Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): O mochileiro prefere ficar num albergue barato na ilha em vez de reservar hotel. - The male backpacker prefers to stay in a cheap hostel on the island instead of booking a hotel.

O mochileiro prefere ficar num albergue barato na ilha em vez de reservar hotel.

The male backpacker prefers to stay in a cheap hostel on the island instead of booking a hotel.

Breakdown of O mochileiro prefere ficar num albergue barato na ilha em vez de reservar hotel.

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Questions & Answers about O mochileiro prefere ficar num albergue barato na ilha em vez de reservar hotel.

Why does the sentence start with O mochileiro and not just Mochileiro or Um mochileiro?

In European Portuguese, you normally put a definite or indefinite article before a singular countable noun.

O mochileiro = the backpacker (a specific one the speaker has in mind).
Um mochileiro = a backpacker (any backpacker, not previously identified).

Using no article (Mochileiro prefere…) is not natural in this context in Portuguese, even though English allows “Backpacker prefers…” in some headline-like styles. Standard Portuguese needs the article.

So the sentence is talking about a particular backpacker (for example, one mentioned earlier in the conversation), so it uses o.

What exactly does mochileiro mean, and is it common in Portugal?

Mochileiro literally comes from mochila (backpack) + a suffix -eiro, so it means a person who travels with a backpack – a backpacker.

In Portugal:

mochileiro is understood and used, especially when talking about low-budget, independent travel.
You might also hear expressions like viajar de mochila às costas (“to travel with a backpack on your back”), but mochileiro itself is perfectly fine and idiomatic.

Why is it prefere ficar and not something like prefere a ficar or prefere em ficar?

After the verb preferir (“to prefer”), Portuguese usually uses the bare infinitive directly, without a preposition:

prefere ficar = “prefers to stay”
prefiro sair = “I prefer to go out”
preferimos viajar de comboio = “we prefer to travel by train”

Using a preposition here (a ficar, em ficar) would sound wrong. So the structure is:

[subject] + preferir (conjugated) + [infinitive]
O mochileiro prefere ficar…

What does ficar mean here? I thought ficar could mean “to become” too.

Ficar has several meanings. Two very common ones are:

To stay / remain / be located
- ficar num albergue = “to stay in a hostel”
- Ficámos em Lisboa três dias. = “We stayed in Lisbon for three days.”
To become / to get (a state or condition)
- ficar cansado = “to become/get tired”
- ficar rico = “to become rich”

In your sentence, it clearly has meaning (1): “to stay (overnight) in a cheap hostel on the island.”

What is num? How is it different from em um or no?

Num is a contraction of em + um:

em = in / on / at
um = a / one
→ em um → num

So:

ficar num albergue = “to stay in a hostel” (“in a/an hostel”)

Compare:

no albergue = em + o albergue = “in the hostel” (a specific one)
num albergue = em + um albergue = “in a hostel” (any hostel)

In everyday European Portuguese, people overwhelmingly use the contraction (num, na, no, numa, etc.) instead of saying em um, em uma, etc.

Why is it num albergue barato and not num barato albergue?

In Portuguese, unlike English, most adjectives normally come after the noun:

um albergue barato = “a cheap hostel”
um carro novo = “a new car”
um quarto pequeno = “a small room”

Putting the adjective before the noun (barato albergue) is not standard here and would sound wrong. There are some adjectives that can go before the noun with a slight change in nuance (e.g. um grande amigo), but barato is not one of them in this context.

Also note agreement:

albergue is masculine singular
barato is masculine singular to match it (-o ending)

What exactly is an albergue in Portugal? Is it the same as “hostel”?

In Portugal, albergue is close to the idea of a hostel or simple lodging, often associated with:

budget accommodation
shared rooms or basic facilities
sometimes linked to pilgrimage routes (e.g. albergues on the Camino de Santiago)

In everyday modern speech, especially among younger people, you will also hear the English word hostel used. But albergue is perfectly good Portuguese and fits the idea of a cheap/basic place to stay.

Why is it na ilha and not just em ilha or à ilha?

Na is a contraction of em + a:

em = in / on / at
a ilha = the island
→ em a ilha → na ilha = “on the island / on the isle”

You normally:

use em / no / na for location (“in / on / at” a place)
use para / à etc. for movement towards a place

So:

ficar na ilha = “to stay on the island” (location)
ir para a ilha = “to go to the island” (movement)

Em ilha without an article would sound strange here; Portuguese usually wants the article.

What does em vez de mean exactly, and is it the same as ao invés de?

Em vez de means “instead of / rather than” and is the normal, neutral expression:

em vez de reservar hotel = “instead of booking a hotel”
Vou a pé em vez de apanhar o autocarro. = “I’m going on foot instead of taking the bus.”

Ao invés de exists but is:

much less common in everyday speech
traditionally more associated with “the opposite of” rather than a simple alternative

In practice, many native speakers use ao invés de as a fancy-sounding version of em vez de, but if you’re learning, stick to em vez de. It’s the safest and most idiomatic choice.

Why is it em vez de reservar hotel and not em vez de reservar um hotel or em vez de reservar o hotel?

Portuguese sometimes omits the article with certain nouns after verbs like reservar, marcar, arranjar, especially for services or generic things:

reservar hotel = to book (some) hotel accommodation
reservar um hotel = to book a specific one hotel
reservar o hotel = to book the hotel (already identified in the context)

In your sentence, reservar hotel is more like:

“to book hotel accommodation” in general, without focusing on which particular hotel.

All three forms are grammatically possible, but they have slightly different nuances of specificity. The version without article feels more generic.

Could I say “O mochileiro prefere reservar hotel em vez de ficar num albergue barato na ilha”? Does the meaning change?

Yes, that sentence is grammatically correct. The basic meaning is the same, but the focus changes slightly:

Original:
O mochileiro prefere ficar num albergue barato na ilha em vez de reservar hotel.
→ The emphasis is more on what he prefers to do (stay in a cheap hostel) as the main idea.
Alternative:
O mochileiro prefere reservar hotel em vez de ficar num albergue barato na ilha.
→ Now the preference is reversed: he prefers to book a hotel, rather than stay in a cheap hostel.

So if you simply swap the two infinitive phrases around, you’re actually saying the opposite preference. Grammatically fine, but the meaning flips.

Is num albergue the only correct option, or could I say em um albergue in Portugal?

Em um albergue is technically correct, but in everyday European Portuguese people almost always use the contraction:

num albergue (natural, everyday)
em um albergue (possible, but sounds more written/insistent or slightly unnatural in casual speech)

So if you want to sound natural in Portugal, use num albergue, num hotel, num restaurante, etc.

How would this sentence change if the backpacker were female?

You’d change the noun and keep the rest the same:

O mochileiro → A mochileira

So the full sentence:

A mochileira prefere ficar num albergue barato na ilha em vez de reservar hotel.

Nothing else changes, because:

albergue is still masculine (so barato, not barata),
the verb prefere doesn’t change with gender, only with person/number.