Mi sobrina guardó otra servilleta en el servilletero antes de sentarse a comer.

to eat

Breakdown of Mi sobrina guardó otra servilleta en el servilletero antes de sentarse a comer.

• en: in
• mi: my
• a: to

Questions & Answers about Mi sobrina guardó otra servilleta en el servilletero antes de sentarse a comer.

Why is it guardó? What tense is that?

Guardó is the preterite form of guardar for él / ella / usted.

So:

• yo guardé
• tú guardaste
• él / ella guardó

The preterite is used for a completed action in the past. Here, the niece put away / placed / stored the napkin, and that action is viewed as finished.

So Mi sobrina guardó... means that she did that action at a specific moment before the next action.

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What does guardar mean here? I thought it meant to save.

Guardar often means to keep, put away, store, save, or put in its place, depending on context.

In this sentence, guardó otra servilleta en el servilletero does not mean saved in the sense of money or computer files. It means something like:

• put another napkin into the napkin holder
• placed another napkin in the holder
• put away another napkin in the napkin holder

So guardar is a very flexible verb, and context tells you which English translation works best.

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Why is it otra servilleta and not una otra servilleta?