How to Say ‘Get Ready’ in Portuguese: Se Preparar or Ficar Pronto
Learn the difference between getting yourself ready and saying that a meal, document, or task is ready.
Real Life Portuguese · 4 min read · Updated October 15, 2026
The short answer
Preparar-se or se preparar means to prepare yourself or get ready. In Brazilian Portuguese, the pronoun commonly comes before the verb: vou me preparar (I’m going to get ready).
Use se preparar for getting yourself ready
Vou me preparar para a entrevista.
I’m going to get ready for the interview.
Você já se preparou para sair?
Are you ready to go out yet?
Use ficar pronto when a person or thing is ready
Ficar pronto means to become or be ready. The adjective agrees with the person or thing: o jantar ficou pronto, a mala ficou pronta. Use estar pronto to describe the current state.
O jantar fica pronto em vinte minutos.
Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes.
Os documentos já estão prontos.
The documents are ready.
Ask when something will be ready
Use que horas fica pronto? or quando fica pronto? for an expected completion time. For a person, ask você está pronto or você está pronta, matching the person’s grammatical form.
Que horas o pedido fica pronto?
What time will the order be ready?
Você está pronta para sair?
Are you ready to leave?
Put it into practice
Se preparar is getting ready; ficar pronto describes becoming or being ready.
Quick practice
Which Portuguese example matches “Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes”?
Choose an answer to check yourself.
Keep practicing with the Real Life Portuguese app
Build on this guide with everyday expressions and native Brazilian audio. Choose iPhone, Android, or the web app.