Guardei o sabonete novo no armário e a toalha limpa na gaveta.

Guardei is the first-person singular preterite form of guardar.

So guardei means I put away, I stored, or I kept.

In this sentence, guardar is not just to guard in the English sense. It usually means something like:

• to put away
• to store
• to keep
• to tidy away

So Guardei o sabonete novo no armário... is something like I put the new soap away in the cabinet/closet...

Because Portuguese often omits the subject pronoun when it is already clear from the verb form.

• guardei already tells you the subject is I
• so eu is optional

Both are possible:

• Guardei o sabonete novo...
• Eu guardei o sabonete novo...

Adding eu can give extra emphasis, contrast, or clarity, but it is not necessary.

Portuguese uses definite articles very often, sometimes more often than English does.

Here:

• o sabonete = the soap
• a toalha = the towel

Even when English might sometimes sound natural without the, Portuguese often prefers the article when talking about specific things in the situation.

Also, the articles show gender:

• o sabonete → masculine
• a toalha → feminine

Because in Portuguese, em + definite article normally contracts:

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

So:

• no armário = in the cabinet / closet
• na gaveta = in the drawer

Using em o or em a here would sound unnatural in standard Portuguese.

In Portuguese, adjectives often come after the noun.

So the normal order here is:

• sabonete novo = new soap
• toalha limpa = clean towel

This is especially common when the adjective is simply describing a quality in a straightforward way.

Putting the adjective before the noun is sometimes possible, but it can sound:

• more literary
• more emphatic
• or slightly different in meaning

A very important example is novo:

• sabonete novo usually means a brand-new / unused soap
• novo sabonete can sometimes suggest another soap or a new type of soap, depending on context

So sabonete novo is the most natural choice here.

Because adjectives in Portuguese usually agree with the noun in gender and number.

Here:

• sabonete is masculine singular → novo
• toalha is feminine singular → limpa

So:

• o sabonete novo
• a toalha limpa

If the nouns were plural, the adjectives would also become plural:

• os sabonetes novos
• as toalhas limpas

Yes. Noun gender in Portuguese is not determined only by the final letter.

Many learners first notice that:

• nouns ending in -o are often masculine
• nouns ending in -a are often feminine

But that is only a tendency, not a rule that always works.

So:

• o sabonete is masculine
• a toalha is feminine

The safest way to learn a noun is together with its article:

• o sabonete
• a toalha
• o armário
• a gaveta

Because Portuguese, like English, often omits repeated words when the meaning is clear.

The full version would be:

• Guardei o sabonete novo no armário e guardei a toalha limpa na gaveta.

But repeating guardei is unnecessary, so the shorter version is more natural:

• Guardei o sabonete novo no armário e a toalha limpa na gaveta.

This is a normal kind of ellipsis.

English does the same thing:

• I put the new soap in the cabinet and the clean towel in the drawer.

You do not need to repeat put the second time.

It goes only with o sabonete novo.

The structure is:

• Guardei [o sabonete novo] [no armário]
• e [a toalha limpa] [na gaveta]

So the sentence pairs each object with its own location:

• the new soap → in the cabinet
• the clean towel → in the drawer

Because na gaveta appears after the second noun phrase, the sentence clearly gives separate destinations for each item.

Yes, often you could, but the nuance is a little different.

• coloquei = I put / placed
• guardei = I put away / stored / tidied away

So:

• Coloquei o sabonete novo no armário... = I placed the soap in the cabinet
• Guardei o sabonete novo no armário... = I put the soap away in the cabinet

Guardei suggests a stronger idea of putting something where it belongs, storing it, or tidying it away.

• armário usually means cabinet, cupboard, wardrobe, or sometimes closet, depending on context
• gaveta means drawer

So no armário could be:

• in the cabinet
• in the cupboard
• in the closet

depending on what kind of armário the speaker means.

Yes, but the original order is very natural.

For example, you could say:

• Guardei no armário o sabonete novo e na gaveta a toalha limpa.

This is grammatical, but it sounds a bit more marked or stylistic.

The original version is more neutral and conversational:

• Guardei o sabonete novo no armário e a toalha limpa na gaveta.

A common pattern in Portuguese is:

• verb + object + place

So the sentence feels very standard as written.