Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): A sopa pode salpicar o fogão.

sopa is a feminine noun, so it takes the feminine definite article a → a sopa (the soup).
o is the masculine article; it’s used with masculine nouns like o fogão (the stove).

There is no logical reason why sopa is feminine; you simply learn the gender together with the noun: a sopa, o café, a água, o leite, etc.

Why do we use the article at all? Why not just Sopa pode salpicar o fogão?

In Portuguese, it’s much more common to use articles with nouns than in English.

English often omits the article with general or abstract nouns: Soup can splash the stove.
European Portuguese normally keeps the article: A sopa pode salpicar o fogão.

Leaving the article out (Sopa pode salpicar o fogão) sounds unnatural in European Portuguese except in a few special contexts (headlines, labels, some recipes, etc.). In normal speech and writing, you say a sopa.

How do we know that fogão is masculine?

Again, grammatical gender is mostly arbitrary and must be memorized.

fogão is masculine, so we say o fogão (the stove).
The ending -ão is usually masculine (e.g. o leão, o avião, o verão), but there are a few feminine exceptions (e.g. a mão – the hand).

So:

a sopa (feminine)
o fogão (masculine)

What exactly does pode mean here? Is it “can” or “may”?

pode is the 3rd person singular of poder (to be able to / can / may).

In this sentence, pode expresses possibility:

A sopa pode salpicar o fogão.
→ The soup can / might splash the stove.

It’s not about permission (nobody is giving the soup permission). It’s about what might happen. So pode here = can, is capable of, might.

Why is it pode salpicar and not just salpica?

Both are grammatically correct, but the meaning is slightly different:

A sopa salpica o fogão.
→ The soup splashes the stove. (describes a usual, repeated, or current fact)
A sopa pode salpicar o fogão.
→ The soup can/might splash the stove. (there is a possibility or risk)

With pode, you emphasise that this is something that might happen (for example, if you boil it too hard).

What does salpicar mean exactly? Is it only for liquids?

salpicar means to splash, to spatter, or to sprinkle small drops or bits of something onto a surface.

It can be used for:

Liquids:
- A sopa pode salpicar o fogão. – The soup can splash the stove.
- O óleo salpicou a camisa. – The oil spattered the shirt.
Small pieces of solids:
- Salpicar a salada com queijo. – To sprinkle the salad with cheese.
- Salpicar açúcar em cima do bolo. – To sprinkle sugar on the cake.

So it’s not only for liquids; it’s for any kind of small dots/drops/bits.

Why is it salpicar o fogão and not salpicar no fogão?

Here, o fogão is the direct object of salpicar – it’s the thing that gets splashed:

salpicar algo = to splash/sprinkle something
→ salpicar o fogão – to splash the stove

If you use no fogão (em + o, “on the stove”), you’re focusing more on the location:

Caiu sopa no fogão. – Soup fell on the stove.
Salpicou sopa no fogão. – (Someone/it) splashed soup onto the stove.

In A sopa pode salpicar o fogão, we keep it simple: soup (subject) can splash the stove (direct object).

Could this be reflexive, like A sopa pode salpicar-se?

In theory, salpicar-se exists, but in this context it sounds wrong or at least very strange.

A sopa pode salpicar-se. would literally be “The soup can splash itself,” which doesn’t make sense here.

We want: the soup splashes the stove, so we use a normal transitive verb with a direct object:

A sopa pode salpicar o fogão.

How would I say this in a continuous/progressive form, like “The soup is splashing the stove”?

In European Portuguese, the progressive is usually formed with estar a + infinitive:

A sopa está a salpicar o fogão.
→ The soup is splashing the stove (right now).

Compare:

A sopa pode salpicar o fogão. – The soup can/might splash the stove (in general/if you’re not careful).
A sopa está a salpicar o fogão. – It is currently splashing the stove.

(Note: in Brazilian Portuguese, they’d say está salpicando instead of está a salpicar.)

Can I change the word order to Pode a sopa salpicar o fogão?

You can, but it sounds unusual and very formal or poetic in modern Portuguese.

Normal, neutral order:

A sopa pode salpicar o fogão.

Inversion:

Pode a sopa salpicar o fogão.

The inverted version might appear in old literature, poetry, or for dramatic effect (or sometimes as a rhetorical question), but it’s not how people normally speak. Stick to A sopa pode salpicar o fogão in everyday language.

Is sopa always uncountable like “soup” in English, or can I say uma sopa?

sopa can be both:

Uncountable / mass noun (like English “soup”):
- Queres sopa? – Do you want (some) soup?
- Há sopa na panela. – There is soup in the pan.
Countable (a portion, a type of soup):
- Quero uma sopa de legumes. – I want a vegetable soup.
- Traga duas sopas, por favor. – Bring two soups, please.

In A sopa pode salpicar o fogão, it’s being used in a more general or mass sense, like “the soup in the pot” (not counting portions).

How do you pronounce pode and fogão in European Portuguese?

Approximate European Portuguese pronunciation:

pode → [ˈpɔð(ɨ)]
- pó- like PO in POT but a bit more closed.
- Final -de is usually a soft [ð] (like the th in this) plus a very weak vowel [ɨ], or almost silent in fast speech.
fogão → [fuˈɡɐ̃w̃]
- fo- like foo but shorter.
- -gão has the typical Portuguese ão sound: a nasal vowel [ɐ̃] followed by a nasal glide [w̃]. It does not sound like English -ow in cow.

Full sentence (roughly):
A sopa pode salpicar o fogão. → [ɐ ˈsopɐ ˈpɔð(ɨ) sɐlpiˈkaɾ u fuˈɡɐ̃w̃]

How would I say “The soup can splash it” using a pronoun for o fogão?

You replace o fogão with the masculine direct object pronoun o.

In European Portuguese, with poder + infinitive, the most natural placement is usually after the infinitive:

A sopa pode salpicá-lo.
- salpicar + o → salpicá-lo (note the accent and the hyphen)

More formal/standard written option:

A sopa pode-o salpicar.

In everyday speech, A sopa pode salpicá-lo is more common and sounds more natural.

How would this sentence look in the plural (several soups or several stoves)?

Several soups, one stove:
- As sopas podem salpicar o fogão.
  → The soups can splash the stove.
One soup, several stoves:
- A sopa pode salpicar os fogões.
  → The soup can splash the stoves.
Several soups and several stoves:
- As sopas podem salpicar os fogões.
  → The soups can splash the stoves.

Note the irregular plural of fogão:

o fogão → os fogões (ão → ões).