Guardo las llaves debajo del sofá.

Because Spanish often drops the subject pronoun when it is already clear from the verb ending.

• guardo = I keep / I store / I put away
• The -o ending already tells you the subject is I

You can say yo guardo if you want extra emphasis, contrast, or clarity, but in a neutral sentence guardo is more natural.

Guardar usually means to keep, to store, to put away, or sometimes to save.

In this sentence, it means something like:

• I keep the keys under the sofa
• I store the keys under the sofa
• I put the keys away under the sofa

It does not usually mean to guard in the English sense of protecting something physically. Even though the words look similar, guardar is broader and often means simply to keep/put away.

Spanish often uses the definite article (el, la, los, las) where English would use a possessive like my, your, or his.

So las llaves can naturally mean:

• the keys
• or, depending on context, my keys / your keys / the keys

If the owner is obvious from the situation, Spanish often prefers the article.

So:

• Guardo las llaves debajo del sofá = natural Spanish
• Guardo mis llaves debajo del sofá = also correct, but more explicit

Llave is a feminine noun:

• singular: la llave = the key
• plural: las llaves = the keys

That is why the article is las, not los.

Because debajo is normally followed by de:

• debajo de = under / underneath

So the full structure is:

• debajo de el sofá

But in Spanish, de + el contracts to del:

• de el → del

So:

• debajo del sofá = under the sofa

Yes. Bajo el sofá is also correct and means under the sofa.

A rough comparison:

• debajo de = very common for physical location, often clearly underneath
• bajo = also means under, sometimes slightly more formal or concise

In everyday Spanish, both are possible here:

• Guardo las llaves debajo del sofá
• Guardo las llaves bajo el sofá

The version with debajo de often sounds a bit more explicit about physical position.

This is the most neutral and natural order:

• Guardo = verb
• las llaves = direct object
• debajo del sofá = place/location phrase

So the structure is:

Verb + object + location

Spanish word order is flexible, but this is the standard order for a simple statement.

You could move things around for emphasis, for example:

• Debajo del sofá guardo las llaves

That is possible, but it sounds more marked or emphatic.

By itself, guardo is the present indicative, and it can mean different things depending on context:

• habit / usual action: I keep the keys under the sofa
• general fact: I store the keys under the sofa
• sometimes even what I’m doing now, though Spanish often uses the simple present more broadly than English

If you want to emphasize right now, Spanish could also say:

• Estoy guardando las llaves debajo del sofá = I am putting the keys under the sofa

But the simple present guardo is perfectly normal.

Sometimes the idea can overlap, but guardar usually means keep, store, or put away, not specifically hide.

If you want to clearly say hide, Spanish more often uses:

• esconder = to hide

So:

• Guardo las llaves debajo del sofá = I keep/store/put the keys under the sofa
• Escondo las llaves debajo del sofá = I hide the keys under the sofa

Depending on context, guardar might imply putting them somewhere tucked away, but esconder is stronger if secrecy is important.

The accent mark shows where the stress goes:

• sofá → stress on the last syllable

Without the accent, Spanish spelling rules would make you stress it differently.

So the written accent tells you the correct pronunciation.

Also useful:

• singular: el sofá
• plural: los sofás

The accent stays in the plural.

In most of Spain today, llaves is pronounced roughly like YA-bes or LYA-bes, depending on the speaker and region.

A few notes:

• ll is often pronounced similarly to y
• v in Spanish is not a strong English v sound; it is closer to a soft b
• llaves is stressed on the first syllable: LLA-ves

So a rough English-friendly guide is:

• YAH-bes

But pronunciation varies a bit across Spain, especially with ll.

No, because sofá is masculine, not feminine.

It is:

• el sofá
• debajo del sofá

Not:

• la sofá
• debajo de la sofá

So the contraction del only works because the noun is masculine singular with el.

Yes. Del is the contraction of:

• de + el

It happens whenever de is followed by the masculine singular article el:

• debajo del sofá
• al lado del coche
• la puerta del baño

One important exception: if El is part of a proper name, you do not contract it.

Example:

• de El Escorial (not del Escorial, when El is part of the official name)

But in your sentence, sofá is a normal noun, so del is required.