O apartamento tem pouca mobília, mas os eletrodomésticos são novos.

Because pouca has to agree with mobília, which is a feminine singular noun.

• pouco = masculine singular
• pouca = feminine singular
• poucos = masculine plural
• poucas = feminine plural

So:

• pouca mobília = little furniture
• poucos móveis = few pieces of furniture / few items of furniture

Even though furniture feels like a mass noun in English, Portuguese still makes the determiner agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies.

In Portuguese, mobília is a collective singular noun. It refers to furniture as a whole, not to individual items.

That is why the sentence says:

• pouca mobília = little furniture

If you want to talk about individual pieces, Portuguese often uses móveis:

• Há poucos móveis no apartamento. = There are few pieces of furniture in the apartment.

So mobília is more like the general set of furnishings, while móveis refers more directly to the actual items.

They are related, but not exactly the same in use.

• mobília = furniture as a whole, furnishings
• móveis = pieces of furniture, items such as tables, chairs, wardrobes, etc.

In many situations both are possible, but the nuance changes:

• O apartamento tem pouca mobília.
  The apartment is not very furnished / has little furniture overall.

• O apartamento tem poucos móveis.
  The apartment has few furniture items.

For a learner, it is useful to remember that mobília is often treated as an uncountable idea, while móveis is countable.

Because ter is very commonly used in Portuguese to mean to have, especially in everyday speech.

Here:

• O apartamento tem... = The apartment has...

You could sometimes see há with a slightly different structure:

• Há pouca mobília no apartamento. = There is little furniture in the apartment.

Both are natural, but they are not identical in structure:

• O apartamento tem pouca mobília focuses on what the apartment has.
• Há pouca mobília no apartamento states that there is little furniture in the apartment.

Because Portuguese usually does not need a subject pronoun when the subject is already clear.

In this sentence, the subject is explicitly stated:

• O apartamento tem...

So adding ele would normally be unnecessary:

• Ele tem pouca mobília... would mean It has little furniture..., but here Portuguese naturally prefers the noun o apartamento.

Portuguese often omits subject pronouns unless they are needed for emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

Portuguese uses definite articles much more often than English.

Here, os eletrodomésticos means the appliances or the household appliances, referring to the appliances in that apartment.

Even where English might sometimes say just appliances, Portuguese often prefers the article:

• os eletrodomésticos
• os móveis
• a cozinha
• o apartamento

This is completely normal in Portuguese and is something English speakers usually need to get used to.

Eletrodomésticos means household appliances or domestic appliances.

Typical examples include:

• fridge
• washing machine
• oven
• microwave
• dishwasher

It does not usually refer to furniture. So in the sentence, there is a contrast:

• little furniture
• but the appliances are new

That contrast is introduced by mas.

Because os eletrodomésticos is plural, so both the verb and the adjective must agree with it.

• os eletrodomésticos = plural
• são = plural of ser
• novos = masculine plural adjective

Compare:

• O eletrodoméstico é novo. = The appliance is new.
• Os eletrodomésticos são novos. = The appliances are new.

This is a very important pattern in Portuguese: verbs and adjectives often agree with the noun.

Because it agrees with eletrodomésticos, which is a masculine plural noun.

Portuguese adjectives usually match the noun in gender and number:

• novo = masculine singular
• nova = feminine singular
• novos = masculine plural
• novas = feminine plural

So:

• o eletrodoméstico novo
• os eletrodomésticos novos

Even though in the sentence the adjective comes after the verb (são novos), the agreement rule is the same.

In Portuguese, adjectives often come after the noun, especially in straightforward descriptive sentences.

So:

• os eletrodomésticos novos = the new appliances

And in the sentence:

• os eletrodomésticos são novos = the appliances are new

This is very normal word order. Some adjectives can also come before the noun, but that often changes the tone or emphasis. For learners, the safest default is:

• noun + adjective

Yes. Mas means but and is used to introduce contrast.

Here the contrast is:

• the apartment has little furniture,
• but the appliances are new.

So the sentence sets up two different ideas about the apartment:

1. one negative or limiting detail: pouca mobília
2. one positive detail: os eletrodomésticos são novos

This is a very common use of mas in Portuguese.

A helpful approximation is:

• mobília ≈ moh-BEE-lya

The stress falls on lí because of the accent:

• mo-bi-LÍ-a

In European Portuguese, unstressed vowels are often reduced, so the first syllables may sound less clear than in English. The important part for learners is to keep the stress on lí.

A useful approximation is:

• eletrodomésticos ≈ eh-LEH-troh-DOSH-tee-koosh

The main stress is on dés:

• e-le-tro-DÓS-ti-cos

A few European Portuguese points:

• unstressed vowels are often reduced
• final -os often sounds closer to -ush or -oosh to English ears
• the s in domésticos here sounds like sh because of its position

You do not need perfect pronunciation immediately, but noticing the stress pattern helps a lot.

It is understandable, but os eletrodomésticos is better here.

Why?

• aparelhos is a broader word: devices, apparatus, equipment, appliances
• eletrodomésticos specifically means household appliances

So if you are talking about things like a fridge, oven, washing machine, or microwave, eletrodomésticos is the more precise and natural choice.