Portuguese Phrase
Vou ficar dez dias.
Meaning
The speaker is stating a plan to stay somewhere for a period of ten days. It conveys a near‑future intention rather than a distant, hypothetical one.
When to use
Use this sentence when you talk about travel, accommodation bookings, or any situation where you need to tell someone how long you’ll be staying in a place.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Vouficardezdias
Future proche (ir + infinitive)
In Portuguese, the construction 'vou' + infinitive expresses a near‑future intention, similar to English 'I am going to…'.
Ficar (to stay)
Ficar is used for staying at a place or remaining in a state; it does not imply a permanent change.
Cardinal numbers
Numbers before nouns agree in gender and number only with the noun; 'dez' stays unchanged regardless of the noun that follows.
Plural noun
‘Dias’ is the plural of ‘dia’ (day). When a number greater than one is used, the noun must be plural.
🗨In Conversation
Vou ficar dez dias.
I’m going to stay for ten days.
Ótimo! Precisa de alguma ajuda para organizar a viagem?
Great! Do you need any help planning the trip?
✕Common Mistakes
Vou ficar em dez dias.
‘Em’ before a time period changes the meaning to ‘in ten days’ (i.e., after ten days have passed).
Vou ficar por dez dias.
While ‘por’ is acceptable, beginners often add it redundantly after ‘vou ficar’, creating an unnatural double preposition.
Vou ficarei dez dias.
‘Ficarei’ is correct but learners sometimes forget to conjugate ‘ficar’ and say ‘vou ficar’ with a future meaning, which is fine; the mistake is mixing tenses like ‘vou ficarei’.
↔Alternatives
Ficarei dez dias.
I will stay ten days.
Vou permanecer por dez dias.
I’m going to remain for ten days.
Estarei aqui por dez dias.
I will be here for ten days.
Cultural Tip
In Brazil it’s common to add the preposition ‘por’ before a time span (e.g., ‘vou ficar por dez dias’), but the shorter ‘vou ficar dez dias’ is perfectly natural in everyday speech. Remember that ‘ficar’ can also mean ‘to become’ in other contexts, so the meaning is clarified by the surrounding words.