Learn Portuguese (Portugal): O extraterrestre olhou para a criatura sem piscar os olhos. - The alien looked at the creature without blinking its eyes.

In Portuguese, when an action is performed on one's own body parts or clothing, you typically use the definite article (o, a, os, as) rather than a possessive pronoun. Since it is obvious the alien is blinking its own eyes, os olhos is the natural choice.

Why do we use para after olhou here? Could we just say olhou a criatura?

While you will sometimes see olhar used directly with a noun (like olhar a paisagem for 'to look at the landscape'), when directing your gaze at a specific person or creature, the preposition para is standard in European Portuguese. Olhou para a criatura emphasizes the focus of the alien's gaze.

Why is piscar in the infinitive here, rather than a gerund like in the English 'blinking'?

In Portuguese, prepositions like sem (without) are always followed by the infinitive form of the verb. Because the subject doing the blinking is the same as the main clause (the alien), we just use the basic, uninflected infinitive: sem piscar.

Since this lesson covers como se + Mais-Que-Perfeito do Conjuntivo, how would we adapt this sentence to say 'as if it had not blinked'?