Communicative function: getting around, directions & transport

Asking where things are and saying where you're headed turns airports, rodoviárias, metro stations and unfamiliar neighbourhoods from stressful into easy. And here's a bonus: ask a Brazilian onde fica…? and you often get more than directions — you might get walked halfway there, with a few life tips thrown in for free.

The 4 travel phrases you need

1. Ask where a place is

Use onde fica for places and services:

• Onde fica a rodoviária?

At the airport or bus terminal

• Onde fica a saída do aeroporto? (Where is the airport exit?)

• Como chego ao hotel saindo da rodoviária? (How do I get to the hotel from the bus station?)

• Eu venho do aeroporto e vou direto para o hotel. (I'm coming from the airport and going straight to the hotel.)

• Esse ônibus vai para a rodoviária? (Does this bus go to the bus station?)

On the street

• A farmácia fica perto daqui ou fica longe? (Is the pharmacy near here or far away?)

• É por aqui que eu pego o metrô? (Is this the way to catch the subway?)

• Você pode me mostrar o caminho no mapa? (Can you show me the way on the map?)

• Onde eu pego um táxi para a praia? (Where do I catch a taxi to the beach?)

Onde fica vs. onde está

• Onde fica…? suits places and services: Onde fica a farmácia?

• Onde está…? suits people and things: Onde está o táxi?

Aonde

You may hear aonde with movement (Aonde você vai?), but in everyday Brazilian travel Portuguese onde is also very common in movement questions.

Vou ao vs. vou no

Grammar books prefer vou ao banco / ao aeroporto, but in Brazil you'll often hear vou no banco. Both are worth recognizing.

Pegar for transport

Brazilian Portuguese loves pegar ("to grab/catch") for transport:

Brazil runs on buses — and São Paulo's Rodoviária do Tietê, opened in 1982, is the largest bus terminal in Latin America (and, by many counts, the second-largest in the world after New York's Port Authority). Around 90,000 travellers pass through every day, heading to 21 Brazilian states and five neighbouring countries — so the humble word rodoviária is really the front door to a whole continent.

Sources: Gazeta de São Paulo, Metrô de São Paulo