J’ajoute des noix et des amandes dans le gâteau, mais Paul préfère un dessert plus simple.

Because French normally shortens je to j’ before a vowel sound or a silent h. This is called elision.

So:

• je ajoute → j’ajoute
• je aime → j’aime

It makes the sentence easier to pronounce.

It can mean either one. French uses the present tense for both the simple present and the present progressive in many cases.

So j’ajoute can mean:

• I add
• I’m adding

Context tells you which one sounds best in English.

Here, des is the plural indefinite article, meaning something like some.

So:

• des noix = some nuts / some walnuts
• des amandes = some almonds

French usually needs an article before plural count nouns, even where English might just say nuts or almonds.

In French, it is very normal to repeat the article before each noun in a list or pair like this.

So:

• des noix et des amandes = natural
• des noix et amandes = possible in some contexts, but less standard here

Repeating des makes the structure clear and sounds more natural in everyday French.

Strictly speaking, une noix often means a walnut. However, in some food contexts, English may translate it more loosely as nuts.

In this sentence, since amandes is listed separately, many learners would understand noix as walnuts more specifically. So the phrase is really closer to:

• walnuts and almonds

rather than a general category plus almonds.

Dans le gâteau literally means in/into the cake. It emphasizes putting the nuts and almonds inside the cake or cake mixture.

With ajouter, French also often uses:

• ajouter quelque chose au gâteau = add something to the cake

So:

• dans le gâteau focuses on the idea of putting them inside
• au gâteau is also very common and often sounds a bit more idiomatic with ajouter

The sentence you have is understandable; it just highlights the idea of the ingredients going into the cake.

Le gâteau refers to a specific cake already known from the situation: the cake the speaker is making or talking about.

French often uses the definite article where English might say:

• the cake
• or even just cake in a more general-feeling way

Here, le gâteau means there is a particular cake in mind, not just any cake.

Because the verb is préférer, and its spelling changes in some forms when it is conjugated.

You get:

• je préfère
• tu préfères
• il/elle préfère
• ils/elles préfèrent

but:

• nous préférons
• vous préférez

That accent change helps reflect the pronunciation. This is a common pattern with some French verbs.

Because in French, adjectives usually come after the noun, not before it.

So:

• un dessert simple = a simple dessert
• un dessert plus simple = a simpler dessert

Also, plus simple is acting as an adjective phrase describing dessert, so it stays after the noun.

Because the second part of the comparison is only implied, not stated.

French uses:

• plus + adjective = more / -er
• plus ... que ... = more ... than ...

So:

• un dessert plus simple = a simpler dessert
• un dessert plus simple que celui-ci = a dessert simpler than this one

In your sentence, we understand that Paul prefers something simpler than the cake being described, or simpler than a richer dessert in general, so que is not necessary.

Gâteau means cake, which is a specific type of food.

Dessert is broader: it means dessert, so it can be cake, fruit, mousse, ice cream, and so on.

That means the sentence is not necessarily saying Paul prefers a simpler cake. It says he prefers a simpler dessert in general. So the second part is slightly broader than the first.