Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Depois do exame, eu fico com o caderno do Pedro para estudar. - After the exam, I keep Pedro's notebook to study.

Depois do exame, eu fico com o caderno do Pedro para estudar.

After the exam, I keep Pedro's notebook to study.

Breakdown of Depois do exame, eu fico com o caderno do Pedro para estudar.

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Questions & Answers about Depois do exame, eu fico com o caderno do Pedro para estudar.

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

In Portuguese, depois (after) usually takes the preposition de before a noun:

depois de + [noun]

When the noun has a definite article (o, a, os, as), de + article contracts:

de + o exame → do exame
de + a aula → da aula

So:

depois do exame = after the exam
depois da aula = after the class

You normally cannot say:

✗ depois o exame (the de is missing)
✗ depois exame (sounds wrong or very odd)

You could say:

depois de um exame = after an exam (indefinite)
depois de exames = after exams (in general)

But for “after the exam”, in European Portuguese the natural form is depois do exame.

What exactly does ficar com mean here, and how is it different from just ficar or ter?

On its own, ficar usually means:

to stay / remain:
- Fico em casa. = I stay at home.
to become:
- Fiquei cansado. = I became tired.

With com, it becomes a kind of phrasal verb:

ficar com [algo] = to end up having something, to keep something, to stay in possession of something

In the sentence:

eu fico com o caderno do Pedro
→ I keep / I end up with Pedro’s notebook.

Compared to ter:

ter o caderno do Pedro = simply “to have Pedro’s notebook” (state of possession)
ficar com o caderno do Pedro = I get it / take it and keep it (there is a change, or a decision to keep it)

So ficar com focuses on getting/staying with the object, not just “having” it in a neutral way.

If the action happens after the exam, why is the verb in the present tense (eu fico) and not future, like vou ficar or ficarei?

Portuguese very often uses the present tense to talk about the future when there is a time expression:

Amanhã vou a Lisboa. (present form vou, but future meaning)
Logo falo contigo. = I’ll talk to you later.

In this sentence:

Depois do exame, eu fico com o caderno do Pedro…

The time expression depois do exame already tells you it is future relative to now, so the present fico is understood as:

“After the exam, I’ll keep / I’m going to keep Pedro’s notebook…”

You could also say:

Depois do exame, vou ficar com o caderno do Pedro…

That is equally correct and sounds slightly more explicit as a plan or intention, but the original with fico is completely natural in European Portuguese.

Is the subject pronoun eu necessary here, or could you just say Depois do exame, fico com o caderno do Pedro para estudar?

You can drop eu:

Depois do exame, fico com o caderno do Pedro para estudar.

In Portuguese, the verb ending (-o in fico) already tells you the subject is eu.

Using eu is:

optional in terms of grammar
often used for emphasis or contrast (I keep it, not someone else)
sometimes used just because speakers like to make the subject explicit at the start of a new sentence

So both are correct:

Depois do exame, eu fico… (a bit more emphatic or explicit)
Depois do exame, fico… (more neutral)

Why is it o caderno do Pedro and not something like o caderno de Pedro or o caderno dele?

There are a few points here:

Structure with names
- In Portuguese you normally express possession with:
  - [thing] + de + [person], often with a definite article.
- In European Portuguese it’s very common to use an article before names:
  - o Pedro, a Maria
- So you effectively have:
  - o caderno de o Pedro → o caderno do Pedro
That’s why you see do Pedro and not de Pedro in everyday speech.
With or without the article before the name
- o caderno do Pedro → most natural in spoken European Portuguese.
- o caderno de Pedro → possible, but sounds more formal, written, or literary.
Using a pronoun
- o caderno dele = his notebook
- That is grammatical, but:
  - it’s more general (his) and might need context to know whose it is
  - o caderno do Pedro is clearer because it gives the name

So, for Pedro’s notebook, the most natural everyday version in European Portuguese is o caderno do Pedro.

Why is it para estudar and not por estudar or a estudar?

In this context, Portuguese uses para + infinitive to express purpose:

para estudar = (in order) to study
para descansar = (in order) to rest
Uso o dicionário para aprender novas palavras.

Comparisons:

por
- much more about cause, duration, exchange, means, etc.
- por estudar does not mean “in order to study”; it sounds odd here.
a estudar
- usually expresses an ongoing action:
  - Estou a estudar. = I am studying.
- Not used to express purpose in this way.

So for “I keep the notebook to study (with it / from it)”, you need para estudar in European Portuguese.

What exactly is being studied? Why doesn’t Portuguese repeat o caderno after estudar, and could you say para o estudar?

The sentence leaves the object of estudar understood:

eu fico com o caderno do Pedro para estudar (o caderno)

This is very natural in both Portuguese and English:

English: I keep Pedro’s notebook to study (from it).
We don’t usually say “to study the notebook”.

Portuguese often omits the direct object when it’s obvious from context.

If you really wanted to make “it” explicit, you can say:

…fico com o caderno do Pedro para o estudar.

Here, o refers back to o caderno.

Both are grammatically correct:

para estudar – most natural and usual
para o estudar – more explicit, slightly more formal or careful style

Can I change the word order, for example moving depois do exame or para estudar? Which versions are natural?

There is quite a bit of flexibility with time and purpose phrases.

All of these are natural:

Depois do exame, eu fico com o caderno do Pedro para estudar.
Eu fico com o caderno do Pedro depois do exame para estudar.
Eu fico com o caderno do Pedro para estudar depois do exame.
(here, after the exam sounds like the time when you do the studying)

You can also front the purpose:

Para estudar, eu fico com o caderno do Pedro depois do exame.

That’s correct, but putting para estudar at the beginning sounds a bit more formal or stylistically marked, like you’re highlighting the purpose.

What you generally don’t do in normal speech is break up the core verb phrase in a strange way, e.g.:

✗ Eu com o caderno do Pedro fico para estudar.
(grammatical in theory, but sounds very unnatural or poetic)

So: moving the whole chunks depois do exame and para estudar around is fine; just keep them as units.

Does ficar com o caderno do Pedro mean I’m just borrowing it temporarily, or that it becomes mine permanently?

ficar com on its own does not say whether it’s temporary or permanent; the context decides.

Possible readings:

temporary / borrowing
- In your sentence, with para estudar, it naturally sounds like:
  - After the exam, I hold on to / keep Pedro’s notebook (for a while) to study.
permanent / taking possession
- In other contexts, ficar com can mean you take or keep something as yours:
  - Fiquei com o carro do meu pai.
    → I ended up with / kept my father’s car (it became mine).
  - Ele ofereceu-me o livro e eu fiquei com ele.
    → He offered me the book and I kept it.

If you want to be very clear that it’s just borrowing, you might add time limits or verbs like emprestar (lend):

Depois do exame, o Pedro empresta-me o caderno para eu estudar.
→ After the exam, Pedro lends me the notebook so I can study.