haha ha mikan no kawa wo muite, kodomo ni agemasita.

は marks 母 as the topic of the sentence: As for Mother, ...

That means the sentence is presenting what the mother did. In many beginner sentences, は is used when the speaker is introducing the person or thing the sentence is about.

If you used が instead, it would sound more like you are specifically identifying mother as the one who did the action, often with a nuance of contrast or emphasis.

So here:

• 母は = As for Mother, ...
• 母が = Mother is the one who ... / more focus on the subject

の links two nouns together.

Here:

• みかん = mandarin orange / tangerine
• 皮 = skin, peel

So みかんの皮 means the peel of the mandarin orange or more naturally in English, the mandarin peel.

This is a very common Japanese pattern:

• A の B = B of A / A’s B

Examples:

• 日本の車 = Japanese car / car of Japan
• 猫の耳 = cat’s ears
• りんごの皮 = apple peel

Because the thing directly acted on by むく is the peel, not the fruit as a whole.

In this sentence, the mother is removing the peel, so 皮をむいて is literally peeling/removing the peel.

Japanese often expresses this action as acting on the peel itself:

• みかんの皮をむく = to peel a mandarin orange

Even though in English we often say peel the orange, Japanese commonly focuses on the peel:

• りんごの皮をむく = peel an apple
• literally: remove the apple’s skin

むいて is the て-form of むく.

• dictionary form: むく = to peel
• て-form: むいて

For a -く verb, the て-form usually changes like this:

• 書く → 書いて
• むく → むいて

In this sentence, the て-form connects two actions:

1. 皮をむいて = peeled the peel / peeled it
2. 子供にあげました = gave it to the child

So the overall sense is peeled it and gave it to the child.

Yes, that is the natural reading here.

The て-form often links actions in sequence, so:

• 皮をむいて、子供にあげました
• peeled it, and then gave it to the child

The order matters because the first action prepares for the second one. The mother first peeled the mandarin, then gave it to the child.

The て-form can sometimes mean other things too, depending on context, but here it is most naturally and then.

に marks the recipient of the giving action.

With あげる (to give), the basic pattern is:

• A は B に C を あげる
• A gives C to B

So here:

• giver: 母
• recipient: 子供
• thing given: something understood from context, namely the peeled mandarin

That is why 子供に means to the child.

This is a very common learner question.

Both あげる and くれる can involve giving, but the choice depends on whose point of view the sentence takes.

• あげる = give to someone else
• くれる = give to me / my in-group, from the speaker’s point of view

In this sentence, the mother gave something to the child, not to the speaker or the speaker’s group, so あげました is the natural choice.

If the mother gave it to me, then くれました could be used:

• 母はみかんの皮をむいて、私にくれました。
• Mother peeled the mandarin and gave it to me.

The direct object of あげました is omitted because it is understood from context.

Japanese often leaves out words that are obvious. After みかんの皮をむいて, the listener can easily understand that what was given was the peeled mandarin.

So the sentence does not need to say it again.

If you wanted to state it more explicitly, you could say something like:

• 母はみかんの皮をむいて、子供にみかんをあげました。

But in natural Japanese, repetition is often avoided when the meaning is clear.

By itself, 子供 can mean either a child or children, depending on context.

In this sentence, English translations often use the child, because the situation sounds like one child receiving the peeled fruit. But Japanese does not force you to mark singular vs. plural the way English usually does.

If the speaker wanted to make plural clearer, they might say:

• 子供たち = children

So:

• 子供に = to the child / to the children
• context decides

母 is the plain word for my mother when talking about her to someone else.

Japanese often uses different words depending on whether you are:

• referring to your own family member to an outsider, or
• addressing that family member directly, or
• talking about someone else’s family member

So:

• 母 = my mother (more neutral/plain, used when describing your own mother)
• お母さん = mom / mother, often used when addressing her directly or referring to someone else’s mother more politely

This is part of the Japanese inside/outside distinction in family terms.

The comma simply helps show the pause between the two linked actions:

• peeled it, then gave it to the child

In Japanese writing, commas are often used more flexibly than in English. The sentence would still be understandable without the comma:

• 母はみかんの皮をむいて子供にあげました。

The comma just makes the structure easier to read.

むく means to peel or to remove a skin/covering, so it is used for many things, not only fruit.

Examples:

• りんごの皮をむく = peel an apple
• じゃがいもの皮をむく = peel a potato
• バナナの皮をむく = peel a banana

So in this sentence, むく is the normal verb for removing the peel from a mandarin orange.