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Pourquoi est-ce que tu ajoutes un peu de poivre dans la salade ?

Pourquoi est-ce que tu ajoutes un peu de poivre dans la salade ?
Why are you adding a little pepper to the salad?
From Lesson 47:Expressions of quantity (un peu de, beaucoup de)·French

Questions & Answers about Pourquoi est-ce que tu ajoutes un peu de poivre dans la salade ?

Why is it un peu de poivre and not un peu du poivre?
When using expressions of quantity like un peu de (a little) or beaucoup de (a lot), the word de never changes to du, de la, or des. It stays as just de (or d' before a vowel), even though poivre is a masculine word!
Why do we need est-ce que here?
Est-ce que literally means "is it that". Placing it right after a question word like Pourquoi (why) is a standard way to form a question in French. It lets you keep the subject (tu) and the verb (ajoutes) in their normal everyday order.
Why does the French sentence use dans (in) when the English translation says "to"?
Languages often use different connecting words. In French, you are physically mixing the pepper into the bowl of salad, so dans (in or into) is the most natural word to use here, rather than trying to directly translate the English word "to".
Do I pronounce the "s" at the end of ajoutes?
No, that "s" is completely silent. For regular verbs ending in "-er" like ajouter (to add), the tu (you) form always ends with an "s" in writing, but it sounds exactly the same as the je, il, and elle forms.

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