Breakdown of As chaves? Guardo-as na gaveta.
a chave
the key
na
in the / on the / at the (f.sg)
a gaveta
the drawer
guardar
to keep
Questions & Answers about As chaves? Guardo-as na gaveta.
Why do we use -as in this sentence?
-as is a direct object pronoun meaning "them". We use it here to avoid repeating the words As chaves (The keys). Because chaves is feminine and plural, we must use the feminine plural pronoun -as.
Why is the pronoun attached to the end of Guardo with a hyphen?
In European Portuguese, direct object pronouns like -as normally attach to the end of the verb in basic, positive sentences. We connect them using a hyphen, making it Guardo-as.
Where is the word for "I" in Guardo-as?
In Portuguese, you often don't need to use the subject pronoun (like eu for "I") because the verb ending already tells you who is doing the action. The verb guardar (to keep) is conjugated here as Guardo, which can only mean "I keep".
What is na in na gaveta?
na means "in the". It is a required combination of the preposition em (in) and the feminine word for "the", which is a (matching the feminine word gaveta).