Minha mãe descasca a maçã devagar, mas eu descasco a laranja rapidamente.

Because mãe is a feminine noun, so the possessive has to match it: minha.

• meu = my with a masculine singular noun
• minha = my with a feminine singular noun

So:

• meu pai
• minha mãe

The possessive agrees with the noun being possessed, not with the speaker.

In Brazilian Portuguese, possessives can appear with or without a definite article:

• minha mãe
• a minha mãe

Both are possible. In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, minha mãe without the article is very common, especially with close family members.

So this sentence is completely natural.

Portuguese often uses the definite article where English does not.

Here, a maçã and a laranja sound like specific items: the apple and the orange. Even if English might simply say an apple or just apple in some contexts, Portuguese often prefers the article.

Without the article, the sentence could sound more generic or less natural in this context.

Because the verb changes according to the subject.

The verb is descascar = to peel.

Present tense:

• eu descasco = I peel
• você/ele/ela descasca = you/he/she peels

So:

• Minha mãe descasca... because minha mãe = she
• eu descasco... because eu = I

Yes. Portuguese often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the person.

So you could say:

• Minha mãe descasca a maçã devagar, mas descasco a laranja rapidamente.

That is grammatically fine.

However, eu is included here for contrast:

• My mother does one thing, but I do another.

So mas eu descasco... sounds very natural and a bit more emphatic.

Mas means but.

It connects two contrasting ideas:

• Minha mãe descasca a maçã devagar
• mas eu descasco a laranja rapidamente

So the contrast is between:

• my mother and I
• slowly and quickly
• apple and orange

Yes. They both describe how the action is done.

• devagar = slowly
• rapidamente = quickly / rapidly

They modify the verb descascar.

So:

• descasca devagar = peels slowly
• descasco rapidamente = peel quickly

Both can mean slowly, but devagar is usually more common and natural in everyday speech.

• devagar = common, conversational
• lentamente = also correct, but often sounds more formal or deliberate

So in a sentence like this, devagar is very natural.

Yes, Portuguese allows some flexibility, although the position in your sentence is very natural.

You have:

• Minha mãe descasca a maçã devagar
• eu descasco a laranja rapidamente

You may also hear:

• Minha mãe devagar descasca a maçã — possible, but less natural here
• Minha mãe descasca devagar a maçã — possible in some contexts, but less neutral
• Eu rapidamente descasco a laranja — possible, often with emphasis

For learners, the safest pattern is:

subject + verb + object + adverb

That is exactly what this sentence does.

These are tricky because they contain nasal vowels, which English does not really have.

• mãe sounds roughly like myng, but without a full ng sound at the end; the vowel is nasal.
• maçã sounds roughly like mah-SAHN, with the last vowel nasalized, again without a strong final n.

A few key points:

• ã is nasal
• in mãe, the ãe combination is nasal too
• you let air pass through both the mouth and nose while saying the vowel

These sounds are best learned by listening and repeating.

They help show pronunciation.

• ã marks a nasal vowel
• ç makes the s sound before a, o, or u

So:

• maçã is pronounced with an s sound in the middle, not a k sound
• without the cedilla, maca would sound very different

The accent mark in mãe also helps indicate the correct stressed and nasal pronunciation.

It can be either, depending on context.

In Portuguese, the simple present can describe:

• a habit: My mother peels the apple slowly
• something happening now: My mother is peeling the apple slowly

If you want to make the right now meaning especially clear in Brazilian Portuguese, you often use:

• Minha mãe está descascando a maçã devagar
• Eu estou descascando a laranja rapidamente

So the original sentence is fine, but the progressive form is more explicit for an action in progress.

Yes. Descascar means to peel or remove the skin/peel/shell, depending on the object.

For example, it can be used with:

• batata = potato
• banana = banana
• ovo cozido = boiled egg
• camarão = shrimp, in some contexts

So it is not limited to apples and oranges.

Because mas joins two independent clauses, and in Portuguese it is very common to put a comma before it.

Here the comma separates:

• Minha mãe descasca a maçã devagar
• mas eu descasco a laranja rapidamente

This is standard punctuation and helps make the contrast clear.