Portuguese Phrase
Dá uma olhada na sua pasta de spam.
Meaning
A casual suggestion meaning ‘Take a look at your spam folder.’ It’s used when you think someone might have missed an email that ended up in the spam (junk) folder.
When to use
Use this phrase in informal conversations with friends, coworkers, or family members when you want them to check their email’s spam folder. It’s not appropriate in formal business emails; there you’d use a more polite construction.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Dáumaolhadanasuapastadespam
Imperative of dar (tu)
‘Dá’ is the informal singular imperative of the verb ‘dar’, used with friends or peers.
Expression ‘uma olhada’
Literally ‘a look’, it works as a colloquial way to say ‘take a look’.
Contraction ‘na’
‘Na’ = ‘em + a’, the preposition ‘em’ (in/on) combined with the feminine article ‘a’.
Possessive ‘sua’
Matches the feminine noun ‘pasta’; use ‘seu’ for masculine nouns.
Preposition ‘de’ before loanwords
When a foreign word functions as a noun (e.g., ‘spam’), it is introduced by ‘de’.
🗨In Conversation
Dá uma olhada na sua pasta de spam.
Take a look at your spam folder.
Ah, tem um e‑mail que eu estava esperando!
Ah, there’s an email I was waiting for!
✕Common Mistakes
Dê uma olhada na sua pasta de spam.
‘Dê’ is the formal imperative (você) and sounds too stiff for casual conversation.
Dá uma olhada na sua pasta de spams.
‘Spam’ is an indeclinable loanword; do not add an ‘s’ for plural.
Dá olhar na sua pasta de spam.
The noun phrase ‘uma olhada’ is required; ‘olhar’ is a verb and changes the structure.
↔Alternatives
Verifique sua pasta de spam.
Check your spam folder.
Cheque a sua caixa de spam.
Check your spam box.
Dá uma conferida na pasta de spam.
Take a quick look at the spam folder.
Cultural Tip
In Brazil, the English word ‘spam’ is widely used as a loanword for junk email, but you’ll also hear ‘lixo eletrônico’ or ‘caixa de lixo’. The informal imperative ‘dá’ is only for familiar contexts; in a formal email you’d write ‘Por favor, verifique sua pasta de spam.’