Mi prima tiene una bebé y siempre lleva un pañal limpio en la mochila.

Prima means female cousin. English just says cousin, but Spanish usually distinguishes gender:

• primo = male cousin
• prima = female cousin

So mi prima means my female cousin.
Also, mi means my and does not change here: mi primo, mi prima.

Bebé can refer to either a boy or a girl. In this sentence, una bebé shows that the baby is female.

So:

• un bebé = a baby boy, or sometimes just a baby in a general/default sense
• una bebé = a baby girl

In Spain, you may hear both patterns, but una bebé is a clear way to show the baby is a girl.

Tiene is the 3rd person singular present tense of tener (to have).

The verb tener is irregular:

• yo tengo
• tú tienes
• él/ella tiene
• nosotros tenemos
• vosotros tenéis
• ellos/ellas tienen

Since the subject is mi prima (she), Spanish uses tiene.

Here, lleva means carries.

It comes from llevar, which can mean several things depending on context, including:

• to carry
• to take
• to wear

In this sentence, siempre lleva un pañal limpio en la mochila means she always carries a clean diaper in the backpack.

Because Spanish often uses the simple present for habitual or repeated actions.

So siempre lleva means she always carries or she always has with her.

This is very normal in Spanish. You do not need a progressive form here. In fact, está llevando would usually sound wrong for this kind of regular habit, because that form is more for something happening right now.

There are two important grammar points here:

1. Pañal is a masculine noun, so it takes:

   • un pañal
   • not una pañal

2. The adjective must agree with the noun:

   • pañal limpio = masculine singular
   • not pañal limpia

So the full phrase is un pañal limpio.

Also, in Spanish, descriptive adjectives usually come after the noun, so pañal limpio is the normal order.

In Spanish, most descriptive adjectives normally come after the noun.

So:

• un pañal limpio = a clean diaper

This is the standard, neutral word order.

If an adjective comes before the noun, it often changes tone or emphasis, and in many cases it simply sounds unnatural. With limpio, the normal choice here is definitely pañal limpio.

Spanish often uses the definite article (el, la, los, las) where English would use a possessive like his, her, their—especially when the owner is already clear from context.

So:

• en la mochila = in the backpack
• and here it is naturally understood as in her backpack

Because the subject is mi prima, Spanish does not need to repeat her.

You could also say en su mochila, but that would put a little more focus on ownership or be useful if you needed to avoid confusion.

Here, en means in.

So:

• en la mochila = in the backpack

More generally, en is a very common preposition that can mean different things in English depending on context, such as:

• in
• on
• at

But with something like mochila, the natural translation is in.

Bebé is pronounced roughly beh-BEH.

The accent mark on é shows that the stress falls on the last syllable:

• be-bé

Without the accent mark, Spanish spelling rules would suggest a different stress pattern, so the accent is needed.

This is a good word to notice because the written accent helps you pronounce it correctly.