En la guantera guardamos el mapa, el seguro y una linterna pequeña.

Guardamos is the first-person plural form of guardar, so it means we keep / we store.

Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb ending already makes the subject clear. So:

• guardamos = we keep
• nosotros guardamos = we keep too, but with extra emphasis on we

So the sentence does not need nosotros.

Yes, in isolation guardamos can be either:

• present: we keep / we store
• preterite: we kept / we put away

In this sentence, the natural reading is present, because it sounds like a general fact or habit: we keep the map, the insurance, and a small flashlight in the glove compartment.

Context normally tells you which meaning is intended.

Because Spanish is quite flexible with word order. En la guantera is a place expression, and putting it first gives that location a little focus:

• En la guantera guardamos... = In the glove compartment, we keep...
• Guardamos... en la guantera = We keep... in the glove compartment

Both are correct. Starting with En la guantera sounds natural if you want to establish where the items are kept.

La guantera means the glove compartment in a car.

It comes historically from guante (glove), but in modern Spanish guantera is the normal word for the compartment in front of the passenger seat.

It is a feminine noun, which is why it takes la:

• la guantera

Because mapa is one of the common Spanish nouns that end in -a but are still masculine.

So you say:

• el mapa
• un mapa

not:

• la mapa

This is just something you have to learn as an exception. Other similar masculine nouns of Greek origin include:

• el problema
• el sistema
• el programa

Here seguro is a noun, not an adjective.

It means insurance or, in this kind of context, often the insurance documents / insurance policy for the car.

Compare:

• seguro as an adjective = safe / sure
  • Es seguro = It is safe
• el seguro as a noun = the insurance
  • Llevamos el seguro en el coche = We keep the insurance in the car

So in this sentence, el seguro is definitely the noun.

Because the sentence mixes definite and indefinite articles.

• el mapa = the map
• el seguro = the insurance
• una linterna pequeña = a small flashlight

This suggests that the map and the insurance are specific, known items, while a small flashlight is just one item of that type, not necessarily a uniquely identified one.

Spanish also commonly repeats the article in a list, especially when listing separate items clearly:

• el mapa, el seguro y una linterna pequeña

That sounds very natural.

Because in Spanish, descriptive adjectives usually come after the noun.

So:

• una linterna pequeña = a small flashlight

That is the most neutral, normal order.

If you put the adjective before the noun, it can sound more literary, emphatic, or slightly different in nuance:

• una pequeña linterna

That is also possible, but una linterna pequeña is the straightforward everyday wording.

Also, pequeña must agree with linterna, which is feminine singular:

• linterna → feminine singular
• pequeña → feminine singular form

Because en is the preposition meaning in.

So:

• en la guantera = in the glove compartment

You need the preposition to show location. Without en, it would not express in the glove compartment correctly.

Yes, absolutely:

• Nosotros guardamos el mapa, el seguro y una linterna pequeña.

This is grammatically correct. But in normal Spanish, the pronoun is often omitted unless you want to:

• emphasize we
• contrast with someone else
• avoid ambiguity

So the version without nosotros sounds more natural in many situations.

Not necessarily. Spanish often uses el seguro as a singular noun meaning:

• the insurance
• the insurance policy
• sometimes by extension the insurance papers

Even if in real life there may be multiple pieces of paper, the concept is often treated as a single item. This is similar to how English can say the insurance without specifying papers.

Here guardar means to keep, to store, or to put away.

It can sometimes translate as to save, but not usually in the sense of saving money or saving a file. In this sentence, it clearly means to keep/store something in a place.

Examples:

• Guardo las llaves en el cajón. = I keep the keys in the drawer.
• Guardamos el mapa en la guantera. = We keep the map in the glove compartment.

So guardar is a very natural verb here.

You can tell from the article and adjective agreement:

• una linterna
• linterna pequeña

Both una and pequeña are feminine singular, so linterna is feminine:

• la linterna
• una linterna

This is a useful strategy in Spanish: articles and adjectives often show you the noun’s gender.

Yes. Both are correct:

• una linterna pequeña
• una pequeña linterna

The difference is mainly one of style and nuance:

• una linterna pequeña = neutral, standard description
• una pequeña linterna = slightly more expressive or stylistically marked

For everyday Spanish, especially at learner level, noun + adjective is the safest default with descriptive adjectives like pequeña.

Yes, it works perfectly in Spain. In particular, guantera is the normal Spain Spanish word for glove compartment.

The rest of the sentence is standard Spanish that would also be understood elsewhere, though vocabulary can vary a bit by region. For example, some speakers in other countries might use different car-related terms, but guantera is very natural in Spain.