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Eu esqueci o celular no sofá.

Eu esqueci o celular no sofá.
I forgot the cellphone on the sofa.
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Questions & Answers about Eu esqueci o celular no sofá.

Why does the sentence use o celular and not meu celular, even though in English we usually say my phone?

In Portuguese, it’s very common to use the definite article (o, a, os, as) where English uses a possessive (my, your, etc.), especially when it’s clear whose thing it is from context.

So:

  • Eu esqueci o celular no sofá.
    Literally: I forgot *the phone on the couch.
    Naturally understood as: I forgot **my     phone on the couch.*

You can say meu celular:

  • Eu esqueci meu celular no sofá.

Both are correct. Using o celular is just a bit more neutral and very common in speech when the owner is obvious (the speaker).

What exactly does no mean in no sofá?

No is a contraction of the preposition em (in, on, at) + the masculine singular article o (the).

  • em + o = no
  • em + a = na
  • em + os = nos
  • em + as = nas

So no sofá literally means in/on the sofa.
In this sentence, it’s best translated as on the couch.

Can I drop Eu and just say Esqueci o celular no sofá?

Yes. In Portuguese, subject pronouns (like eu, você, ele) are often omitted because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is.

  • Esqueci o celular no sofá.
    = Eu esqueci o celular no sofá.

Both are correct. In everyday speech, many Brazilians would actually prefer the shorter version without eu.

What tense is esqueci, and how is it formed?

Esqueci is the pretérito perfeito do indicativo, the simple past tense used for completed actions.

It comes from the verb esquecer (to forget):

  • eu esqueci – I forgot
  • você / ele / ela esqueceu – you / he / she forgot
  • nós esquecemos – we forgot
  • vocês / eles / elas esqueceram – you (pl.) / they forgot

So Eu esqueci o celular no sofá = I forgot the phone on the couch (a completed action in the past).

What’s the difference between esquecer and esquecer-se?

Both exist and are correct; usage is a bit different:

  1. Transitive form (without reflexive pronoun)

    • Esquecer algo = to forget something
    • Eu esqueci o celular. – I forgot the phone.

  2. Pronominal/reflexive form (with me, se + de)

    • Esquecer-se de algo = to forget something
    • Eu me esqueci do celular. – I forgot the phone.

In Brazil, the form without the reflexive pronoun is very common in everyday speech:

  • Eu esqueci o celular no sofá. ✅ very natural
  • Eu me esqueci do celular. ✅ correct, a bit more formal/“careful”

You usually don’t mix them like ✗ Eu me esqueci o celular (incorrect).

When do I use esquecer versus esquecer de?

A simple rule of thumb:

  1. Forgetting a thing (noun)

    • Use esquecer (transitive) or esquecer-se de:
      • Eu esqueci o celular.
      • Eu me esqueci do celular.

  2. Forgetting to do something (verb)

    • Use esquecer de (with a verb afterward):
      • Eu esqueci de ligar. – I forgot to call.
      • Eu me esqueci de fechar a porta. – I forgot to close the door.

So in Eu esqueci o celular no sofá, you’re forgetting an object, so esquecer takes a direct object (o celular).

Could I say Eu deixei o celular no sofá instead of Eu esqueci o celular no sofá?

Yes, and in many contexts Deixei o celular no sofá will sound even more natural in Brazilian Portuguese.

Subtle difference:

  • Eu esqueci o celular no sofá.
    Focus: you forgot it there (mental act of forgetting).

  • Eu deixei o celular no sofá.
    Focus: you left it there (you put it there and it stayed there, maybe unintentionally).

In everyday speech, to express what English often says as “I left my phone on the couch”, Brazilians very commonly say:

  • Deixei o celular no sofá.

Both sentences are correct; context decides which feels more natural.

Is celular masculine or feminine, and how can I tell?

Celular is masculine in Portuguese:

  • o celular – the cell phone
  • um celular – a cell phone
  • meu celular – my cell phone

You can tell from the article and possessive that go with it (o, um, meu instead of a, uma, minha).

There’s no hard rule that words ending in -ar are always masculine, but celular specifically is masculine, and that’s how native speakers treat it.

Is there any difference between celular in Brazil and telemóvel in Portugal?

Yes, it’s mainly a Brazil vs. Portugal vocabulary difference:

  • Brazil: celular

    • o celular – the cell phone

  • Portugal: telemóvel

    • o telemóvel – the cell phone

So the Brazilian sentence Eu esqueci o celular no sofá in European Portuguese would more likely be:

  • Esqueci o telemóvel no sofá.

Grammar and structure stay basically the same; just the noun changes.

Why is there an accent on sofá, and how is it pronounced?

The accent in sofá is an acute accent (á) that shows:

  1. Where the stress is:

    • It’s pronounced so-FÁ (stress on the last syllable).

  2. The vowel quality:

    • á is an open a sound, similar to the a in father in many accents of English.

So:

  • sofá ≈ [so-FAH]
  • The sentence rhythm: Eu es-que-CI o ce-lu-LAR no so-FÁ.
Is the word order fixed? Could I say Eu esqueci no sofá o celular?

The normal and natural word order is:

  • subject + verb + direct object + place
  • Eu esqueci o celular no sofá.

You could technically say Eu esqueci no sofá o celular, but it sounds odd or marked, and native speakers wouldn’t normally say it that way in everyday Brazilian Portuguese.

Keep:

  • Esqueci o celular no sofá. ✅ natural
    and avoid moving o celular after no sofá in this type of sentence.
How would I say “I forgot it on the couch” instead of repeating o celular?

In very formal grammar, you might see:

  • Eu o esqueci no sofá. – I forgot it on the couch.

But in real Brazilian speech, this sounds stiff or old-fashioned. More natural options:

  • Esqueci ele no sofá. (very common in speech, though not “school‑book perfect”)
  • Esqueci o celular lá no sofá. (repeat the noun; this is totally normal and often preferred)

So in everyday Brazilian Portuguese, people often either repeat o celular or use ele in speech, rather than the clitic o.