A senhora da peixaria disse que o marisco estava fresco, mas eu levei só camarão.

It means the lady / the woman at the fish shop.

A few parts are doing work here:

• a senhora = the lady or the woman
• peixaria = fish shop / fishmonger’s
• da = contraction of de + a, so literally of the

So word-for-word, it is something like the lady of the fish shop, but in natural English we would usually say the lady at the fish shop.

Because a senhora is a normal noun phrase meaning the lady / the woman.

In Portuguese, you usually need the article here:

• a senhora = the lady
• uma senhora = a lady

Just senhora by itself is more likely to be used when directly addressing someone, like Madam.

So in this sentence, a senhora is not a form of address; it is simply the subject of the sentence.

Da is a contraction of de + a.

• de = of / from
• a = the

So:

• de + a peixaria → da peixaria

These contractions are very common in Portuguese:

• de + o → do
• de + a → da
• em + a → na
• a + a → à

So da peixaria is completely normal and expected.

Because a senhora da peixaria identifies which lady you mean: the lady from/of the fish shop.

It is like saying:

• o senhor do café = the man from the café
• a rapariga da loja = the girl from the shop

If you said a senhora na peixaria, that would mean the lady in the fish shop, focusing only on her location. That is possible in some contexts, but it is not the most natural way to identify her here.

Peixaria means fish shop, fishmonger’s, or the fish counter/section where fish is sold.

It comes from peixe = fish.

In Portugal, this is a very common everyday word. It refers to the place where you buy fish and often also seafood.

Disse is the pretérito perfeito (simple past / preterite) of dizer = to say.

So:

• disse = said

It is used because the act of speaking is seen as a completed event in the past:

• A senhora ... disse... = The lady ... said...

Compare:

• disse = said
• dizia = was saying / used to say

Here, disse is the natural choice because we are talking about one completed thing she said.

Que here means that and introduces the reported statement.

So:

• disse que... = said that...

This is extremely common in Portuguese.

Examples:

• Ele disse que vinha. = He said that he was coming.
• Ela disse que era caro. = She said that it was expensive.

In English, that is often omitted. In Portuguese, que is usually kept.

Because fresco here describes a temporary condition, so Portuguese uses estar, not ser.

• estar fresco = to be fresh
• ser fresco would usually suggest a more permanent characteristic, and here it would sound wrong

Freshness is a temporary state, so:

• o marisco estava fresco = the seafood was fresh

This is a very typical ser vs estar difference.

Because the sentence is reporting what the lady said in the past.

A direct version might be:

• O marisco está fresco. = The seafood is fresh.

When this is reported after a past verb like disse, Portuguese often shifts the tense back:

• disse que o marisco estava fresco

So estava is the past form that fits reported speech here.

The adjective agrees with o marisco.

• marisco is masculine singular
• so the adjective must also be masculine singular: fresco

Agreement in Portuguese works like this:

• o marisco fresco = masculine singular
• a sopa fresca = feminine singular
• os camarões frescos = masculine plural
• as amêijoas frescas = feminine plural

So fresco is there because it matches marisco.

In Portugal, marisco usually refers to shellfish / seafood such as shrimp, crab, clams, lobster, etc.

It is not the same as peixe:

• peixe = fish
• marisco = shellfish/seafood

Depending on context, English translations may vary:

• shellfish
• seafood

In this sentence, marisco is a broad category, and camarão is one specific type within that category.

Because marisco can work as a collective or general category noun.

So o marisco can mean:

• seafood in general
• shellfish as a food category
• the shellfish/seafood being sold there

That is why singular agreement is normal:

• o marisco estava fresco

If you wanted to talk about multiple individual shellfish items, you might use a plural form in another sentence, but here the singular category noun is very natural.

Yes, literally levar means to take / to carry. But in shopping contexts, it often means to take away with you, so in natural English it can mean:

• I took
• I got
• I bought

So:

• eu levei só camarão

can be understood as:

• I only took shrimp
• I only got shrimp
• I only bought shrimp

This is very common in Portuguese when talking about what you chose and took home from a shop.

Yes, it could be omitted.

Portuguese often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the person:

• levei already means I took

So both are possible:

• mas eu levei só camarão
• mas levei só camarão

Including eu adds a bit of emphasis or contrast, especially after mas:

• but I only bought shrimp

So the eu helps highlight the contrast between what the lady said and what the speaker actually chose.

Because camarão here is being used in a general, food-item sense, similar to shrimp in English.

In English, we often say:

• I only bought shrimp

not necessarily:

• I only bought shrimps

Portuguese can do something similar:

• só camarão = only shrimp, shrimp in general, shrimp as the thing bought

If you were counting individual pieces, camarões could be used in another context. But camarão in the singular is very natural when talking about it as food or as a category.

Because camarão is being used in a general sense.

• levei só camarão = I only bought shrimp

If you said levei só o camarão, it would sound more like I only took the shrimp, referring to some specific shrimp already identified in the conversation.

So the absence of the article makes it more general and natural here.

In this sentence, só means only and it is placed before the thing being focused:

• levei só camarão = I only took/bought shrimp

That is very natural.

You may also hear:

• eu só levei camarão

This is also natural, though the focus can feel slightly different depending on context. In everyday speech, both patterns are common. Here, levei só camarão clearly emphasizes that the only thing bought was shrimp.

Yes, it sounds very natural in European Portuguese.

A few features that fit Portugal Portuguese well are:

• peixaria for fish shop
• marisco in the sense of seafood/shellfish
• levar used in a shopping context for what you took/bought

A Brazilian Portuguese speaker would understand it perfectly, but the overall phrasing feels very natural for Portugal.