haha ha koutya wo sosoginagara 「daizyoubu?」 to kikimasita.

Normal Japanese is usually written without spaces. The spaces here are just for learners, to help you see the parts more easily:

母 / は / 紅茶 / を / 注ぎながら / 大丈夫？ / と / 聞きました

In natural writing, it would normally appear as:

母は紅茶を注ぎながら「大丈夫？」と聞きました。

Usually, 母 refers to the speaker’s or narrator’s own mother when talking about her to other people. It is a plain, neutral word.

お母さん is more often used:

• when addressing your mother directly
• when speaking warmly
• when referring to someone else’s mother politely

So 母 is very natural in narration like this.

は marks 母 as the topic of the sentence: we are talking about what mother did.

So the sentence is structured like:

• As for mother, she poured tea and asked something.

If you used が, it would put more focus on who did the action, as if identifying mother specifically. In a normal story sentence, は is very common.

Because 紅茶 is the direct object of 注ぐ.

• 紅茶を注ぐ = to pour tea

So を is not connected to 聞きました. It belongs to the earlier action:

• 紅茶を注ぎながら = while pouring tea

It comes from the verb 注ぐ meaning to pour.

Formation:

• dictionary form: 注ぐ
• stem: 注ぎ
• add ながら
• 注ぎながら

This means while pouring.

For comparison:

• 食べる → 食べながら = while eating
• 読む → 読みながら = while reading

ながら means one action happens while another action is going on.

Here:

• 紅茶を注ぎながら
• 大丈夫？と聞きました

So mother asked the question during the action of pouring tea.

A very important point: with ながら, the subject is normally the same for both actions. That means mother is both:

• pouring the tea
• asking the question

Japanese often leaves out words that are clear from context.

大丈夫？ literally feels like:

• okay?
• all right?

The person or thing being talked about is omitted because it is understood from the situation. In English, we usually have to say something like:

• Are you okay?
• Is it okay?

The more polite version would be:

大丈夫ですか。

So 大丈夫？ sounds casual and natural in close conversation.

と marks the content of speech or thought.

So:

• 大丈夫？と聞きました means
• asked 大丈夫？

This pattern is extremely common:

• 〜と言う = say 〜
• 〜と思う = think 〜
• 〜と聞く = ask 〜 / hear 〜

Here, と connects the quoted words to the verb 聞きました.

That is a very common question.

聞く can mean:

• to hear
• to listen
• to ask

When it is used with the content of a question, as in this sentence, it means to ask.

So:

• 大丈夫？と聞きました = asked Are you okay?

This is normal Japanese usage.

Yes, that is completely normal.

The politeness of the quote reflects the speaker in the story:

• mother says 大丈夫？, which is casual

The politeness of 聞きました reflects the narrator’s style:

• the sentence itself is being told politely

So there is no contradiction. Japanese often mixes these naturally:

• casual quoted speech
• polite narration

Japanese usually puts the content of speech before the verb of speaking or asking.

So the order is:

• quoted words
• と
• speaking verb

That is why you get:

• 大丈夫？ と 聞きました

This is the normal Japanese pattern. English often reverses the order:

• Mother asked, Are you okay?

A natural breakdown is:

• 母は = as for mother
• 紅茶を注ぎながら = while pouring tea
• 大丈夫？と = Are you okay?
• 聞きました = asked

Japanese often gives:

1. the topic
2. background information
3. the quoted content
4. the main verb at the end

So the final verb 聞きました completes the whole sentence.