Meu filho esqueceu a escova de dentes na escola, então eu comprei outra perto de casa.

In Brazilian Portuguese, possessives can appear with or without the definite article.

• meu filho = my son
• o meu filho = my son

Both are possible, but meu filho is very common and natural in Brazil. Adding o can sound a little more specific, emphatic, or regional, depending on the context.

So in this sentence, meu filho is just the normal, natural way to say it.

Esqueceu is the preterite form of esquecer for ele/ela/você:

• eu esqueci = I forgot
• ele esqueceu = he forgot

The preterite is used because this is a completed action in the past: the son forgot the toothbrush at school.

So:

• Meu filho esqueceu... = My son forgot...

If you used the imperfect, it would suggest a repeated or ongoing past situation, which is not the idea here.

The article a is used because the sentence refers to a specific toothbrush: the one the son forgot.

• a escova de dentes = the toothbrush

Portuguese often uses definite articles in places where English might or might not use them. Here it sounds completely natural because we are talking about a particular item.

Without the article, it would sound less natural in this sentence.

Portuguese often expresses compound nouns differently from English.

• escova = brush
• de dentes = of teeth

So escova de dentes literally means brush for teeth or brush of teeth, but the natural English translation is toothbrush.

This is just the standard expression in Brazilian Portuguese. You may also see escova dental, but escova de dentes is the most common everyday term.

Na is a contraction of:

• em
  • a = na

So:

• na escola = in/at the school

In this sentence, it means at school.

Portuguese very often contracts em with definite articles:

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

So na escola is the normal form, not an optional shortcut.

Because Portuguese normally uses the article with escola in this kind of sentence.

• na escola = at school / in the school

Saying em escola would sound unnatural here.

In general, locations in Portuguese often appear with an article when they are concrete, familiar places:

• na escola
• no mercado
• na praia

So na escola is the expected form.

Here então works like so, then, or therefore.

• Meu filho esqueceu a escova de dentes na escola, então eu comprei outra...
• My son forgot his toothbrush at school, so I bought another one...

It links the first event to the result. In conversation, então is extremely common for showing consequence.

Yes, Brazilian Portuguese often allows subject pronouns to be omitted:

• então comprei outra
• então eu comprei outra

Both are possible.

Here, eu is included for clarity, rhythm, or emphasis. It helps mark the contrast between:

• meu filho esqueceu...
• eu comprei...

So the pronoun is not required, but it sounds perfectly natural.

Because outra refers back to escova, which is a feminine noun:

• a escova
• outra escova

Portuguese adjectives, determiners, and similar words usually agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to.

So:

• outra = another one, referring to a feminine singular noun
• outro would be used with a masculine singular noun

Portuguese can omit a noun when it is clear from context, just like English can say another one.

Here:

• comprei outra = I bought another one

The full version would be:

• comprei outra escova de dentes

But because escova de dentes was already mentioned, Portuguese naturally leaves it out.

Yes, comprei uma outra is possible, but it is a little different in feel.

• comprei outra = I bought another one
• comprei uma outra = I bought another one / a different one

In many contexts, both work. But comprei outra is simpler and very natural here.

Learners should know that Portuguese often uses outro/outra by itself without needing um/uma.

Perto de casa is a very common expression meaning near home.

When casa means home in a general sense, Portuguese often uses it without an article:

• estou em casa = I am at home
• voltei para casa = I went back home
• perto de casa = near home

If you say perto da casa, it usually means near the house — a specific physical house, not the idea of home.

So in this sentence:

• perto de casa = near home / close to home

It describes where the speaker bought the toothbrush.

So the structure is:

• eu comprei outra perto de casa
• I bought another one near home

The phrase perto de casa attaches naturally to comprei here, meaning the purchase happened at a place near the speaker’s home.

A few parts learners often notice:

• filho: the lh sounds like the lli in million for many English speakers
• esqueceu: the qu here sounds like k, so roughly es-ke-SEW
• dentes: the de in Brazilian Portuguese often sounds closer to jee or djee before i, but here it stays a regular de
• então: the ão is a nasal sound, one of the classic Portuguese vowel sounds
• outra: in Brazil, this is often pronounced roughly like OW-tra, though the exact vowel quality varies by region

A rough learner-friendly pronunciation of the whole sentence could be:

meh-o fee-lyoo es-ke-SEW a es-KO-va djee DEN-tes na es-KO-la, en-TAWN ew kom-PRAY OW-tra PEHR-too djee KA-za

That is only approximate, but it can help as a starting point.

There are two past-tense verbs:

• esqueceu from esquecer = forgot
• comprei from comprar = bought

They are in the preterite because both actions are completed:

1. the son forgot the toothbrush
2. the speaker bought another one

So the sentence is built around two finished past events connected by então.