Minha mãe costuma temperar o peixe com limão e sal.

Costumar + infinitive means to usually / tend to do something.

So:

• Minha mãe tempera o peixe... = My mother seasons the fish...
• Minha mãe costuma temperar o peixe... = My mother usually seasons the fish...

Using costuma adds the idea of a habitual action. It is very common in Portuguese.

Because costumar works like a verb followed by another verb in the infinitive.

Pattern:

• costumar + infinitive

Examples:

• Eu costumo estudar à noite.
• Ela costuma chegar cedo.
• Minha mãe costuma temperar o peixe...

So temperar stays in the infinitive because it depends on costuma.

Because the subject is minha mãe, which is third person singular: she / my mother.

Conjugation of costumar in the present tense:

• eu costumo
• você / ele / ela costuma
• nós costumamos
• vocês / eles / elas costumam

Since minha mãe = ela, the correct form is costuma.

In Brazilian Portuguese, both minha mãe and a minha mãe can be correct.

• Minha mãe = very common, natural
• A minha mãe = also possible, sometimes a bit more emphatic or regional/stylistic

So this sentence sounds perfectly natural without the article.

This is different from English, where possessives like my do not normally take an article.

The ã in mãe shows a nasal sound.

So mãe is not pronounced like an English word with a normal a sound. The vowel is nasalized, and the word is roughly one syllable.

The accent mark here is important because it tells you how the word is pronounced and distinguishes it from forms without that nasal vowel.

Portuguese often uses the definite article where English may or may not use it.

• o peixe = the fish

In this sentence, o peixe refers to the fish being prepared, so the definite article sounds natural.

If you said just temperar peixe, it could sound more general, like seasoning fish as a type of food rather than a specific fish in the situation.

Usually, temperar means to season food, but in Brazilian Portuguese it can be broader than English season.

Depending on context, it can mean:

• adding salt, lemon, garlic, spices, etc.
• marinating or flavoring food before cooking

So in cooking contexts, temperar can cover ideas like:

• season
• flavor
• sometimes marinate, depending on the ingredients and situation

In this sentence, temperar o peixe com limão e sal is most naturally to season the fish with lemon and salt.

Com means with, so:

• com limão e sal = with lemon and salt

Yes, articles are sometimes possible, but they are often omitted with ingredients in this kind of sentence.

Compare:

• com limão e sal = with lemon and salt
• com o limão e o sal = with the lemon and the salt

The version without articles sounds more general and natural when talking about ingredients or seasoning.

This is the normal Portuguese order:

• verb
• direct object
• prepositional phrase

So:

• temperar = to season
• o peixe = the fish
• com limão e sal = with lemon and salt

This is very similar to English word order in this case.

Yes. That is also correct.

Compare:

• Minha mãe costuma temperar o peixe com limão e sal.
• Minha mãe geralmente tempera o peixe com limão e sal.

Both mean that this is her usual habit.

The difference is mostly structural:

• costumar + infinitive = a very common way to express habit
• geralmente + verb = using an adverb like usually / generally

Both are natural in Brazilian Portuguese.

Mãe is a feminine noun, and minha agrees with it.

So:

• meu pai = my father
• minha mãe = my mother

The possessive changes to match the gender and number of the noun:

• meu = masculine singular
• minha = feminine singular
• meus = masculine plural
• minhas = feminine plural

Not necessarily. In ingredient phrases, Portuguese often uses the singular to refer to the substance or ingredient in a general way.

So com limão e sal is natural even if, in real life, more than one lemon might be used.

It is similar to saying:

• with lemon and salt
• with garlic and oil

You are focusing on the ingredient, not counting units.

If you wanted to be specific, you could say something like:

• com dois limões e sal

It already sounds natural and everyday.

A Brazilian speaker might also say things like:

• Minha mãe costuma temperar peixe com limão e sal.
• Minha mãe geralmente tempera o peixe com limão e sal.
• Minha mãe tempera o peixe com limão e sal.

The original sentence is perfectly normal, clear, and idiomatic.