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'Look at', 'point at', 'smile at': 'para' marks the target

In English, you look at someone, point at a map and smile at a baby. In Portuguese, all of these gestures take para: olhar para, apontar para, sorrir para. The idea is direction. Your eyes, your finger or your smile travel toward a target, and para is the preposition of direction.

English speakers often reach for em or a as the translation of at, which gives sentences like olhar em mim or apontar ao mapa. Neither sounds natural in everyday Brazilian Portuguese. Once you picture the gesture moving toward something, para comes easily.

Word list
olharA1 to look olhar para o céu = look at the sky apontarA2 to point apontar para o mapa = point at the map acenarB1 to wave acenar para alguém = wave at someone apontarB1 to aim apontar a arma para alguém = aim a gun at someone sorrirB1 to smile sorrir para alguém = smile at someone atrair a atençãoB2 to draw attention atrair a atenção para = draw attention to atrair atençãoB2 to draw attention atrair atenção para = draw attention to chamar a atençãoB2 to draw attention chamar a atenção para = draw attention to chamar atençãoB2 to draw attention chamar atenção para = draw attention to olharB2 to stare olhar fixamente para alguém = stare at someone olhar de relanceB2 to glance olhar de relance para o relógio = glance at the clock piscarB2 to wink piscar para alguém = wink at someone virar as costasC1 to turn one's back virar as costas para alguém = turn one's back on someone
How it works

The pattern is simple: verb + para + the person or thing aimed at. With pronouns, use the forms that follow prepositions: para mim, para você, para ele, para nós. In casual speech para is often shortened to pra.

Olha para mim quando eu falo com você!
(Look at me when I talk to you!)

A useful rule of thumb: if you can imagine an arrow going from you to the target, whether it is a look, a finger, a wave or someone's attention, use para.

The words
Eyes

The most frequent member is olhar. The same construction works for a quick look, olhar de relance, and for a long stare, often expressed with olhar plus fixamente.

Ela olhou para o céu e viu um avião.
(She looked at the sky and saw a plane.)
Ele olhou de relance para o relógio.
(He glanced at the clock.)
Aquele homem ficou olhando fixamente para mim.
(That man kept staring at me.)
Fingers and weapons

Apontar means both to point with a finger and to aim a weapon. Both senses take para.

O menino apontou para o mapa.
(The boy pointed at the map.)
O policial apontou a arma para o ladrão.
(The police officer aimed his gun at the thief.)
Friendly gestures

Sorrir and acenar follow the same logic: the smile or the wave goes toward someone.

O bebê sorriu para a mãe.
(The baby smiled at his mother.)
Acenei para os meus amigos do outro lado da rua.
(I waved at my friends across the street.)
Attention

When you direct other people's attention toward something, use chamar a atenção para or atrair a atenção para. The article is optional: chamar atenção and atrair atenção are just as common. English says to here, which makes para feel natural.

A professora chamou a atenção para os erros mais comuns.
(The teacher drew attention to the most common mistakes.)
A campanha quer atrair atenção para o problema do lixo.
(The campaign wants to draw attention to the trash problem.)
Turning your back

Virar as costas, literally or in the sense of refusing to help, also points toward someone with para.

Quando eu mais precisei, ele virou as costas para mim.
(When I needed him most, he turned his back on me.)
Watch out
  • Olhar without a preposition also exists, but it means something else: to check, to examine or to look after. Olha as crianças means keep an eye on the kids. Use para when you mean the direction of your gaze.
  • One fixed expression does use em: olhar nos olhos de alguém, to look someone in the eye. Here the eyes are a place where your look lands.
  • Virar as costas also accepts a, especially in more formal writing: virou as costas aos amigos. Both are correct.
  • Chamar a atenção de alguém, with de and a person, means to catch someone's attention or to tell someone off. With para and a thing, it means to draw attention to it.
  • For aiming, mirar em is an alternative that takes em, so do not mix the two up: apontar para, but mirar em.
  • Phone calls use para too (ligar para a mãe, telefonar para), but there para marks the destination of the call rather than a gesture.
Summary

When your eyes, finger, smile, wave or someone's attention moves toward a target, Portuguese uses para: olhar para, apontar para, sorrir para, acenar para, chamar a atenção para. Do not translate at as em or a. Picture an arrow toward the target and say para.