Amaneix l'amanida amb llimona si no vols que quedi tan àcida com la d'ahir amb massa vinagre.

Amaneix is the informal singular imperative of amanir, which means to dress/season food, especially a salad.

So Amaneix l'amanida... means Dress the salad... or Season the salad...

It is the form you would use when speaking to one person informally, like you in Dress the salad with lemon.

Related forms:

• amanir = infinitive
• amaneixo = I dress/season
• amaneix = he/she dresses, or dress! to one person informally

Not exactly.

Amanir is more specific: it means to season or to dress food, especially salad. It often refers to adding things like oil, vinegar, lemon, salt, etc.

So:

• preparar l'amanida = prepare the salad
• posar-hi llimona = put lemon in/on it
• amanir l'amanida = dress/season the salad

In this sentence, amanir is the most natural verb because the speaker is talking about what to use for the dressing.

Because apostrophes in Catalan depend on the sound at the beginning of the next word.

• l'amanida: amanida begins with a vowel sound, so la becomes l'
• llimona: it begins with ll, which is a consonant sound, so there is no apostrophe

So:

• la amanida ❌
• l'amanida ✅
• l'llimona ❌
• la llimona ✅

In the sentence, amb llimona just means with lemon.

This is a very common question.

• si no = if not
• sinó = but rather / except / but instead

Here the sentence means: Dress the salad with lemon if you don't want...

So it needs si no, two words, because it literally means if not.

Compare:

• Fes-ho ara, si no serà massa tard. = Do it now, otherwise it will be too late.
• No vull vinagre, sinó llimona. = I don’t want vinegar, but rather lemon.

Because after voler que (to want that...), Catalan normally uses the subjunctive.

So:

• vols que quedi = you want it to turn out / end up
• vols que queda ❌

Here:

• quedi is the present subjunctive of quedar

This is very typical in Catalan:

• Vull que vinguis. = I want you to come.
• No volen que marxem. = They don’t want us to leave.
• Vols que quedi menys àcida? = Do you want it to be less acidic?

Yes, quedar often means to stay, but in cooking and many other contexts it can mean to turn out, to end up, or to come out.

In this sentence:

• que quedi tan àcida = that it turns out so acidic / that it ends up as acidic

So the idea is not just physical staying; it is about the result.

Very natural translations would be:

• if you don’t want it to turn out as acidic
• if you don’t want it to end up so acidic

Because Catalan distinguishes between tan and tant.

Use tan before:

• adjectives
• adverbs

Use tant / tanta / tants / tantes with:

• nouns
• sometimes as pronouns

Here àcida is an adjective, so:

• tan àcida com... ✅ = as acidic as...
• tant àcida com... ❌

Compare:

• tan àcida = so/as acidic
• tant vinagre = so much vinegar

That is why the same sentence has:

• tan àcida
• massa vinagre

Because it agrees with amanida, which is a feminine noun.

• l'amanida = feminine singular
• therefore àcida must also be feminine singular

Compare:

• el suc és àcid = the juice is acidic
• l'amanida és àcida = the salad is acidic

The same agreement is understood in:

• que quedi tan àcida... because the thing being described is still l'amanida

La d'ahir means the one from yesterday.

This is an example of ellipsis: Catalan leaves out the noun because it is already understood.

Full version:

• la d'ahir = l'amanida d'ahir

Why la? Because the omitted noun is l'amanida, which is feminine.

So:

• com la d'ahir = like yesterday’s one
• more literally: like the salad from yesterday

This is very common in Catalan:

• el d'avui = today’s one
• la de la Maria = Maria’s one / Maria’s
• les de demà = tomorrow’s ones

In this sentence, it most naturally describes la d'ahir — the salad from yesterday.

So the meaning is: ...as acidic as yesterday’s one, which had too much vinegar.

That is the most logical reading because the speaker is warning against repeating yesterday’s result.

So the structure is basically:

• Amaneix l'amanida amb llimona
• si no vols que quedi tan àcida
• com la d'ahir amb massa vinagre

The final phrase explains why yesterday’s salad was so acidic.

Not in this sentence as it stands.

The sentence is: si no vols que quedi tan àcida... = if you don’t want it to turn out so acidic...

The no belongs to vols:

• si no vols = if you do not want

If you said:

• si vols que no quedi tan àcida... that would mean:
• if you want it not to turn out so acidic...

That is also grammatical, but it is a different structure and emphasis.

So:

• si no vols que quedi tan àcida = if you don’t want it to be so acidic
• si vols que no quedi tan àcida = if you want it not to be so acidic

Both can work, but the original sentence uses the first pattern.

Yes. Amb is the normal word for with.

So:

• amb llimona = with lemon
• amb massa vinagre = with too much vinegar

In cooking contexts, Catalan often uses amb very naturally:

• amanida amb tomàquet
• pollastre amb arròs
• amanit amb oli i sal

In this sentence, amb llimona means that lemon is being used as the dressing ingredient instead of too much vinegar.

Yes, it is very natural.

The structure is:

1. Amaneix l'amanida amb llimona = command
2. si no vols... = condition
3. que quedi tan àcida com la d'ahir... = subordinate clause with subjunctive comparison

Catalan often places the main command first, then adds the reason or condition after it.

A very literal breakdown is:

• Dress the salad with lemon
• if you don’t want
• it to turn out as acidic as yesterday’s one with too much vinegar

So even if it feels a bit compact to an English speaker, the word order is normal and idiomatic.

A more expanded version could be:

Amaneix l'amanida amb llimona, si no vols que l'amanida quedi tan àcida com l'amanida d'ahir, que tenia massa vinagre.

That version repeats nouns and makes the relationships clearer, but it sounds less natural because Catalan usually prefers the shorter version once the context is obvious.

The original sentence is more idiomatic because it avoids unnecessary repetition:

• l'amanida is later understood
• la d'ahir replaces l'amanida d'ahir

So the original is concise but perfectly normal Catalan.