Ficar de Olho: Keep an Eye on Something in Portuguese — Practice

Use ficar de olho for attention or monitoring

Ficar de olho means to keep an eye on, watch, or pay attention to something. It can describe watching an object for a short time, monitoring a message or schedule, or keeping track of a situation. The usual pattern is ficar de olho em.

The expression is informal and does not automatically imply suspicion. The context tells you whether someone is watching a bag, checking for an update, or noticing a change.

Conjugate ficar and contract em with the noun

Conjugate ficar to match the subject and tense: fico de olho (I keep an eye out), ficou de olho (he or she kept watch), and vamos ficar de olho (we will keep an eye on it). The phrase de olho remains the same.

The preposition em contracts with a definite article: em + a becomes na, em + o becomes no, and em + as/os becomes nas/nos. That is why you say ficar de olho na porta but ficar de olho em uma porta.

Remember: Use ficar de olho em for watching or monitoring something; conjugate ficar and contract em with a definite article when needed.

Check your understanding

Choose the English meaning of each Portuguese example. Answer before looking back at the tables. These questions check the written examples in this guide; they are not a listening or proficiency test.

Recall the Portuguese, then say it

Read the English prompt and say a Portuguese version before opening the answer. The answer shows the example from the lesson; other natural translations may also work. Compare the meaning and the situation rather than counting a different word as automatically wrong.

1. Can you keep an eye on my backpack?

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Você pode ficar de olho na minha mochila?

2. I’ll keep an eye on the bus schedule.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Vou ficar de olho no horário do ônibus.

3. Keep an eye on the group messages.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Fique de olho nas mensagens do grupo.

4. She watched the prices during the week.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Ela ficou de olho nos preços durante a semana.

5. I keep an eye out for a new opening.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Fico de olho em uma vaga nova.

6. We’ll keep an eye on the weather forecast.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   A gente vai ficar de olho na previsão do tempo.

Make the phrase useful to you

Choose one example you could actually use. Say it once from memory, then change one detail that fits your life, such as the person, place, time, or object. Check whether your change also needs a different verb form, article, or adjective ending. If it does, compare it with the pattern in the explanation.

Use ficar de olho em for watching or monitoring something; conjugate ficar and contract em with a definite article when needed.

Return to two prompts tomorrow without opening the answers first. If a phrase still feels difficult, shorten it to a useful chunk and build the complete sentence again.

Sources and your next lesson

This I Speak Portuguese practice guide builds on our Ficar de Olho: Keep an Eye on Something in Portuguese lesson on Real Life Portuguese, with written recall tasks and additional speaking practice. The explanations and examples are teaching material; the practice questions are exercises, not a transcript of a recording.

To add Brazilian audio to your routine, choose a lesson in the Real Life Portuguese app. The app offers its own lessons and practice; this page does not imply that every example here has an app recording.