אם הרוטב יישאר מלוח, נוסיף עוד לימון ועוד קצת מים עד שהטעם יהיה טוב יותר.

אם means if.

In this sentence, it introduces a real future condition:

אם הרוטב יישאר מלוח, נוסיף...
If the sauce remains salty, we’ll add...

This is a very common pattern in Hebrew:

• אם
  • future verb
• then another future verb in the main clause

For example:

• אם יהיה זמן, נלך. — If there is time, we’ll go.

Because the sentence describes a possible situation in the future and what will happen if that situation occurs.

• יישאר = will remain
• נוסיף = we will add

Hebrew often uses the future tense in both parts of this kind of conditional sentence:

אם הרוטב יישאר מלוח, נוסיף...
If the sauce remains salty, we’ll add...

This is more natural in Hebrew than trying to match English tense patterns exactly.

יישאר means will remain, will stay, or will still be.

It comes from the verb להישאר — to remain / to stay.

So:

• הרוטב יישאר מלוח = the sauce will remain salty
• more naturally in English: the sauce is still salty

The idea is that after tasting it, if it’s still too salty, something else will be added.

Because רוטב (sauce) is a masculine noun.

In Hebrew, adjectives agree with the noun in gender and number:

• masculine singular: מלוח
• feminine singular: מלוחה

Since הרוטב is masculine singular, the adjective must also be masculine singular:

הרוטב מלוח — the sauce is salty

נוסיף means we will add.

It is the first person plural future form of להוסיף — to add.

So:

• אני אוסיף — I will add
• אנחנו נוסיף — we will add

In the sentence, the speaker is including themself in the action: נוסיף עוד לימון... — we’ll add more lemon...

עוד usually means more, another, or additional, depending on context.

Here it appears twice:

• עוד לימון — more lemon
• עוד קצת מים — a little more water

So עוד is adding the sense of more / additional each time.

A useful distinction:

• לימון אחד ועוד לימון = one lemon and another lemon
• עוד לימון in a cooking context often means more lemon / more lemon juice

Because in food and cooking, Hebrew often uses a singular noun to talk about an ingredient as a substance or flavor, not necessarily as a countable whole object.

So עוד לימון can mean:

• more lemon
• more lemon juice
• more lemon flavor

It does not necessarily mean one more whole lemon.

This is similar to English, where we also say add more lemon in cooking, not necessarily add more lemons.

Both are possible, but they mean slightly different things.

• עוד מים = more water
• עוד קצת מים = a little more water / a bit more water

קצת means a little / a bit.

So:

• עוד adds the idea of more
• קצת makes it a small amount

Together: עוד קצת מים = a little more water

Because את marks a definite direct object, and these nouns are indefinite here.

Compare:

• נוסיף לימון — we’ll add lemon
• נוסיף את הלימון — we’ll add the lemon

In your sentence:

• לימון = not specific
• קצת מים = not specific

So את is not used.

עד ש־ means until.

In the sentence: עד שהטעם יהיה טוב יותר
until the taste will be better
more naturally: until the taste is better

So the whole idea is: we’ll keep adjusting the sauce by adding lemon and water until it tastes better.

This is a very useful structure:

• נחכה עד שהוא יבוא. — We’ll wait until he comes.
• נבשל עד שזה יהיה רך. — We’ll cook until it becomes soft.

Because הטעם explicitly names what is supposed to improve: the taste.

• הטעם = the taste / the flavor
• יהיה טוב יותר = will be better

So: עד שהטעם יהיה טוב יותר = until the taste is better

You could sometimes omit the noun if the meaning is obvious, but keeping הטעם makes the sentence clearer and more natural.

Yes. טוב יותר means better.

Literally:

• טוב = good
• יותר = more

So טוב יותר = more good, which is how Hebrew forms the comparative here.

You may also hear:

• יותר טוב

Both are common in modern Hebrew.
טוב יותר is often felt to be a bit neater or more formal, but both are widely understood and used.

Because the sentence is talking about a specific sauce and its taste.

• הרוטב = the sauce
• הטעם = the taste / the flavor

Even if English might sometimes say if sauce is still salty, Hebrew naturally uses the definite form here because the speaker and listener both know which sauce is being discussed.

Also, הטעם refers to the taste of that specific sauce, so the definite article is natural.

The structure is:

אם + subject + future verb + adjective,
then main clause with future verb,
then עד ש־ clause.

So:

אם הרוטב יישאר מלוח, נוסיף עוד לימון ועוד קצת מים עד שהטעם יהיה טוב יותר.

Breakdown:

• אם הרוטב יישאר מלוח — if the sauce remains salty
• נוסיף עוד לימון ועוד קצת מים — we’ll add more lemon and a little more water
• עד שהטעם יהיה טוב יותר — until the taste is better

This word order is very natural in Hebrew.

Yes. A natural English translation would be something like:

If the sauce is still too salty, we’ll add more lemon and a little more water until it tastes better.

That is more idiomatic than a very literal translation like: If the sauce remains salty, we will add more lemon and a little more water until the taste will be better.

The Hebrew itself is perfectly normal; it’s just that natural English often smooths it out.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

im ha-RO-tev yi-sha-ER ma-LU-ach, no-SIF od li-MON ve-od ktsat MA-yim ad she-ha-TA-am yi-HYE tov yo-TER

A few notes:

• אם = im
• יישאר has a break before the last syllable: yi-sha-ER
• מלוח ends with the guttural ach sound: ma-LU-ach
• מים = MA-yim
• הטעם = ha-TA-am

It is natural and understandable Hebrew.

A native speaker might also say something like:

• אם הרוטב עדיין מלוח, נוסיף עוד לימון וקצת מים עד שהטעם ישתפר.

That version uses:

• עדיין = still
• ישתפר = will improve

But your original sentence is absolutely good Hebrew and very useful for learning common structures.