ficou

Ficou is the third‑person singular preterite form of the Portuguese verb ficar, which means to stay or to become. In use, ficar covers a range of meanings including physical location (to stay somewhere), state or condition (to become or end up in a certain condition), and results of change. For example, Ele ficou em casa ontem means he stayed at home yesterday, while Ela ficou feliz indicates she became or felt happy.

Ficar is a versatile, irregular -ar verb. Its basic present tense forms are fico, ficas, fica, ficamos, ficam; the preterite forms include fiquei, ficaste, ficou, ficámos, ficaram; the past participle is ficado and is used with auxiliary ter to form compound tenses (eu tenho ficado means I have been staying, or I have stayed). The gerund is ficando, used for ongoing actions (ele está ficando cansado means he is getting tired).

Common usages of ficar with different nuances include staying in a location (ficar em), becoming a state (ficar feliz, ficar com medo), and indicating remaining or completing a result (a comida ficou pronta; the food turned out ready). Ficar também forms many idiomatic expressions, such as ficar com algo (to end up with something) or ficar de fora (to stay out).

Etymology traces fique’s roots in the Latin romance verb family that produced stay and become senses in Iberian languages; the exact lineage is complex and traditional in Portuguese. Ficar remains widely used across Portuguese dialects, including Brazilian and European varieties, with consistent core meanings and productive phrases.