B2 (Upper Intermediate)Lesson 4: Word Formation
Brazilians turn a verb into a noun with -ada or -ida and hand it over with dar: dar uma olhada (take a look), dar uma estudada (do a bit of studying). The suffix makes the action short, casual and low-commitment, and that nuance is the lesson. The same ending also gives you a blow from a thing (facada), a crowd of people (criançada) and a helping of something (colherada).
Build the noun from the participle: -ar verbs take -ada, -er and -ir verbs take -ida: olhar → uma olhada (a look), sair → uma saída (a way out), correr → uma corrida (a run).
The everyday frame is dar uma + -ada: Vou dar uma olhada. (I'll take a look.) Dei uma limpada na cozinha. (I gave the kitchen a bit of a clean.)
It makes the action brief and non-committal — vou estudar (I'm going to study) promises far more than vou dar uma estudada (I'll do a bit of studying). That difference is the whole point.
The complement takes em, never de: Dá uma olhada no contrato. (Take a look at the contract.)
-ada also names one blow from a thing: faca → facada (a stab), cotovelo → cotovelada (an elbow). You dar one, and you levar or tomar one.
It also collects people into a crowd — criança → criançada (the kids), rapaz → rapaziada (the guys) — and that crowd takes a singular verb: A criançada chegou. (The kids arrived.)
And it measures a helping: colher → colherada (a spoonful), dente → dentada (a bite).
dar uma + verb stem + -ada/-ida = one quick, casual go at it · dar uma olhada EM algo (take a look at) — -ada also = a blow (facada) · a crowd (criançada) · a helping (colherada)
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This is one of the patterns that separates correct Portuguese from Brazilian Portuguese. Dá uma olhada aí (Have a look at this) is how a colleague hands you a document, and vou dar uma melhorada nisso (I'll improve it a bit) is how work gets half-promised. Miss the pattern and you hear dar (to give) plus a word your dictionary lists only under the verb. Produce it and you stop sounding translated: the distance between vou limpar a casa (I'll clean the house) and vou dar uma limpada na casa (I'll give the house a quick clean) is the distance between a promise and a favour.
You already know how to build it. Take the verb, form the past participle, put it in the feminine, and use it as a noun: -ar verbs give -ada, -er and -ir verbs give -ida. It is always feminine and it nearly always arrives with uma.
| Verb | Noun | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| olhar (to look) | uma olhada | a look |
| limpar (to clean) | uma limpada | a quick clean |
| estudar (to study) | uma estudada | a bit of studying |
| melhorar (to improve) | uma melhorada | a slight improvement |
| sentar (to sit) | uma sentada | a sit-down |
| passar (to pass by) | uma passada | a quick visit |
| Portuguese | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Dá uma olhada nessas fotos da viagem. | Take a look at these photos from the trip. |
| Vou dar uma passada na farmácia depois do trabalho. | I'm going to drop by the pharmacy after work. |
| Ele deu uma sentada no sofá e dormiu na hora. | He sat down on the sofa for a minute and fell asleep instantly. |
| Vou dar uma cochilada antes de dirigir. | I'm going to take a nap before I drive. |
| O goleiro levou uma joelhada na coxa. | The goalkeeper took a knee to the thigh. |
| Essa conta de restaurante foi uma facada. | That restaurant bill was daylight robbery. |
| A molecada passou a tarde inteira na piscina. | The kids spent the whole afternoon in the pool. |
| Coloca duas colheradas de farinha na massa. | Put two spoonfuls of flour into the batter. |
Using de for the complement. The expression takes em: ❌ dar uma olhada do relatório → ✅ dar uma olhada no relatório (take a look at the report). Same with the others: dar uma passada na casa da minha mãe (drop by my mother's place), dar uma melhorada no texto (improve the text a bit).
Dropping uma. The article is part of the expression, not decoration: ❌ Vou dar olhada → ✅ Vou dar uma olhada. (I'll take a look.)
Choosing the wrong light verb. English "take a look" tempts you into tomar or fazer: ❌ fazer uma olhada, ❌ tomar uma olhada → ✅ dar uma olhada (take a look). Levar and tomar belong to the blow sense only: levar uma facada (to get stabbed).
Over-promising in translation. "I'll take a quick look at it tonight" is not Vou revisar isso hoje à noite (I'll proofread it tonight) — that commits you to the whole job. ✅ Vou dar uma olhada nisso hoje à noite. (I'll have a look at it tonight.)
Coining on any verb you like. The slot is productive but not free: several of these forms are already taken by ordinary nouns — comida (food), bebida (a drink), batida (a car crash) — and one or two land on crude expressions. Use the ones you have actually heard.
Letting it into formal writing. In a report or an essay it reads as slang: ❌ Demos uma olhada nos dados (We had a look at the data) → ✅ Fizemos uma breve análise dos dados. (We carried out a brief analysis of the data.)
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