Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Brazil): Eu gosto de guardar os documentos do escritório em uma pasta azul. - I like to store the office documents in a blue folder.

Correct:
- Eu gosto de café. = I like coffee.
- Eu gosto de guardar documentos. = I like to keep documents.
Incorrect:
- Eu gosto guardar documentos. ✗
- Eu gosto em guardar documentos. ✗

So the basic pattern you should memorize is:

gostar de + noun / verb in the infinitive
gosto de + [something]

Examples:

Gosto de música. – I like music.
Gosto de estudar. – I like studying / to study.

Why is there an infinitive (guardar) after gosto de instead of a different verb form?

After gostar de, when you want to say “I like doing X,” you use the infinitive:

gosto de guardar – I like to keep / I like keeping
gosto de ler – I like to read
gosto de cozinhar – I like cooking

Portuguese does not say:

✗ gosto de guardo
✗ gosto de guardando

So think of:

gostar de + [verb in infinitive] = to like [doing] something

Do I really need to say Eu? Can I just say Gosto de guardar os documentos do escritório em uma pasta azul?

You can absolutely drop eu here:

Eu gosto de guardar…
Gosto de guardar…

Both are correct and natural.

In Portuguese, the verb ending -o in gosto already shows the subject is eu (I), so the pronoun is often optional. Using eu adds a bit of emphasis or clarity, but it’s not required.

What exactly does guardar mean here? Is it “keep,” “save,” or “store”? Could I use salvar instead?

In this sentence, guardar means to keep / to store / to put away (usually something physical).

guardar os documentos – to keep/store the documents (e.g., in a folder, drawer, cabinet)

Common nuances:

guardar – to put away, keep, store, save (money, physical items, sometimes abstract things like secrets)
- Vou guardar os documentos na gaveta. – I’ll put the documents away in the drawer.
- Guardei dinheiro. – I saved money.
salvar – to save in a digital or rescue sense:
- Salvar um arquivo. – to save a file.
- Ele salvou o menino. – He saved the boy.

So:

Eu gosto de guardar os documentos… = I like to keep/store the documents…
Using salvar here would sound like you’re saving files on a computer, not organizing paper documents.

Why is it os documentos and not just documentos without the article?

Portuguese uses articles more than English.

os documentos = the documents
plain documentos = (some) documents, documents in general / in an abstract sense

In your sentence:

os documentos do escritório

suggests specific, identifiable documents (for example, the set of documents that belong to that office).

If you say:

Gosto de guardar documentos em uma pasta azul.

it sounds more general: “I like to keep documents in a blue folder” (not necessarily the office’s documents, just documents in general).

So os here points to a specific, known group of documents.

What does do escritório literally mean? Is it “from the office” or “of the office”? And what is do?

do is a contraction of:

de + o = do

de = of / from
o = the (masculine singular)

So:

do escritório = de + o escritório = “of the office” / “from the office”

In context, os documentos do escritório is best understood as:

the office’s documents
the documents of the office

Depending on context, do can lean more toward of or from in English; here it’s “of the office” in a possessive sense.

Why is it em uma pasta azul and not na pasta azul? What’s the difference?

em uma pasta azul = in a blue folder (indefinite, not a specific known folder)
na pasta azul = in the blue folder (a specific blue folder, known from context)

Also:

na is a contraction: em + a = na

So:

em uma pasta azul – introduces “a” blue folder, not previously identified.
na pasta azul – refers to “the” blue folder (maybe the one everyone already knows about).

Your sentence is talking in a general, habitual way, so em uma pasta azul (“in a blue folder”) makes sense.

Can em uma be contracted like na? Could I say numa pasta azul?

Yes. em uma can contract to numa:

em uma pasta azul = numa pasta azul

Both are correct in Brazilian Portuguese.

em uma – slightly more neutral/formal in writing.
numa – very common and natural in speech, and perfectly acceptable in most writing.

So you can also say:

Eu gosto de guardar os documentos do escritório numa pasta azul.

Why is the adjective azul placed after pasta? Can I say azul pasta like in English?

In Portuguese, adjectives normally come after the noun:

pasta azul – blue folder
carro novo – new car
casa grande – big house

Putting the adjective before the noun (azul pasta) is not normal and would sound incorrect or, at best, poetic/marked.

So the natural order is:

noun + adjective
pasta azul = “folder blue” (structure) = “blue folder” (meaning)

This is one of the biggest word-order differences to keep in mind coming from English.

Does azul change for gender and number? What would the plural of uma pasta azul be?

Azul does not change for gender in the singular, but it does change for number (singular/plural):

Singular:
- um carro azul – a blue car (masc.)
- uma pasta azul – a blue folder (fem.)
Plural:
- carros azuis – blue cars
- pastas azuis – blue folders

So the plural of uma pasta azul is:

umas pastas azuis (literally “some blue folders”)
or just pastas azuis, depending on context.

Can the word order change? Could I say Eu gosto de guardar em uma pasta azul os documentos do escritório?

Yes, Portuguese allows some flexibility in word order, especially for emphasis.

Your original:

Eu gosto de guardar os documentos do escritório em uma pasta azul.

Variant:

Eu gosto de guardar em uma pasta azul os documentos do escritório.

Both are grammatically correct.

However:

The original sounds more neutral and natural in everyday speech.
The rearranged version can sound a bit more formal or emphatic, highlighting em uma pasta azul (“in a blue folder”).

For most situations, stick with the original order.

Is pasta here a false friend with English “pasta” (food)? What does pasta usually mean in Brazilian Portuguese?

Yes, this can be a false friend.

In Brazilian Portuguese:

pasta (in this context) = folder, file, briefcase
- uma pasta azul – a blue folder
- uma pasta de couro – a leather briefcase
It can also mean paste in some expressions:
- pasta de dente – toothpaste
- pasta de amendoim – peanut butter

For the Italian-style food “pasta,” Portuguese normally uses:

massa – pasta, dough
- massa com molho de tomate – pasta with tomato sauce

So in your sentence, pasta clearly means folder, not food.