Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Tostamos pan en la tostadora por la mañana. - We toast bread in the toaster in the morning.

Tostamos is the nosotros form of tostar in the present tense, so it already means “we toast”.
Saying Nosotros tostamos pan… is also correct, but it sounds more emphatic, like stressing we (as opposed to someone else).

Why is it tostamos pan and not tostamos el pan?

Both are possible, but they’re used slightly differently:

Tostamos pan en la tostadora por la mañana.
→ General, habitual action. We toast (some) bread; it’s not a specific piece of bread.
Tostamos el pan en la tostadora por la mañana.
→ More specific: the bread (for example, the bread we already have on the table).

In everyday speech, when talking about what you normally eat or do, Spanish often omits the article with mass nouns or food items:

Comemos pan. – We eat bread.
Bebemos café. – We drink coffee.

Why is tostar not reflexive here? Why don’t we say nos tostamos pan?

Tostar is not reflexive in this meaning. It simply means “to toast (something)”:

Tostamos pan. – We toast bread.
Tosto el pan. – I toast the bread.

Reflexive forms like tostarse would normally mean “to get toasted” in a more literal sense (like skin getting tanned or burnt), which is not what we want here.

Spanish does not add “get” with a reflexive pronoun the way English often does; it just uses a normal transitive verb:

Se quema el pan. – The bread gets burned. (literally “The bread burns itself. ”)
Se derrite la mantequilla. – The butter melts.

Why is la tostadora feminine? Could it be el tostador?

Noun gender in Spanish is mostly grammatical and often follows patterns:

Nouns ending in -ora are usually feminine → la tostadora, la lavadora, la impresora.
Nouns ending in -or are usually masculine → el tostador, el secador, el ordenador.

In Spain, for the kitchen appliance, la tostadora is the more common word.
El tostador also exists and can be understood, and in some contexts it’s used (for example, in product descriptions), but everyday speech tends to prefer la tostadora for the electric toaster.

Why do we say en la tostadora and not con la tostadora?

Both are grammatically possible, but they mean slightly different things:

en la tostadora – literally “in the toaster” or “on the toaster”. It focuses on where the bread is when it’s being toasted.
con la tostadora – literally “with the toaster”. It focuses more on the tool we use.

In this context, Spanish normally uses en with appliances like a toaster, oven, or microwave:

Cocemos la pizza en el horno. – We bake the pizza in the oven.
Caliento la comida en el microondas. – I heat the food in the microwave.
Tostamos pan en la tostadora. – We toast bread in the toaster.

Con is more usual with tools you hold and use directly:

Cortamos el pan con un cuchillo. – We cut the bread with a knife.

What does por la mañana express, and why not en la mañana?

Por la mañana means “in the morning” as a general time period:

Tostamos pan en la tostadora por la mañana.
→ We do this in the morning (habitually).

In Spain:

Por la mañana is the normal way to say “in the morning” for when something happens.
En la mañana is understood but sounds more Latin American or simply less natural in Spain in this context.
De la mañana is used after a specific time:
- A las ocho de la mañana. – At eight in the morning.

So, for routine actions:

Estudio por la mañana. – I study in the morning.
Trabajo por la tarde. – I work in the afternoon.

What’s the difference between por la mañana and por las mañanas?

Both are correct, but there’s a nuance:

por la mañana – In the morning (can be today or generally, context decides).
por las mañanas – On mornings / in the mornings (as a routine), clearly habitual.

So:

Tostamos pan en la tostadora por la mañana.
→ Often understood as a habit, but could also refer to a specific morning depending on context.
Tostamos pan en la tostadora por las mañanas.
→ Clearly means “We toast bread in the toaster in the mornings”, as a regular routine.

Is the present tense tostamos used for habitual actions, like English “we toast bread every morning”?

Yes. Spanish simple present is very commonly used for habitual actions:

Tostamos pan en la tostadora por la mañana.
→ We (usually) toast bread in the toaster in the morning.

Other examples:

Siempre desayunamos a las ocho. – We always have breakfast at eight.
Voy al gimnasio los lunes. – I go to the gym on Mondays.

You don’t need an extra word like “usually” or “tend to” unless you want to emphasize frequency. Context (and sometimes adverbs like siempre, normalmente, a menudo) shows it’s habitual.

Why is it tostamos and not something like tuestamos if tostar has a vowel change?

Tostar is an o → ue stem‑changing verb in the present tense:

yo tuesto
tú tuestas
él / ella / usted tuesta
ellos / ellas / ustedes tuestan

But in the nosotros and vosotros forms, the stem does not change:

nosotros tostamos
vosotros tostáis

This pattern is the same with other stem‑changing verbs:

dormir → duermo, duermes, duerme, duermen, but dormimos, dormís
volver → vuelvo, but volvemos

Could I move por la mañana to the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. Spanish word order is quite flexible, and it’s very natural to place time expressions at the beginning:

Por la mañana tostamos pan en la tostadora.

This is actually very common; starting with the time frame gives it emphasis:
Por la mañana (time) → tostamos (action) → pan (object) → en la tostadora (place).

Can I say Hacemos tostadas por la mañana instead of Tostamos pan…? Is there a difference?

Both are correct, but the focus is slightly different:

Tostamos pan en la tostadora por la mañana.
→ Focus on the action (toasting) and the raw ingredient (bread).
Hacemos tostadas por la mañana.
→ Literally “We make toast / toasts in the morning”; focuses on the result, the toast itself.

In everyday Spanish, people often say:

Desayunamos tostadas. – We have toast for breakfast.
Preparo unas tostadas. – I’ll make some toast.

Your original sentence sounds slightly more “process-oriented”; hacemos tostadas is more about the food you end up with.

Is tostadora pronounced with the stress on -do- (tos-ta-DO-ra)?

Yes. The stress follows the normal rule for words ending in a vowel:

tostadora → to‑sta‑DO‑ra

In general, words ending in a vowel, -n, or -s are stressed on the second-to-last syllable unless there’s an accent mark.

For tostamos:

tostamos → tos‑TA‑mos (stress on -ta-).

Could I also say por la mañana, tostamos el pan en la tostadora with el pan? Does that sound natural?

Yes, it’s natural:

Por la mañana, tostamos el pan en la tostadora.

Using el pan makes it sound a bit more specific or concrete, as if you’re thinking of “the bread we have (for breakfast)”. In everyday speech, both tostamos pan and tostamos el pan are acceptable; context and personal style decide which sounds better.