Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Brazil): O tapete da sala está sujo; os convidados ficariam mais confortáveis se estivesse limpo. - The rug in the living room is dirty; the guests would be more comfortable if it were clean.

Da sala = de + a sala and literally means “of the room / of the living room”.
In this sentence, o tapete da sala is “the living‑room rug”, i.e. the rug that belongs to or is associated with the living room.

da sala → possession/association: the room’s rug, the living‑room rug
na sala (em + a sala) → location: the rug in the living room

So:

o tapete da sala = the living‑room rug (a specific rug that is “the one for that room”)
um tapete na sala = a rug that happens to be in the living room (could be any rug, focus is on its location)

Why is it o tapete and not a tapete? How does that affect sujo and limpo?

In Portuguese, every noun has grammatical gender. Tapete is masculine, so we use:

the masculine article o → o tapete
masculine adjectives → sujo, limpo

You see gender and number agreement:

o tapete (masc. sing.)
está sujo (masc. sing. adjective)
se estivesse limpo (masc. sing. adjective)

If the noun were feminine (e.g. a toalha), you’d say a toalha está suja; se estivesse limpa.

Why is it está sujo and not é sujo?

Estar is used for a temporary or current state, while ser tends to express permanent or defining characteristics.

O tapete está sujo. → The rug is dirty right now (temporary condition).
O tapete é sujo. → Sounds like the rug is inherently dirty, maybe always dirty, or made of something that makes it look/feel dirty by nature. It’s unusual here.

In your sentence, the speaker is talking about the rug’s current condition before the guests arrive, so está sujo is the natural choice.

Why do we say os convidados instead of just convidados?

Portuguese uses the definite article o / a / os / as more often than English uses “the”.

os convidados = “the guests”, meaning a specific, known group (the ones who are coming).

Saying just convidados without an article would sound incomplete or like it’s part of a larger structure (e.g. Convidados ficam mais confortáveis quando…). In a normal sentence referring to specific people, os convidados is what you want.

What tense/mood is ficariam, and why not ficarão?

Ficariam is the conditional (technically “futuro do pretérito do indicativo”).

ficariam = they would be / they would become
ficarão = they will be / they will become (simple future)

In this sentence:

os convidados ficariam mais confortáveis se estivesse limpo → the guests would be more comfortable if it were clean (a hypothetical situation, not real at the moment).

If you used ficarão… se estiver limpo, it would sound like a real and expected future condition, as in:

Os convidados ficarão mais confortáveis se estiver limpo.
→ The guests will be more comfortable if it is clean. (We expect the rug can be cleaned.)

Here, ficariam… se estivesse… presents it as more hypothetical or contrary to the current reality (it’s dirty now).

What is estivesse? Why not estava or estiver after se?

Estivesse is the imperfect subjunctive of estar.

In Portuguese, a common conditional pattern is:

se
- imperfect subjunctive → conditional
  - se estivesse limpo, os convidados ficariam mais confortáveis

This matches English “if it were clean, the guests would be more comfortable.”

Alternatives:

se estava limpo – uses the past indicative, usually for a real past situation (not hypothetical), like:
- Se estava limpo ontem, por que está sujo agora?
se estiver limpo – future subjunctive, used for real/possible future conditions:
- Se estiver limpo amanhã, os convidados ficarão mais confortáveis.

So:

se estivesse limpo, ficariam → unreal / hypothetical
se estiver limpo, ficarão → real / future possibility
se estava limpo → talking about a real past situation, not a hypothetical one

Why is the subject (the rug) omitted before estivesse? Is estivesse impersonal?

The subject is still the rug, but Portuguese allows you to drop pronouns and repeated nouns when they are clear from context.

The full, explicit version would be:

O tapete da sala está sujo; os convidados ficariam mais confortáveis se o tapete estivesse limpo.

Because o tapete is already mentioned, it’s natural to omit it and just say:

…se estivesse limpo.

Estivesse here is 3rd person singular, which matches ele / o tapete. It’s not impersonal; the subject is just understood.

Could I say os convidados estariam mais confortáveis instead of ficariam mais confortáveis? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

Os convidados estariam mais confortáveis se estivesse limpo.

The main difference:

ficar = to become / get / end up in a state
estar = to be in a state

So:

ficariam mais confortáveis → focuses slightly more on the change from less comfortable to more comfortable (they’d get more comfortable because the rug is clean).
estariam mais confortáveis → focuses more on the state of being comfortable, without that nuance of “becoming”.

In everyday speech, both are natural; ficariam just adds that subtle idea of a resulting state caused by the rug being clean.

Why is confortáveis plural, and can I say mais confortável instead?

Adjectives in Portuguese must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

os convidados → masculine, plural
so the adjective must also be masculine, plural → confortáveis

That’s why it’s:

os convidados ficariam mais confortáveis

Saying mais confortável (singular) with os convidados (plural) would be grammatically wrong. Even though in English we say “the guests would be more comfortable” (adjective doesn’t change), in Portuguese you must mark the plural: confortáveis.

Why is there a semicolon ( ; ) instead of a comma or a full stop?

The semicolon links two complete sentences that are closely related in meaning:

O tapete da sala está sujo;
os convidados ficariam mais confortáveis se estivesse limpo.

You could also write:

With a period: O tapete da sala está sujo. Os convidados ficariam… (more separation)
With a comma: would be less standard in careful writing, because both parts are full independent clauses.

So the semicolon is mainly a stylistic punctuation choice, not a grammar requirement.

Can I reverse the order of the clauses? Like Se estivesse limpo, os convidados ficariam mais confortáveis?

Yes. In Portuguese you can place the se‑clause first or second:

Os convidados ficariam mais confortáveis se estivesse limpo.
Se estivesse limpo, os convidados ficariam mais confortáveis.

When you put the se‑clause first, you normally add a comma after it, just like in English:

Se estivesse limpo, os convidados ficariam mais confortáveis.

What exactly does sala mean here? Is it always “living room”?

Sala literally means “room”, but on its own, in everyday Brazilian Portuguese, it usually refers to the living room.

Common uses:

sala = living room (most typical in a home context)
sala de estar / sala de TV / sala de visitas = more specific types of living room
sala de aula = classroom
sala de reunião = meeting room

Given the context about guests and a rug, o tapete da sala is naturally understood as “the living‑room rug.”

How do you pronounce tapete, sala, convidados, and limpo in Brazilian Portuguese?

Approximate pronunciations (Brazilian):

tapete → ta‑PE‑chee
- IPA: /taˈpetʃi/ or /taˈpet͡ʃi/
sala → SA‑la
- IPA: /ˈsalɐ/ (final a is slightly reduced in many accents)
convidados → con‑vee‑DA‑doos
- IPA: /kõviˈdadus/ (the first o is nasalized: kõ)
limpo → LEEN‑poo
- IPA: /ˈlĩpu/ (the im is nasal: like French “lin”)

These are approximations, but they should get you close to a natural Brazilian pronunciation.