Guarde o resto.

Guarde comes from the verb guardar, which often means to keep, to put away, to save, or to store.

In Guarde o resto, it can mean things like:

• Keep the rest
• Save the rest
• Put the rest away

The exact English translation depends on the situation. For example:

• with food: Save the rest
• with objects: Put the rest away
• more generally: Keep the rest

Because guarde is a command form.

• guardar = the infinitive, meaning to keep / to save
• guarde = keep! / save!

So:

• Quero guardar o resto. = I want to save the rest.
• Guarde o resto. = Save the rest.

In Brazilian Portuguese, this form usually matches a command directed at você or o senhor / a senhora.

For você, the standard imperative form comes from the present subjunctive:

• guardar → que você guarde → guarde

So:

• Guarde o resto. = command to you in the você style

If you were using tu, the command would usually be:

• Guarda o resto.

This is one of the things that often surprises English speakers, because Portuguese has different command forms depending on the pronoun being used.

It is not necessarily very formal, but it is compatible with the você form, which is extremely common in Brazil.

So Guarde o resto can sound:

• neutral
• polite
• normal in everyday Brazilian Portuguese

It can also be used for o senhor / a senhora, where it sounds more clearly polite or formal.

In many parts of Brazil, você is the normal everyday way to say you, so guarde does not automatically sound stiff or overly formal.

O resto means the rest or the remainder.

Depending on context, it could refer to:

• the rest of the food
• the remaining money
• the remaining objects
• whatever is left over

Examples:

• Coma um pouco agora e guarde o resto.
  Eat a little now and save the rest.

• Use o que precisar e guarde o resto.
  Use what you need and keep the rest.

So resto is quite general.

Because resto is a noun here, and Portuguese often uses the definite article where English might or might not use one.

• o resto = the rest

This is the normal way to say it.
Just resto by itself would usually not sound right in this sentence.

Usually, not in the most natural everyday sense.

If you want to say Keep the change in Brazilian Portuguese, the most common phrase is:

• Pode ficar com o troco.

That said, Guarde o resto could theoretically refer to remaining money in some context, but by itself it more naturally means save the rest or put away what remains, not specifically keep the change.

The subject is understood.

Portuguese often leaves out subject pronouns when the meaning is clear from the verb form or context. In commands, this is especially common.

So:

• Guarde o resto.
  literally: Keep the rest.

The implied subject is you.

You could say Você guarde o resto, but that would usually sound unusual or emphatic in this kind of sentence.

A common Brazilian pronunciation is approximately:

• GWAR-jee oo HES-too

A more precise IPA version, in many Brazilian accents, is:

• [ˈɡwaʁ.dʒi u ˈʁɛs.tu]

A few helpful notes:

• guar- sounds roughly like gwar
• de in guarde often sounds like jee in many Brazilian accents
• r in resto is often pronounced with a throaty h-like sound in Brazil
• o at the end of resto often sounds like oo

Connected speech may make it sound smoother and faster than the word-by-word breakdown suggests.

The stress is on:

• GUARde
• RESto

So:

• GUAR-de o RES-to

This is useful because vowel reduction and rhythm can make unstressed syllables less clear.

Yes, absolutely. That is one of the most natural contexts.

For example:

• Não vou comer tudo agora. Guarde o resto.
  I’m not going to eat everything now. Save the rest.

In this context, guardar means something like:

• save
• put away
• store

So with food, Guarde o resto can be very natural.

In this sentence, guardar is the right verb.

• guardar = to keep, store, put away, save for later
• salvar = to save in the sense of rescue, preserve, or save a file

So:

• Guarde o resto. = Save/keep the rest for later
• Salvar o resto would usually not fit this everyday meaning

English uses save in a broad way, but Portuguese often chooses different verbs depending on the kind of saving involved.

It can be correct, but it depends on the pronoun and regional usage.

• Guarde o resto = standard command with você
• Guarda o resto = command with tu

Because Brazil has a lot of regional variation, you may hear both. But if you are learning general Brazilian Portuguese with você, then Guarde o resto is the safest form to learn.