Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): A Maria guarda fotografias da infância numa caixa, como se fossem as coisas mais preciosas da vida. - Maria keeps childhood photos in a box, as if they were the most precious things in life.

In Brazilian Portuguese, using the article before names is much less common and can sound regional or informal. But in Portugal, A Maria is perfectly standard.

You could say just Maria guarda fotografias…, and it would still be correct, but in everyday European Portuguese, A Maria is more typical.

What does guarda mean here, and why not mantém or fica com?

Guarda is the 3rd person singular of guardar, and in this context it means “keeps / stores / puts away for safekeeping.”

A Maria guarda fotografias…
→ “Maria keeps/stores photos…”

Nuance:

guardar – to put something away somewhere to keep it safe or stored (in a drawer, box, folder, etc.).
manter – to maintain, keep something in a certain state (keep it clean, keep it working).
ficar com – to keep in the sense of not giving something away, to hold on to something (often more informal).

So guardar is the natural choice when talking about putting objects into a place (like a box) to store them.

Why is it fotografias da infância and not fotografias da sua infância?

In Portuguese, you often don’t need a possessive (like sua) when it’s obvious whose thing it is from the context.

fotografias da infância
literally: “photographs of (the) childhood”
naturally understood as “photographs of her childhood,” because we are talking about Maria.

Adding sua:

fotografias da sua infância – “photographs of her childhood”

This is also correct, but it can sound a bit heavier or more emphatic. Often in Portuguese, especially with family/biographical things (mother, father, house, childhood, etc.), the possessor is left implicit when it’s clear.

What exactly does da infância mean, grammatically?

da is the contraction of de + a:

de – “of / from”
a – feminine singular definite article “the”

So:

da infância = de + a infância → “of the childhood”

In English we say “from her childhood” or “from one’s childhood,” but in Portuguese this a (“the”) is normal, and the possessive (“her”) is usually understood from context.

So fotografias da infância = “photographs from (her) childhood.”

What is numa in numa caixa, and why not just em uma caixa?

numa is a contraction:

em + uma = numa
em – in / on / at
uma – a / one (feminine singular)

So:

numa caixa = “in a box”

You could say em uma caixa, but in natural spoken and written Portuguese, the contractions (numa, num, na, no, etc.) are much more common and sound more fluent:

no carro = em + o carro (“in the car”)
na mesa = em + a mesa (“on the table”)
num livro = em + um livro (“in a book”)
numa gaveta = em + uma gaveta (“in a drawer”)

Why is it como se fossem and not como se são?

Como se (“as if”) almost always introduces a hypothetical or unreal situation in Portuguese. Because of that, it normally requires the subjunctive, not the indicative.

fossem is the imperfect subjunctive of ser (third person plural).

The idea is:

They are not literally “the most precious things in life,” but Maria treats them as if they were.

So:

como se fossem → “as if they were”

Using como se são would sound incorrect or very strange in standard Portuguese. With como se, you should think “subjunctive,” not “are” (são).

Why is fossem plural here—what is the subject?

The verb form fossem is 3rd person plural, and its (understood) subject is as fotografias.

The full underlying idea is:

…como se (elas) fossem as coisas mais preciosas da vida.
“...as if they were the most precious things in life.”

In Portuguese, the subject pronoun (elas) is usually omitted because the verb form already shows the person and number. Fotografias is feminine plural, so the implied pronoun is elas, and the verb is in the plural: fossem.

What does como se mean exactly, and is it always followed by the subjunctive?

como se means “as if” or “as though.”

In sentences like this one, where it introduces an unreal, hypothetical, or imagined situation, it is normally followed by the imperfect subjunctive:

Ela fala comigo como se fosse minha mãe.
“She talks to me as if she were my mother.”
Eles gastam dinheiro como se fossem ricos.
“They spend money as if they were rich.”

There are rare cases where como se can be followed by the indicative, usually when the idea is “the same way that…” and not a hypothetical situation, but in everyday use, especially with a clear “not really true, just in her head” meaning, como se + subjunctive is the rule.

Why is it as coisas mais preciosas and not as mais preciosas coisas?

In Portuguese, the normal order is:

article + noun
- mais
  - adjective

So:

as coisas mais preciosas – “the most precious things”
os livros mais caros – “the most expensive books”
as pessoas mais importantes – “the most important people”

Putting mais and the adjective before the noun (as mais preciosas coisas) is either wrong or, at best, very unusual and poetic. The regular structure is the one in the sentence: as coisas mais preciosas.

Why is it da vida and not na vida at the end?

Both da vida and na vida can appear in similar expressions, but they’re not identical.

as coisas mais preciosas da vida
literally: “the most precious things of life”
Very natural; think “the most precious things in (one’s) life / in life.”
as coisas mais preciosas na vida
literally: “the most precious things in life”
Also possible, but it slightly shifts the focus to “within life/the world” more than to “belonging to life.”

In practice, da vida is a very common fixed pattern in set expressions:

os maiores desafios da vida – “the biggest challenges in life”
as alegrias da vida – “the joys of life”

So here da vida just sounds more idiomatic and “formulaic” than na vida.

Could the sentence start without A, like Maria guarda fotografias…? Would that change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

Maria guarda fotografias da infância numa caixa…

The meaning is the same: “Maria keeps childhood photographs in a box…”

The difference is style and regional norm:

In European Portuguese, using the article with a person’s first name (A Maria) is very common and sounds natural in everyday speech.
Dropping the article (Maria) is still correct but can sound a bit more formal, “written,” or influenced by Brazilian usage.

So it doesn’t change the meaning, only the tone/feel.

Why is it guarda fotografias and not está a guardar fotografias?

Portuguese uses the simple present much more broadly than English. guarda can describe:

a general habit (“she keeps / stores”)
or something she is doing at the moment (“she is putting away/keeping”)

Está a guardar is specifically the progressive form (“is currently keeping/putting away right now”).

In your sentence, we’re describing a habitual or general behavior (what Maria does with her childhood photos), so the simple present guarda is exactly right and sounds more natural than a progressive form.

Is there any difference in pronunciation or usage of this sentence between European and Brazilian Portuguese?

Main differences:

Article with the name
- Portugal: A Maria is standard and common.
- Brazil: Just Maria is more usual; A Maria can sound regional or informal.
Preposition contractions and vocabulary
- The grammar (e.g. numa, da infância, como se fossem) is the same in both.
- The verb guardar with this meaning is also used in both varieties.
Pronunciation
- European Portuguese will have more vowel reduction and a different rhythm.
- Brazilian Portuguese will pronounce more vowels fully and with a different intonation.

But grammatically and in meaning, the sentence is fully acceptable in both varieties, with only the article before Maria being clearly more “European.”