Quando a camisa fica molhada, eu a deixo na cadeira e pego outra toalha.

Ficar often means to become or to end up in a certain state. So a camisa fica molhada suggests the shirt gets wet.

If you said a camisa está molhada, that would simply describe its current state: the shirt is wet.

So the contrast is roughly:

• fica molhada = gets wet / becomes wet
• está molhada = is wet

In this sentence, fica molhada fits because it describes the moment when the shirt becomes wet.

Because molhada agrees with a camisa, which is a feminine singular noun.

In Portuguese, adjectives usually match the noun in gender and number:

• a camisa molhada = the wet shirt
• o casaco molhado = the wet coat
• as camisas molhadas = the wet shirts

Since camisa is feminine singular, the adjective must also be feminine singular: molhada.

That a is a direct object pronoun meaning it, referring back to a camisa.

So:

• eu a deixo na cadeira = I leave it on the chair

Because camisa is feminine singular, the pronoun is a.

Compare:

• o livro → eu o deixo = I leave it
• a camisa → eu a deixo = I leave it

This is more formal or standard than repeating the noun again.

Yes, in everyday Brazilian Portuguese, many people do say eu deixo ela na cadeira.

However, there is a difference in style:

• eu a deixo na cadeira = more standard/written/formal
• eu deixo ela na cadeira = very common in spoken Brazilian Portuguese

So if you are learning standard grammar, eu a deixo is a great model. If you want to understand natural spoken Brazilian Portuguese, you will often hear deixo ela too.

Because na is the contraction of em + a.

So:

• em + a cadeira → na cadeira

This kind of contraction is very common in Portuguese:

• em + o → no
• em + a → na
• de + o → do
• de + a → da

So na cadeira literally comes from in/on the chair, depending on context. With furniture like cadeira, English often uses on, while Portuguese commonly uses em.

Yes, Portuguese often allows the subject pronoun to be omitted because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

So both are possible:

• eu a deixo na cadeira e pego outra toalha
• a deixo na cadeira e pego outra toalha

The version with eu may sound slightly more explicit or emphatic. The version without eu is also perfectly normal.

Brazilian Portuguese uses subject pronouns more often than European Portuguese, but they are still frequently omitted when the meaning is clear.

In this sentence, the present tense is being used for a habitual or general situation:

• Quando a camisa fica molhada... = Whenever the shirt gets wet...

This is like describing a routine.

If you were talking about a specific future event, Portuguese would usually use the future subjunctive:

• Quando a camisa ficar molhada, eu vou deixá-la na cadeira...

So the difference is:

• quando ... fica = when(ever) it gets wet, as a general habit
• quando ... ficar = when it gets wet, in a future/specific case

Deixo is the first-person singular present form of deixar.

Here, deixar means to leave or to put and leave somewhere.

So:

• eu deixo = I leave
• eu a deixo na cadeira = I leave it on the chair

Depending on context, deixar can also mean other things, such as:

• to let / allow
• to leave behind
• to stop doing something

But in this sentence, it clearly means to leave/place something somewhere.

Pego is from pegar, which often means to take, to grab, or to get.

So:

• pego outra toalha = I get another towel

Literally, I take another towel is also possible, but in natural English get another towel is usually the best translation.

Both can exist, but outra toalha is the most natural and common choice here.

• outra toalha = another towel
• uma outra toalha = another towel / one other towel

Adding uma can sometimes sound a little more explicit or emphatic, but in many everyday cases it is unnecessary.

So pego outra toalha is a very normal way to say I get another towel.

Yes, pronoun placement matters in Portuguese.

In this sentence, a comes before the verb:

• eu a deixo

This is called proclisis. In Brazilian Portuguese, putting object pronouns before the verb is very common.

You may also see other patterns in more formal writing, such as:

• deixá-la = to leave it

For example:

• vou deixá-la na cadeira

In everyday Brazilian speech, people often avoid these pronouns altogether and use the full noun or ela instead:

• eu deixo ela na cadeira

So for learners, it is good to recognize all three styles:

• eu a deixo
• vou deixá-la
• eu deixo ela

In this sentence, it is closer to whenever.

Because the verbs are in the present tense and the sentence describes a repeated action, the meaning is habitual:

• Quando a camisa fica molhada, eu a deixo na cadeira e pego outra toalha.
• Whenever the shirt gets wet, I leave it on the chair and get another towel.

English often uses when for this too, but the sense is clearly repeated or habitual rather than a one-time event.

Portuguese uses definite articles very often, including in cases where English may choose a possessive or no article at all.

So a camisa can simply mean the shirt, but in context it may naturally refer to my shirt or the shirt I’m using without needing to say minha camisa.

Portuguese often relies on context more than English does for this kind of thing.

For example, Brazilian Portuguese commonly says things like:

• Lavei o cabelo = I washed my hair
• Quebrei a perna = I broke my leg

So a camisa is very natural here.