La autólisis termina antes de la fermentación natural.

Termina is the third-person singular present tense of terminar.

• terminar = to finish / to end
• termina = it finishes / it ends

In this sentence, the subject is la autólisis, which is singular, so the verb must also be singular:

• La autólisis termina = Autolysis ends

Spanish often uses the present tense for scientific facts, general truths, and process descriptions, just like English does.

Because both nouns are feminine singular:

• la autólisis
• la fermentación

Spanish uses articles more often than English, especially with general concepts, processes, and abstract nouns. So even if English might sometimes say something like Autolysis ends before natural fermentation, Spanish normally keeps the article:

• La autólisis
• La fermentación natural

Yes, autólisis is feminine: la autólisis.

A lot of nouns ending in -sis are feminine in Spanish, for example:

• la crisis
• la hipótesis
• la tesis
• la autólisis

So this is a useful pattern to remember: many -sis nouns are feminine even though they do not end in -a.

Because antes de is the normal structure when before is followed by a noun or noun phrase.

Here it is followed by la fermentación natural, so Spanish needs de:

• antes de la fermentación natural = before natural fermentation

Compare:

• antes de + noun
  • antes de la cena
  • antes del examen
• antes de que + verb
  • antes de que empiece
  • antes de que termine

So in this sentence, de is required.

Because Spanish only contracts:

• de + el = del
• a + el = al

But de + la does not contract.

So:

• antes de la fermentación ✅
• antes dela fermentación ❌

That is why the sentence keeps both words separately.

In Spanish, adjectives often come after the noun.

So:

• la fermentación natural = the natural fermentation

This is the most normal order here. The adjective natural is simply describing the type of fermentation.

If you put the adjective before the noun, it often sounds literary, emphatic, or changes the nuance. In this case, la natural fermentación would sound unusual and not like the normal neutral phrasing.

Natural is a descriptive adjective, and here it agrees with fermentación, which is feminine singular.

Some adjectives change visibly:

• blanco → blanca
• pequeño → pequeña

But natural is one of many adjectives that have the same form for masculine and feminine singular:

• proceso natural
• fermentación natural

Its plural forms are:

• naturales for both masculine and feminine plural

So here natural is already the correct feminine singular form.

The accent marks show the stressed syllable and also help follow Spanish spelling rules.

• autólisis → stress on tó
• fermentación → stress on the final syllable ción

Without the written accents, Spanish pronunciation rules would lead you to stress them differently.

These written accents are very important in Spanish, because they tell you how to pronounce the word correctly.

A Spain Spanish pronunciation would be approximately:

la aw-TO-li-sis ter-MI-na AN-tes de la fer-men-ta-THYON na-tu-RAL

A more precise guide:

• La = la
• autólisis = aw-TÓ-li-sis
• termina = ter-MI-na
• antes de = AN-tes de
• la fermentación = la fer-men-ta-THIÓN
• natural = na-tu-RAL

In much of Spain, the c in -ción is pronounced like th in thin:

• fermentación → fermentathión

In most of Latin America, it would sound more like s instead.

Normally, no. In a standard sentence like this, Spanish would usually keep them:

• La autólisis termina antes de la fermentación natural. ✅

Omitting them would sound incomplete or unnatural in most contexts:

• Autólisis termina antes de fermentación natural. ❌ / very unnatural

Spanish often uses definite articles with fields, processes, and scientific concepts where English may omit the.

Yes, Spanish word order is somewhat flexible, but the original sentence is the most neutral and natural.

Standard order:

• La autólisis termina antes de la fermentación natural.

A reordered version like:

• Antes de la fermentación natural, termina la autólisis.

is grammatically possible, but it sounds more marked or stylistically arranged. It might be used for emphasis, but it is less neutral.

So for a learner, the original order is the safest and most natural one to use.

Both can work, because terminar can mean to end or to finish.

In a scientific or process-based sentence like this, ends often sounds more natural in English:

• Autolysis ends before natural fermentation.

But grammatically, finishes is also possible.

So the Spanish verb terminar is flexible, and the best English choice depends on style and context rather than a strict grammar difference.

Most likely it is expressing a general fact or a process description.

That is why the present tense works well:

• La autólisis termina...

Spanish uses the present tense very naturally for:

• scientific statements
• definitions
• instructions
• descriptions of regular processes

So this sentence does not have to mean that one single autolysis event is ending right now. It can simply describe how the process normally works.