Learn Hardcore French: J’ajoute du vinaigre et un peu de citron dans la salade. - I add some vinegar and a bit of lemon to the salad.

French elides the subject pronoun je to j’ before a word that starts with a vowel sound or silent h. Since ajoute starts with the vowel sound /a/, you must write and say J’ajoute. Using Je ajoute is incorrect. Also note the verb form with je is ajoute (no final -s); the -s is for tu: tu ajoutes.

How do you conjugate ajouter in the present tense?

It’s a regular -ER verb:

je ajoute (→ j’ajoute)
tu ajoutes
il/elle/on ajoute
nous ajoutons
vous ajoutez
ils/elles ajoutent

Why du vinaigre and not de le vinaigre?

Du is the contraction of de + le and is also the regular partitive article for a masculine mass noun. Vinaigre is masculine and uncountable here, so you use the partitive to mean “some (unspecified amount of) vinegar”: du vinaigre. You would use:

de la for feminine mass nouns (e.g., de la moutarde),
de l’ before a vowel sound (e.g., de l’huile),
des for plural countable items (e.g., des tomates).

Why is it un peu de citron and not un peu du citron?

After quantity expressions (e.g., un peu, beaucoup, trop, assez), French uses bare de (or d’), not the partitive. Hence un peu de citron = “a little (bit) of lemon.”
If you said un peu du citron, it would mean “a little of the lemon” (referring to a specific lemon already identified in the context).

In un peu de citron, does citron mean the fruit, the juice, or zest?

By default it’s the lemon as a substance (most often understood as the juice in a cooking context). If you want to be explicit, say un peu de jus de citron for lemon juice or un peu de zeste de citron for zest.

Can I say un petit peu de citron?

Yes. Un petit peu de is a common, slightly softer way to say “a tiny bit of.” Meaning and grammar stay the same.

Why dans la salade? Could I use à la salade or sur la salade instead?

ajouter X à Y is the standard pattern “add X to Y”: J’ajoute du vinaigre à la salade (very idiomatic).
dans la salade emphasizes “into/inside the mixture,” common in cooking instructions (perfectly natural).
sur la salade means “on top of the salad,” focusing on the surface rather than mixing in.

Your sentence with dans is fine; many speakers would also naturally say à la salade.

Is there any difference between ajouter and mettre here?

Both can work, but:

ajouter specifically means “to add,” often when something new is being incorporated into something else.
mettre is broader (“to put/place”) and is very common in cooking too: Je mets du vinaigre et un peu de citron dans la salade.
If you want to stress that you’re adding something in addition to what’s already there, you can also hear rajouter (colloquial).

How would I say it using pronouns for “to/into the salad”?

Use y for places or things introduced by à, dans, sur, etc.
→ J’y ajoute du vinaigre et un peu de citron.
Here, y stands for à/dans la salade.

How do I replace “du vinaigre” or “un peu de citron” with pronouns?

Use en for complements introduced by de:

“I add (some) vinegar (to it).” → J’y en ajoute.
“I add a little (of it).” → J’en ajoute un peu. If you use both y and en, the order is … y … en: J’y en ajoute un peu. (Grammatically fine, though everyday speech often avoids stacking both by rewording.)

Can I say Je lui ajoute du vinaigre to mean “I add vinegar to the salad”?

No. Lui is for people (or sometimes animals) with à (e.g., Je lui parle = I speak to him/her). For places/things with à/dans, use y or repeat the noun:

J’ajoute du vinaigre à la salade.
J’y ajoute du vinaigre.

What changes in the negative?

With negation, the partitive/indefinite typically becomes de/d’:

Je n’ajoute pas de vinaigre (dans/à la salade).
Je n’ajoute pas de citron.
Saying Je n’ajoute pas un peu de citron is unusual; you’d normally say Je n’ajoute pas de citron or, for emphasis, Je n’ajoute même pas un peu de citron (“not even a little”).

Why la salade and not une salade?

La salade means “the salad” (a specific salad already known in the context—e.g., the one you’re making).
Une salade would be “a salad” (any salad, not previously identified). In a recipe or general instruction, you might also see dans une salade (“in a salad”).

Could it be dans de la salade?

You could say dans de la salade to mean “in some salad (unspecified salad in general),” but in a concrete context where you’re preparing a particular bowl, dans la salade (“in the salad [on the counter]”) is more natural.

Why not write du vinaigre et d’un peu de citron?

Because ajouter doesn’t take the preposition de; du here is a partitive article (not a preposition). After et, you simply coordinate two direct objects: du vinaigre and un peu de citron. Writing d’un peu de citron would incorrectly add a preposition that isn’t required.

Can I swap the order: J’ajoute un peu de citron et du vinaigre…?

Yes. The meaning is the same; the order just shifts the emphasis slightly to the first item mentioned.

How do you pronounce the whole sentence?

Approximate IPA: [ʒaʒut dy vinɛɡʁ e œ̃ pø də sitʁɔ̃ dɑ̃ la salad(ə)]
Tips:

J’ajoute: [ʒa-ʒut]; both j’s sound like the s in “vision.”
du: [dy] (French u, lips rounded).
vinaigre: [vi-nɛɡʁ] (final r pronounced; the final e can be very light or silent).
et: [e]; no liaison after et.
un: nasalized [œ̃].
peu: [pø].
citron: [si-tʁɔ̃] (final nasal vowel).
dans: [dɑ̃].
salade: [sa-lad(ə)] (final e may be a light schwa).

Does citron mean lemon or lime?

Citron is lemon. A lime is citron vert in French. If a recipe needs lime, it will say du citron vert.