Quando o escorredor está cheio, eu guardo logo a loiça no armário.

Because estar is used for a state or condition, while ser is used for a more permanent characteristic.

Here, cheio means full, and the dish rack is only full temporarily, so Portuguese uses está cheio = is full.

• está cheio = it is full right now / when this situation happens
• é cheio would sound wrong here, because it suggests something like an essential quality

So:

• O escorredor está cheio. = The dish rack is full.

In this sentence, o escorredor means the dish rack / draining rack / drainer where washed dishes are left to dry.

It comes from the verb escorrer, meaning to drain or to drip.

Depending on context, escorredor can refer to different kinds of draining devices, but here it clearly means the kitchen rack for drying dishes.

No. In Portuguese, logo is a very common adverb, and here it means right away, straight away, or as soon as possible.

So:

• eu guardo logo a loiça = I put the dishes away straight away

This is a very useful word in European Portuguese.

Be careful: it does not mean the English word logo.

Yes, guardar can mean to keep, to store, or to put away, depending on context.

In this sentence, guardo a loiça no armário means:

• I put the dishes away in the cupboard

This is a very natural use of guardar in Portuguese. It often means putting something back where it belongs.

Examples:

• Guardar a roupa = to put away clothes
• Guardar os brinquedos = to put away toys
• Guardar a loiça = to put away the dishes

Loiça is a collective noun meaning dishes, crockery, or tableware in general.

It is broader than pratos:

• pratos = plates
• loiça = dishes/tableware as a group

So a loiça can include plates, bowls, cups, etc.

A useful European Portuguese note:

• In Portugal, the usual spelling is loiça
• In Brazil, you will often see louça

Portuguese uses definite articles much more often than English.

So where English might just say dishes, Portuguese often says a loiça.

Here, a loiça refers to the dishes in a general but identifiable context — the dishes that are in the rack and need putting away.

This is very normal in Portuguese:

• Lavo a roupa. = I wash the clothes / laundry.
• Guardo a loiça. = I put away the dishes.

Yes. Portuguese often omits subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

So both of these are possible:

• guardo logo a loiça no armário
• eu guardo logo a loiça no armário

Including eu can add:

• clarity
• emphasis
• contrast

In this sentence, eu is not strictly necessary, but it is perfectly natural.

Because em + o contracts to no in Portuguese.

So:

• em o armário → no armário

This is a standard contraction:

• em + o = no
• em + a = na
• em + os = nos
• em + as = nas

So no armário means in the cupboard / in the cabinet.

The sentence is describing a habitual action or a general routine:

• Quando o escorredor está cheio = When the dish rack is full
• eu guardo logo a loiça no armário = I put the dishes away straight away

Portuguese often uses the present indicative for things that regularly happen.

So this sentence does not necessarily mean it is happening right now. It can mean:

• Whenever the rack gets full, I put the dishes away right away.

Yes. This is an important point.

With quando, Portuguese uses different verb forms depending on the meaning.

In this sentence, the meaning is habitual/general, so Portuguese uses the present indicative:

• Quando o escorredor está cheio, eu guardo...

But if you are talking about a future event, Portuguese often uses the future subjunctive after quando:

• Quando o escorredor estiver cheio, eu guardo a loiça.
• When the dish rack is full, I’ll put the dishes away.

So:

• quando está = whenever it is / when it is usually
• quando estiver = when it is in the future

Because the sentence begins with a subordinate clause:

• Quando o escorredor está cheio = introductory time clause

Then comes the main clause:

• eu guardo logo a loiça no armário

In Portuguese, it is very common to separate an introductory clause like this with a comma.

So the comma helps show the structure clearly:

• When the dish rack is full, I put the dishes away right away.

Yes. Portuguese allows some flexibility in word order, especially with adverbs like logo.

The original sentence:

• eu guardo logo a loiça no armário

is very natural and means:

• I put the dishes away right away in the cupboard

You may also hear:

• eu logo guardo a loiça no armário — less common here
• eu guardo a loiça logo no armário — possible, but can sound like in the cupboard right away
• guardo logo a loiça — also natural

In this sentence, placing logo before a loiça is the most natural way to show that the action happens immediately.

Yes, it sounds especially European Portuguese because of words like loiça and the overall phrasing.

A Brazilian Portuguese version might use:

• louça instead of loiça
• possibly armário as well, which is common in both
• and the same structure could still be understood perfectly

So the sentence is fully standard Portuguese, but loiça is a strong clue that it is from Portugal.