Eu pego a vassoura e o balde antes de limpar a cozinha.

It often does. Because pego already means I take / I grab, the sentence could simply be Pego a vassoura e o balde antes de limpar a cozinha.

Adding eu is still correct. It can:

• make the subject extra clear
• add emphasis
• create contrast, as in Eu pego a vassoura, e ele pega o pano

So eu is optional here, not wrong.

Pego is the 1st person singular form of the verb pegar in the present tense.

Here, pegar means something like:

• to take
• to grab
• to pick up

So Eu pego a vassoura e o balde means I take/grab/pick up the broom and the bucket.

Because Portuguese nouns have grammatical gender.

• vassoura is feminine → a vassoura
• balde is masculine → o balde

The article has to match the noun’s gender. Sometimes the ending helps:

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

But this is not a perfect rule, so it is best to learn nouns together with their article.

In Portuguese, articles are used very often with nouns, especially when talking about specific everyday objects.

Here, the sentence refers to the broom and bucket relevant to the cleaning task, so a vassoura and o balde sound natural.

Leaving the articles out would usually sound less natural in a normal sentence like this.

Because antes de is followed very naturally by the infinitive.

So:

• antes de limpar = before cleaning / before I clean

This structure is very common in Portuguese:

• antes de sair = before leaving
• antes de dormir = before sleeping
• antes de estudar = before studying

In your sentence, limpar stays in the infinitive because it comes after de.

Yes, you can. Both are correct.

• antes de limpar a cozinha
• antes de eu limpar a cozinha

The version without eu is usually more compact and very common when the subject is the same as in the main clause.

The version with eu sounds more explicit and can add emphasis or clarity.

Because limpar usually takes a direct object when you mean to clean something.

So:

• limpar a cozinha = to clean the kitchen

But:

• na cozinha means in the kitchen, which expresses location

Compare:

• Vou limpar a cozinha. = I’m going to clean the kitchen.
• Vou limpar na cozinha. = I’m going to do some cleaning in the kitchen.

So in your sentence, a cozinha is the thing being cleaned.

Because cozinha is a feminine noun, and here it refers to a specific kitchen.

So:

• a cozinha = the kitchen

This is normal Portuguese usage. Portuguese often uses definite articles in places where English may or may not use them.

Yes. That version is completely natural.

• Eu pego a vassoura e o balde antes de limpar a cozinha.
• Antes de limpar a cozinha, eu pego a vassoura e o balde.

Both mean the same thing. The difference is mainly emphasis:

• the original starts with the main action
• the reordered version highlights the before cleaning part first

It can mean either, depending on context.

This sentence could describe:

• a routine or habit: I grab the broom and bucket before cleaning the kitchen
• an immediate action in a sequence: I grab the broom and bucket before cleaning the kitchen

Portuguese present tense is flexible in this way, just like English can sometimes be. Context tells you which meaning is intended.