Minha filha sempre leva um lanche simples para a escola.

Because filha is a feminine noun, so the possessive has to match it.

• meu = my for a masculine noun
• minha = my for a feminine noun

Examples:

• meu filho = my son
• minha filha = my daughter

So minha filha is the correct form.

Good question. In Brazilian Portuguese, both minha filha and a minha filha are possible.

In Brazil:

• minha filha is very common and natural
• a minha filha is also correct, but can sound a little more formal, emphatic, or regional depending on context

So this sentence is perfectly normal without the article:

• Minha filha sempre leva um lanche simples para a escola.

You may hear both forms in real life.

Sempre means always, and in Portuguese adverbs like this often come:

• after the subject: Minha filha sempre leva...
• sometimes after the verb: Minha filha leva sempre...

The version in your sentence is the most natural and common one.

So:

• Minha filha sempre leva... = very standard
• Minha filha leva sempre... = possible, but less neutral in many contexts

Because leva is the conjugated form of the verb levar.

The infinitive is:

• levar = to take / to carry

But here the subject is minha filha, which is third-person singular, so the verb becomes:

• ela leva = she takes

So:

• Minha filha leva... = My daughter takes...

Not:

• Minha filha levar... ❌

Because Portuguese distinguishes between taking and bringing much like English does.

• levar = to take something away / to carry something to another place
• trazer = to bring something toward the speaker or another reference point

In this sentence, the daughter is taking the snack to school, so levar is the right verb:

• Minha filha sempre leva um lanche... = My daughter always takes a snack...

If she were bringing it here, you would use trazer.

Not necessarily. In this sentence, the present tense expresses a habit or routine.

• Minha filha sempre leva... = My daughter always takes...

This is the same as English simple present for habitual actions:

• She always takes a simple snack to school.

So the sentence describes something she usually does, not just what she is doing at this moment.

Lanche usually means a snack or a light meal.

In this sentence, it most likely means:

• a snack she takes to school
• possibly something small to eat during break

It does not usually mean a full lunch in the sense of a large meal. Depending on context, lanche can also sometimes refer to things like a sandwich or quick bite.

So um lanche simples suggests something modest, light, or uncomplicated.

There are two useful points here:

1. um

   • um means a / one
   • lanche is masculine singular, so um is the correct indefinite article

2. simples

   • simples means simple
   • here it describes lanche

So:

• um lanche simples = a simple snack

Because simples is one of those adjectives that has the same form for masculine and feminine in the singular.

Compare:

• um lanche simples = masculine singular
• uma comida simples = feminine singular

In both cases, it stays simples.

But in the plural:

• lanches simples
• comidas simples

So it only clearly changes in number, not in gender.

Because para means to / toward / for, and escola is being used with the definite article a.

So:

• para
  • a escola = para a escola

Literally:

• to the school

In natural English, that is usually translated as to school.

Yes. In spoken Brazilian Portuguese, para a is very often contracted to pra.

So these are both natural:

• para a escola = more neutral/full form
• pra escola = very common in speech

The sentence in your example uses the fuller written form:

• Minha filha sempre leva um lanche simples para a escola.

In conversation, many Brazilians would naturally say:

• Minha filha sempre leva um lanche simples pra escola.

In Portuguese, many nouns are commonly used with articles where English would not use one.

So Portuguese says:

• para a escola
• para o trabalho
• na escola
• no banco

Even though English often says:

• to school
• to work
• at school
• at the bank

So para escola by itself would normally sound incomplete or incorrect here. Para a escola is the standard form.

Two important pronunciation points:

• filha

  • the lh sound is like the lli in million for many English speakers, though not exactly identical
  • it sounds roughly like FEE-lya

• lanche

  • the ch in Brazilian Portuguese usually sounds like sh
  • so lanche sounds roughly like LAHN-shee or LAHN-shi, depending on accent

These are only approximations, but they can help at first.

Yes, a little, but some versions sound more natural than others.

Most natural:

• Minha filha sempre leva um lanche simples para a escola.

Also possible:

• Minha filha leva sempre um lanche simples para a escola.

But the original version is the most neutral and idiomatic for everyday Portuguese.

So if you are learning, the safest model is:

• subject + sempre + verb + object + destination