cair preço

Using this phrase is as easy as watching something fall over. You usually put the noun preço (price) first, followed by the verb cair (to fall). In daily conversation, we almost always use the past tense caiu because by the time you're telling your friend, the miracle has already happened. You can say O preço caiu! with the same energy you’d use to announce a goal in soccer. If you are talking about many things, remember to pluralize: Os preços caíram. If you want to sound even more like a local, you can use the expression dar uma caída. For example, O preço deu uma caída essa semana (The price gave a bit of a fall this week). It sounds a bit more casual and less dramatic. Just don't try to use cair for things that shouldn't fall, like your reputation or your house—though both are possible, they aren't nearly as fun as a good discount!

You will see this phrase everywhere from high-end news sites like G1 to the noisy speakers of a street market. On Black Friday—or Black Fraude, as Brazilians jokingly call it when the discounts are fake—everyone is looking for the moment when the preço vai cair. Imagine you are in a WhatsApp group with your family. Someone sends a link to a discounted air fryer and types: "Gente, o preço da fritadeira caiu muito!" (Guys, the price of the air fryer dropped a lot!). Another common scenario is at the gas station. When the government announces a change, the first question everyone asks is: "Quando o preço vai cair na bomba?" (When will the price drop at the pump?). It is also common in the stock market. If a company's shares lose value, the news will report that the preço das ações caiu. Basically, if it has a price tag and that tag is moving down, this is your phrase.

Use this phrase whenever you are talking about money and savings. It is perfect for casual chats with friends about shopping. It is also completely appropriate for professional settings, like a business meeting discussing market trends. You can use it when talking about the economy in general, like the cost of living or inflation. If you are travel vlogging in Brazil and you find a cheap hostel, telling your audience o preço caiu makes you sound like an insider. It is a very versatile tool in your vocabulary kit. It works for physical stores, online shopping, services, and even real estate. If the rent in your neighborhood gets cheaper, you can celebrate by saying the prices are caindo.

Do not use cair preço when you are talking about the quality of something. If a movie is bad, you don't say the preço caiu, you say the qualidade caiu. Also, avoid using it when someone is literally dropping a price tag on the floor—that is just a clumsy person, not a discount! Don't use it for things that use the verb baixar exclusively, like your blood pressure or your fever (though cair a febre is sometimes heard, baixar is better). Most importantly, don't use it to mean "to crash" in a catastrophic sense unless you want to sound very dramatic. If a price drops by 1 cent, saying it caiu might be technically true, but your friends will think you're being a bit extra.

A very common mistake for English speakers is trying to say o preço é baixo (the price is low) when they actually mean it *became* low. Remember, cair is an action. Another mistake is using faliu (went bankrupt) when you mean the price dropped.

Also, watch out for the verb diminuir. While correct, it sounds a bit like a textbook. If you want to sound like you actually live in Brazil and drink caipirinhas on the weekend, use cair. Another slip-up is forgetting to change the verb for the past tense. O preço cair sounds like "Tarzan speak." Make it caiu!

If cair isn't dramatic enough for you, try despencar. This means to plummet or fall from a great height without a parachute. It is what happens when a crypto coin loses 90% of its value in an hour. Another good one is entrar em promoção (to go on sale). This is more about the event than the price movement itself. You can also say estar em conta, which means something is affordable or has a good price-to-quality ratio. If you want to be very informal, you can say estar a preço de banana (to be at the price of a banana), meaning it is incredibly cheap. It is like saying something costs "peanuts" in English, but much tastier.

You might hear people say queda nos preços. This is the noun version (a fall in prices). You will see this in newspaper headlines: "Queda nos preços dos alimentos anima consumidores" (Fall in food prices cheers up consumers). Another variation is using the diminutive caidinha. "O preço deu uma caidinha" suggests a small, almost cute discount. It’s what you say when you’re trying to justify a purchase to your spouse: "It didn't drop a lot, just a little caidinha!" There is also the expression preço lá embaixo (price way down), which describes the end result of the fall.

Is it formal or informal? It is neutral. You can use it with your boss or your best friend. Does it work for services? Yes, if the price of your Netflix subscription drops, you can say o preço caiu. Is it only for Brazil? It is used in Portugal too, but Brazilians use it with much more frequency and flair. Can I use it for stocks? Absolutely, it is the standard term for a market dip. What is the opposite? The opposite is o preço subir (the price to go up). Sadly, that happens much more often than we would like!