Cada convidada pegou um guardanapo antes de provar o bolo.

Cada means each, so it focuses on the guests one by one. That is why Portuguese uses:

• cada convidada = each guest
• todas as convidadas = all the guests

The meaning is similar in some contexts, but the focus is different:

• Cada convidada pegou um guardanapo = each individual guest took a napkin.
• Todas as convidadas pegaram guardanapos = all the guests took napkins.

Also notice that cada is followed by a singular noun.

Because cada normally takes a singular noun in Portuguese.

So you say:

• cada convidada
• cada aluno
• cada pessoa

Not:

• cada convidadas ❌

This is very common and natural in Portuguese. Even though the idea refers to multiple people overall, the grammar stays singular because it is treating them individually.

Because the subject cada convidada is grammatically singular.

So Portuguese uses:

• Cada convidada pegou ...
  not
• Cada convidada pegaram ... ❌

This is similar to English Each guest took..., where each guest also takes a singular verb.

Convidada means female guest. The ending -a shows it is feminine.

Compare:

• convidado = male guest / guest in general in some contexts
• convidada = female guest

Since the sentence says cada convidada, it specifically refers to female guests.

Here, pegou is the past tense of pegar, and it means something like:

• took
• picked up
• grabbed

In this sentence, pegou um guardanapo most naturally means took/picked up a napkin.

In Brazilian Portuguese, pegar is a very common everyday verb with several meanings depending on context.

Um is the masculine singular indefinite article, meaning a or one.

• um guardanapo = a napkin
• uma toalha = a towel/cloth

Guardanapo is a masculine noun, so it takes um, not uma.

Also, using the singular here suggests one napkin per guest.

Yes, that is the most natural interpretation.

Because of:

• cada convidada = each guest
• um guardanapo = a napkin / one napkin

So the sentence strongly suggests that each guest took one napkin before tasting the cake.

Because after the expression antes de (before), Portuguese uses the infinitive when the subject is the same or understood.

So:

• antes de provar o bolo = before tasting the cake

Not:

• antes de provou o bolo ❌

This is a very important pattern:

• antes de sair = before leaving
• depois de comer = after eating
• sem falar = without speaking

No. In this sentence, provar means to taste.

Portuguese provar can mean different things depending on context, including:

• to taste
• to try on (like clothes)
• to prove/demonstrate

Here, because of o bolo (the cake), the meaning is clearly to taste.

O bolo means the cake, referring to a specific cake that is already known in the situation.

Portuguese often uses definite articles more than English does. In this sentence, o bolo sounds very natural because it suggests there is a particular cake the guests are about to taste.

If you said just bolo, it would sound less specific and less natural in this context.

Yes, that is the natural interpretation.

In Cada convidada pegou um guardanapo antes de provar o bolo, the understood subject of provar is the same as the subject of the main verb: cada convidada.

So the meaning is:

• each guest took a napkin before she tasted the cake

If Portuguese wanted to make a different subject clearer, it would usually need extra wording.

Pegou is the preterite form of pegar in the third person singular.

• infinitive: pegar
• preterite: ele/ela/você pegou

The preterite is used for a completed action in the past. So pegou tells us that the action of taking the napkin happened and was completed.

Yes. A very natural alternative is:

• Antes de provar o bolo, cada convidada pegou um guardanapo.

This means the same thing. Portuguese allows this kind of movement, especially with time expressions like antes de provar o bolo.

The original version is also perfectly natural:

• Cada convidada pegou um guardanapo antes de provar o bolo.

If the group were mixed or unspecified, Portuguese would more commonly use:

• Cada convidado pegou um guardanapo antes de provar o bolo.

Traditionally, convidado can function as a masculine form or a mixed-group default.

If you wanted to avoid gender marking entirely, you would usually need to rephrase, for example:

• Cada pessoa convidada pegou um guardanapo antes de provar o bolo.

That sounds a bit more neutral, though slightly less simple.

In Brazilian Portuguese, pegou is usually pronounced roughly like peh-GOH.

A few helpful notes:

• the stress is on the last syllable: pe-GOU
• the ou in Brazilian Portuguese often sounds like a clear o sound in normal speech

So it often sounds closer to:

• peh-GO

rather than a strong English ow sound.