Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Quando compramos guarda-fatos novos, arrumamos a roupa. - When we buy new wardrobes, we organize the clothes.

The word guarda-fatos (wardrobe) is a compound noun made from a verb (guarda, from guardar - to store) and a plural noun (fatos - suits). When a compound noun starts with a verb, the verb part never becomes plural. Because fatos is already plural, the singular (o guarda-fatos) and plural (os guarda-fatos) are exactly the same!

Since guarda-fatos looks the same in singular and plural, how do we know it means 'wardrobes' here?

We can tell by looking at the adjective! The word novos (new) is in the plural masculine form to agree with the noun. If we were only buying one wardrobe, the sentence would say um guarda-fatos novo.

The translation says 'clothes', so why does the Portuguese sentence use the singular roupa?

In Portuguese, roupa is a collective noun. It is treated grammatically as singular but refers to a group of items, much like the English word 'clothing'. While the plural roupas exists, native speakers strongly prefer the singular a roupa when talking about their clothes as a general category.

Does compramos mean 'we buy' (present) or 'we bought' (past)?