O adolescente fica ansioso antes do exame.

The teenager gets anxious before the exam.

Breakdown of O adolescente fica ansioso antes do exame.

• o exame: the exam
• antes de: before
• ficar: to become
• ansioso: anxious
• o adolescente: the teenager

Questions & Answers about O adolescente fica ansioso antes do exame.

What exactly does fica mean in this sentence? Why not just é or está?

Ficar here means “to become / to get” (a change of state).

• O adolescente fica ansioso… = The teenager gets/becomes anxious…
• é ansioso would sound more like “is an anxious (person)” (a more permanent trait).
• está ansioso = “is anxious (right now)”, focusing on the current state, not the repeated pattern.

So fica is good for repeated or typical changes of mood, health, condition, etc.

What tense is fica, and how is ficar conjugated in the present?

Fica is 3rd person singular, present indicative of ficar.

Present of ficar:

• eu fico
• tu ficas
• ele / ela / você fica
• nós ficamos
• vós ficais (rare in modern speech)
• eles / elas / vocês ficam

In this sentence, o adolescente = ele, so we use fica.

When should I use ficar to mean “to become” with emotions or states?

With emotions, physical states, or conditions, ficar + adjective is very common and natural:

• ficar cansado – to get tired
• ficar triste – to become sad
• ficar doente – to get sick
• ficar ansioso / nervoso – to get anxious / nervous

Use ficar when you want to express a change (not just a static description).

Could I say O adolescente está ansioso antes do exame instead? Does it sound wrong?

It’s grammatically correct, but the nuance changes:

• fica ansioso antes do exame – he gets anxious before the exam (it happens each time; focus on the change).
• está ansioso antes do exame – he is anxious before the exam (describes his state; less emphasis on the “becoming”).

For habitual reactions, ficar ansioso is more natural than estar ansioso.

Why is it ansioso and not ansiosa? How does agreement work here?

Adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun:

• o adolescente (masculine singular) → ansioso
• a adolescente (feminine singular) → ansiosa

Examples:

• O adolescente fica ansioso antes do exame.
• A adolescente fica ansiosa antes do exame.

Plural:

• Os adolescentes ficam ansiosos antes do exame.
• As adolescentes ficam ansiosas antes do exame.

Why is it O adolescente and not Um adolescente? What’s the difference?

Both are possible, but they feel different:

• O adolescente fica ansioso…

  • Often used to speak about a specific teenager already known,
  • or a generic type (“the teenager, in general, gets anxious…”). Portuguese often uses the definite article for generic statements.

• Um adolescente fica ansioso…

  • Feels like “a teenager (any teenager)” in a more indefinite, example-giving way.

In many contexts discussing “teenagers in general,” O adolescente… is the natural choice in European Portuguese.

Why is it antes do exame and not antes de exame or antes o exame?

Two things are happening:

1. The preposition:

   • After antes, you normally use de before a noun or verb:
     
     • antes de jantar – before dinner
     • antes de exames – before exams

2. Contraction:

   • de + o exame → do exame (mandatory contraction in normal speech/writing).

So:

• ❌ antes o exame – missing de, ungrammatical.
• ✔️ antes do exame – correct: antes de + o exame.
• ✔️ antes de exame – grammatically possible, but sounds more generic/abstract (“before an exam / before any exam”).

Here, antes do exame = before the exam (specific exam, or expected one).

Can I say antes do teste or antes da prova instead of antes do exame?

Yes, you can, but there are nuances and regional preferences:

• exame – exam, often more formal or important (school exams, medical exams, official tests).
• teste – test, often smaller or more informal evaluation.
• prova – in many contexts (especially in Brazil) it means test/exam; in Portugal it can also be used, e.g. prova oral, prova escrita, but exame is very common for school/official exams.

All of these are possible, depending on context:

• antes do exame
• antes do teste
• antes da prova

How would the sentence change for a girl, or for more than one teenager?

For a girl:

• A adolescente fica ansiosa antes do exame.

For more than one teenager:

• Os adolescentes ficam ansiosos antes do exame. (group of boys or mixed)
• As adolescentes ficam ansiosas antes do exame. (group of girls)

Changes:

• article (o → a → os → as)
• verb (fica → ficam)
• adjective (ansioso → ansiosa / ansiosos / ansiosas)

Is this sentence the same in Brazilian Portuguese, or would they say it differently?

The sentence is perfectly fine in Brazilian Portuguese too:

• O adolescente fica ansioso antes do exame.

Common Brazilian variants you might also hear:

• O adolescente fica ansioso antes da prova.
• O adolescente fica nervoso antes da prova.

Main differences are word choice and pronunciation, not grammar. The structure ficar + ansioso + antes de / do is natural in both European and Brazilian Portuguese.

Anything important about pronunciation here, especially with x and s?

Yes, a few points for European Portuguese:

• adolescente – the final -e is typically a reduced vowel, not a clear “ee”: a-do-le-sen-tɨ (approx.).
• fica – i like “ee” in see.
• ansioso – the s between vowels is pronounced like z: an-zi-O-zo.
• exame – x often sounds like z before a vowel: e-*za-me*.

So you do not say “eksame” but rather [e-za-me].