Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Podes guardar os bilhetes na carteira, por favor? - Can you put the tickets in the wallet, please?

Podes is the second-person singular (tu) form of poder in the present tense, so you’re addressing one person informally. In Portugal, tu is used with friends, family, and people your age. The formal option is você (or addressing someone as o senhor / a senhora), which would take pode: Pode guardar…

Is this an imperative?

Grammatically, no. It’s the present of poder used as a polite request (like English “Can you…?”). The true imperative would be:

Informal: Guarda os bilhetes na carteira, por favor.
Formal: Guarde os bilhetes na carteira, por favor. Using podes sounds friendly and less direct than the imperative.

How do I make it softer or more polite?

Common ways to soften:

Informal, softer: Podias guardar os bilhetes na carteira?
Formal, softer: Podia guardar os bilhetes na carteira? Other natural options:
Consegues guardar os bilhetes na carteira? (Are you able to…?)
Não te importas de guardar os bilhetes na carteira? (Would you mind…?)

If I don’t want to repeat “the tickets,” where does “them” go?

Replace os bilhetes with the pronoun os attached to the infinitive:

Podes guardá-los na carteira, por favor? Note the spelling change: guardar + os → guardá-los (drop the final -r and add -los, with an accent to keep the stress). In negatives or with certain adverbs, EP allows both:
Não os podes guardar na carteira?
Não podes guardá-los na carteira? Both are common in European Portuguese.

Why na and not em a?

Portuguese contracts the preposition em with the definite article:

em + a = na (feminine singular)
em + o = no
em + as = nas
em + os = nos Here, carteira is feminine, so na carteira.

Why is there no “your” before carteira?

Portuguese often omits the possessive when context makes ownership obvious. Na carteira here naturally means “in your wallet/handbag.” If you need to be explicit, in European Portuguese you’d usually say:

na tua carteira (informal)
na sua carteira (formal)

Does carteira mean wallet or handbag in Portugal?

In Portugal, carteira most often means “wallet.” A woman’s handbag is more often mala (e.g., na mala). In Brazil, carteira is also “wallet,” but “handbag/purse” is typically bolsa. Context will usually make it clear. For a coin purse you can hear porta-moedas.

What nuance does guardar have compared with just “put”?

Guardar means to put away/keep/store (often with a sense of keeping safe). If you just mean “put,” you can use:

pôr: Podes pôr os bilhetes na carteira?
meter (very common, informal PT): Podes meter os bilhetes na carteira?
colocar (more formal/neutral): Podes colocar os bilhetes na carteira?

Why is it os bilhetes?

Bilhete is masculine; the plural is bilhetes. The definite article matches: o bilhete / os bilhetes. Using the article signals specific, known tickets (the ones you both have). Without the article (bilhetes) would sound like some/any tickets, which doesn’t fit here.

Can I change the position of por favor?

Yes. All of these are natural:

Por favor, podes guardar os bilhetes na carteira?
Podes, por favor, guardar os bilhetes na carteira?
Podes guardar os bilhetes na carteira, por favor? The comma is standard when por favor is parenthetical (middle or end position).

Do I need to invert word order to ask this as a question?

No. Portuguese yes–no questions are usually just statement word order with rising intonation (plus the question mark in writing). Podes guardar…? is the norm.

How would I say it with the imperative and a pronoun?

Informal: Guarda-os na carteira, por favor.
Formal: Guarde-os na carteira, por favor. With the imperative, the object pronoun attaches to the verb with a hyphen.

Any pronunciation tips (European Portuguese)?

Approximate guide:

Podes ≈ “POH-desh”
guardar ≈ “gwaar-DAHR” (the initial “gu” sounds like “gw”)
os bilhetes ≈ “oosh bee-LYE-tesh” (the “lh” is like the “lli” in “million”)
na carteira ≈ “nah kar-TEH-rah” (single “r” is a tap)
por favor ≈ “poor fah-VOR” In connected speech, final “s” sounds can change, but the above will be understood.

Could I say “in the pocket” or “in the bag” instead?

Yes, just change the noun (and agreement):

no bolso = in the pocket (masculine)
na mala = in the handbag/bag (feminine) So: Podes guardar os bilhetes no bolso/na mala, por favor?

Is there a common alternative to por favor in Portugal?

Yes: se faz favor (often shortened to faz favor in informal speech). Example: Podes guardar os bilhetes na carteira, se faz favor? This is very common in European Portuguese.