:

para + o exame → contracted to para o exame

Different prepositions would change the meaning:

no exame = “in the exam / during the exam”
- Ele estava nervoso no exame. – He was nervous in the exam.
ao exame is possible in some fixed expressions (more formal or specific), but not the normal way to say “study for an exam”.

So, estudar para o exame is the standard phrase for “to study for the exam” in Portuguese.

Can we change the word order to Quando estuda para o exame, o Pedro fica concentrado? Do we need a comma?

Yes, that word order is perfectly correct:

Quando estuda para o exame, o Pedro fica concentrado.

In Portuguese, you can place the quando-clause (when‑clause) at the beginning or at the end:

O Pedro fica concentrado quando estuda para o exame.
Quando estuda para o exame, o Pedro fica concentrado.

Regarding commas:

When the quando-clause comes first, you normally use a comma:
- Quando estuda para o exame, o Pedro fica concentrado.
When it comes after the main clause, usually no comma:
- O Pedro fica concentrado quando estuda para o exame.

This matches usual punctuation rules in European Portuguese.

Could we use enquanto instead of quando, as in O Pedro fica concentrado enquanto estuda para o exame? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can use enquanto here, and it slightly changes the nuance:

quando estuda = when(ever) he studies → focuses on the occasion / condition.
- A bit like: Every time he studies, he gets focused.
enquanto estuda = while he is studying → focuses on the time span / duration.
- A bit like: During the time he’s studying, he is (remains) focused.

So:

O Pedro fica concentrado quando estuda para o exame.
Emphasises the idea that studying for the exam is the condition under which he gets focused.
O Pedro fica concentrado enquanto estuda para o exame.
Sounds more like: during the whole period in which he is studying, he’s in that focused state.

Both are grammatical and natural; which one you choose depends on whether you want to stress the condition (“whenever”) or the duration (“while”).