A cabeleireira mandou-me lavar o cabelo com champô antes do corte.

The hairdresser told me to wash my hair with shampoo before the haircut.

Breakdown of A cabeleireira mandou-me lavar o cabelo com champô antes do corte.

• com: with
• antes de: before
• me: me
• lavar: to wash
• o cabelo: the hair
• a cabeleireira: the hairdresser
• mandar: to tell
• o champô: the shampoo
• o corte: the haircut

Questions & Answers about A cabeleireira mandou-me lavar o cabelo com champô antes do corte.

Why is there an a before cabeleireira?

Because Portuguese usually uses the definite article more often than English.

Here a cabeleireira means the hairdresser. In English, we might sometimes say Hairdresser told me... in very informal speech, but Portuguese normally wants the article here.

So:

• A cabeleireira = the hairdresser
• Cabeleireira on its own would usually sound incomplete in this sentence

Does cabeleireira mean a female hairdresser?

Yes. Cabeleireira is feminine, so it refers to a woman.

The masculine form is cabeleireiro:

• A cabeleireira = the female hairdresser
• O cabeleireiro = the male hairdresser

This is very common in Portuguese: many job titles change form depending on gender.

What does mandou-me mean exactly here?

Here mandou-me means something like:

• told me to
• ordered me to
• had me

It comes from the verb mandar. In this sentence, mandar is not about sending someone somewhere; it means to tell/require/cause someone to do something.

So the structure is:

• mandou-me lavar... = told me to wash...

Why is me attached to mandou with a hyphen?

Because in European Portuguese, object pronouns are often attached to the verb in affirmative main clauses. This is called enclisis.

So:

• mandou-me = told me
• literally: ordered me

This is very typical of Portugal Portuguese. A learner who knows Brazilian Portuguese may expect me mandou, but in European Portuguese mandou-me is the normal form here.

Why is lavar in the infinitive?

Because after mandar + object pronoun, Portuguese commonly uses an infinitive.

Structure:

• mandou-me lavar o cabelo

This works like English:

• She told me to wash my hair

The verb after mandou-me stays in the infinitive because it expresses the action I was told to do.

Why is it mandou-me lavar o cabelo and not something with para?

After mandar, Portuguese normally goes straight to the infinitive:

• mandou-me lavar o cabelo

Using para here would not be the standard choice in this structure.

A very useful pattern is:

• mandar alguém fazer alguma coisa = to tell/order someone to do something

So:

• mandou-me lavar = told me to wash

Why does it say o cabelo instead of meu cabelo?

Portuguese often uses the definite article with body parts when the owner is already obvious.

So:

• lavar o cabelo very naturally means wash my hair here

Because the sentence already has me, it is clear whose hair is being talked about. Using meu cabelo is possible in some contexts, but it is less natural here and more explicit than necessary.

Why is cabelo singular?

In Portuguese, o cabelo can refer to a person’s hair in general, as a whole.

So:

• lavar o cabelo = to wash one’s hair

The plural os cabelos can also exist, but it often sounds more like the hairs or refers to hair in a more descriptive/stylistic way. In everyday situations like this, the singular is the most natural choice.

What does com champô mean, and is champô a Portugal-specific word?

Com champô means with shampoo.

Yes, champô is the usual European Portuguese spelling. In Brazil, you may also see:

• xampu
• sometimes shampoo

So for Portugal Portuguese, champô is a very useful word to know.

Why is it do corte and not de o corte?

Because de + o contracts to do in Portuguese.

So:

• antes de o corte → not used
• antes do corte → correct

This kind of contraction is very common:

• de + a = da
• de + o = do
• em + o = no
• a + o = ao

What does corte mean here? Is it specifically a haircut?

Here corte means the cut, and in this context that naturally means the haircut.

In a hair salon context, o corte is often enough on its own. If you want to be more explicit, you could say:

• o corte de cabelo = the haircut

So antes do corte means before the haircut / before the cutting.

Could Portuguese also say antes de cortar instead of antes do corte?

Yes, that is possible, but it is a slightly different structure.

• antes do corte = before the haircut / before the cut
• antes de cortar = before cutting

The sentence you were given uses a noun phrase:

• o corte

An alternative version could use a verb phrase:

• antes de cortar o cabelo

Both are natural, but antes do corte is shorter and very salon-like.

Is this sentence especially European Portuguese in style?

Yes, it strongly looks like European Portuguese for a couple of reasons:

• mandou-me with the pronoun after the verb is very typical of Portugal
• champô is the standard Portugal Portuguese spelling

A Brazilian Portuguese version might more often look like:

• A cabeleireira me mandou lavar o cabelo com xampu antes do corte.

Both are understandable, but the original sentence clearly fits Portugal Portuguese.