Breakdown of Que saca-rolhas bonitos! Quero guardá-los.
bonito
beautiful
que
what (before a noun)
querer
to want
os
them (m)
guardar
to keep
o saca-rolhas
the corkscrew
Questions & Answers about Que saca-rolhas bonitos! Quero guardá-los.
Why doesn't the word saca-rolhas change its spelling to show it is plural?
It is a compound noun made from the verb saca (pulls) and the plural noun rolhas (corks). In Portuguese, compound nouns made of a verb plus a plural noun are invariable, meaning their singular and plural forms are exactly the same (one saca-rolhas, two saca-rolhas). We only know it is plural in this sentence because the adjective bonitos is plural.
Why use Que to say "What" here instead of a plural word like Quais?
Why does guardar change to guardá-los when adding the pronoun for "them"?
When an infinitive verb (like guardar) is followed by the direct object pronouns o, a, os, or as, we must drop the final -r of the verb and add an l to the pronoun. This rule turns guardar plus os into the combined form guardá-los.
Why is there suddenly an accent mark on guardá-los?
When we drop the -r from an -ar verb to attach a pronoun, we add an acute accent (á) to the final vowel of the verb. This accent ensures we keep the spoken stress exactly where it was in the original infinitive word (guardar).
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