Portuguese · Everyday Verbs

"to look / to watch" in Portuguese: olhar

olhar

Say it: ol-YAR / OL-yoo / OL-yahverb/o.ˈʎaʁ/

Note: to watch: assistir (a)

To look in Portuguese is olhar. Say eu olho and você olha. Olhar para means to look at. For watching TV, Brazilians usually say assistir.

Street warning

Olha o carro! Espera para atravessar.
Look out for the car! Wait to cross.
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How to pronounce olhar

Say it

ol-YAR / OL-yoo / OL-yah

/o.ˈʎaʁ/

ol-YAR. Eu olho is OL-yoo; você olha is OL-yah.

"to look / to watch" in Portuguese: quick reference

PortugueseEnglish
olharto look

Dictionary form.

eu olhoI look

First person.

você olhayou look

Questions and instructions.

olhar parato look at

Direction of gaze.

Olha!Look!

Attention grabber.

How to use olhar in real life

  1. 1Street warning

    Olha o carro! Espera para atravessar.

    Look out for the car! Wait to cross.

    Olha! is a sharp alert.

  2. 2Showing a photo

    Olha essa foto do pôr do sol.

    Look at this sunset photo.

    Olha + noun is casual.

  3. 3Asking attention

    Você olha para mim um segundo?

    Will you look at me for a second?

    Olhar para for look at.

Mistakes English speakers make with olhar

Incorrect: Eu olhar o mapa.

Correct: Eu olho o mapa.

Conjugate: eu olho.

Incorrect: Vou olhar TV.

Correct: Vou assistir TV. / assistir à TV.

Watching media is usually assistir, not olhar.

Good to know

Olha! is everywhere in Brazilian speech—warnings, gossip, and soft disagreement (Olha, eu acho que…). Assistir covers watching shows; olhar is the eyes.

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Finding a street on a map

  1. ChatPal

    Olha aqui no mapa. A rua é essa.

    Look here on the map. The street is this one.

  2. You

    Eu olho… Ah, achei a praça.

    I'm looking… Ah, I found the square.

  3. ChatPal

    Agora olha para a esquerda no semáforo.

    Now look left at the traffic light.

  4. You

    Ok. Eu olho e você guia.

    Okay. I'll look and you guide.

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"to look / to watch" in other languages

FAQ

Common questions about "to look / to watch" in Portuguese

I look?

Eu olho.

Look!

Olha!

Look at?

Olhar para…

Watch TV?

Assistir (à) TV, not olhar.

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