Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): O funcionário coloca um carimbo no passaporte e diz que a autorização está pronta. - The clerk puts a stamp in the passport and says that the authorization is ready.

O funcionário uses the definite article o (the employee), which suggests a specific person that is already known from context (for example, the immigration officer at the desk you are talking to).

If you said um funcionário (an employee), it would sound like you are introducing an unknown, non‑specific employee. In this kind of narrative, Portuguese often uses the definite article where English might just say the officer or even just the officer with no previous mention; once the scene is clear, o funcionário feels natural.

What is the difference between funcionário and empregado?

Both can be translated as employee, but there are nuances:

funcionário
- Common for people who work in public services or institutions: government offices, post offices, consulates, banks, etc.
- In this sentence, o funcionário is exactly the kind of person you meet at passport control or a counter.
empregado
- More general, often used for someone employed in a shop, restaurant, or in someone’s home (empregada doméstica = housemaid).
- Can sometimes sound a bit more old‑fashioned or class‑loaded in some contexts.

Here, funcionário is the more natural choice for an office or border‑control context in European Portuguese.

Why is it um carimbo but o passaporte?

um carimbo uses the indefinite article um (a stamp), because it is not a specific, previously identified stamp. It is just a stamp among many possible ones.
no passaporte contains the definite article o (in/on the passport), because there is a specific passport in the situation: the traveler’s passport, already understood from context.

So the structure is literally: puts a stamp on the passport – one unspecific stamp, on this specific passport.

What exactly is no passaporte? Why not em o passaporte or no seu passaporte?

no is a contraction:

em + o = no
- em = in/on
- o = the (masculine singular)

So no passaporte literally means in/on the passport.

About seu:

In Portuguese, the possessive is often omitted when it is obvious whose thing it is.
At passport control, of course it is your passport, so just o passaporte is enough.

You could say:

no seu passaporte = on your passport

That is correct and clear, but not necessary. no passaporte is shorter and very natural.

What does coloca mean here, and could we use other verbs like põe or carimba?

The verb colocar means to put/place something somewhere.

In this sentence:

coloca um carimbo no passaporte = puts/places a stamp on the passport

Other options:

põe um carimbo no passaporte
- pôr = to put (very common, slightly more informal / everyday than colocar)
carimba o passaporte
- carimbar = to stamp (uses a verb instead of the noun carimbo)

All three are grammatically correct:

O funcionário coloca um carimbo no passaporte…
O funcionário põe um carimbo no passaporte…
O funcionário carimba o passaporte…

In European Portuguese, pôr and carimbar are very common; colocar sounds a bit more neutral or formal but is still natural.

Why is the present tense used (coloca, diz) instead of past tense like colocou, disse?

Portuguese can use the present tense to describe past events in a vivid, narrative way. This is similar to English using a historic present, for example:

So I go to the counter, he looks at my passport, and then he says…

If you wanted a straightforward past narrative, you could say:

O funcionário colocou um carimbo no passaporte e disse que a autorização estava pronta.
- colocou, disse = simple past (put, said)
- estava = past of estar

Both versions are correct; the original with coloca / diz / está sounds more immediate, as if you are telling the story live.

What is the function of que in diz que a autorização está pronta?

Here, que is a conjunction introducing what was said. It works like English that in:

He says that the authorization is ready.

Structure:

diz = he/she says
que = that
a autorização está pronta = the authorization is ready

In Portuguese, you normally must use que in this kind of sentence. Omitting it (…diz a autorização está pronta) is not natural.

Why do we say está pronta and not é pronta?

This is the ser vs. estar difference:

estar is used for temporary states, conditions, and results of an action.
ser is used for permanent or defining characteristics.

Being ready is usually seen as a temporary state or the result of a process. So we use estar:

A autorização está pronta. = The authorization is (now) ready.

Using é pronta would sound strange here, as if being ready were a permanent characteristic of this particular authorization.

Why is it pronta and not pronto?

Adjectives in Portuguese agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

a autorização is feminine singular.
So the adjective must also be feminine singular: pronta.

If the noun were masculine, you would say:

O documento está pronto. = The document is ready.
O visto está pronto. = The visa is ready.

So:

a autorização está pronta (feminine)
o passaporte está pronto (masculine)

How do we know that autorização is feminine? Are -ção words usually feminine?

Yes, most nouns ending in -ção are feminine in Portuguese.

Examples:

a autorização = the authorization
a informação = the information
a situação = the situation
a aplicação = the application

Because autorização is feminine, you use:

a autorização (not o autorização)
pronta (not pronto) to agree with it.

There are some rare exceptions in the language, but as a learner you can safely treat -ção nouns as feminine.

Can we change the word order in a autorização está pronta? For example, está pronta a autorização?

Yes, you can change the order for emphasis:

A autorização está pronta.
- Neutral, standard word order: subject – verb – complement.
Está pronta a autorização.
- Puts more emphasis on está pronta, almost like: Now it is ready, the authorization.

Both are grammatically correct. In everyday speech, the original order (A autorização está pronta) is more common and neutral.

How do you pronounce autorização in European Portuguese, and what does the tilde on ã mean?

Approximate European Portuguese pronunciation:

autorização ≈ ow-too-ree-zah-SÃW
- ão at the end is a nasal sound (similar to English -own but nasalized, no clear final n).
- z sound: the s between vowels (a u t o r i z a ç ã o) sounds like z.

The tilde (~) on ã marks nasalization. So -ção is pronounced roughly -SÃW, with:

ç like s in sun
nasal ão, not a simple ao.

How do you pronounce passaporte and funcionário in European Portuguese?

Very approximate guides:

passaporte ≈ puh-sah-POR-t(ə)
- Stress on POR.
- Final e is very weak, often almost uh or barely audible.
funcionário ≈ foon-see-oo-NAH-ryu
- Stress on NÁ.
- io in -ário sounds like a quick yu sound at the end (-ryu).

More precisely (IPA, European Portuguese):

passaporte: /pɐsɐˈpɔɾt(ɨ)/
funcionário: /fũsjɔˈnaɾju/

Is the structure coloca um carimbo no passaporte fixed, or can we move no passaporte?

You have some flexibility, but not all options sound equally natural.

Most natural:

O funcionário coloca um carimbo no passaporte.

Possible but less neutral, and might sound slightly odd unless you are emphasizing no passaporte:

O funcionário coloca no passaporte um carimbo.

You normally keep um carimbo right after coloca, then add the place (no passaporte) at the end, just as in English: puts a stamp on the passport.