Minha mãe deixou dois guardanapos na mesa e esquentou água na chaleira para o café.

the table

Breakdown of Minha mãe deixou dois guardanapos na mesa e esquentou água na chaleira para o café.

• a água: the water
• o café: the coffee
• minha: my

Questions & Answers about Minha mãe deixou dois guardanapos na mesa e esquentou água na chaleira para o café.

Why is it minha mãe and not meu mãe?

Because minha has to agree with the noun being possessed, not with the speaker.

• mãe is feminine singular
• so the possessive must also be feminine singular: minha

Compare:

• minha mãe = my mother
• meu pai = my father

Why is there no article before minha mãe?

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

So both are possible:

• Minha mãe
• A minha mãe

In Brazil, both sound natural, though usage varies by region, style, and speaker. In a sentence like this, Minha mãe is completely normal.

What does deixou mean here?

Here, deixou means something like left, put, or set down.

It is the preterite form of deixar, so it means she left/put.

That verb is very common and can have several meanings depending on context, such as:

• leave
• let / allow
• stop / give up
• leave behind

In this sentence, because of dois guardanapos na mesa, the meaning is clearly left/placed on the table.