Mi madre trabaja cerca de la tintorería y puede recoger el abrigo mañana.

In Spanish, possessives like mi, tu, su, nuestro usually replace the article, so you say mi madre = my mother, not the my mother.

Examples:

• mi padre = my father
• mi casa = my house
• mi abrigo = my coat

Using la mi madre is not standard modern Spanish.

Trabaja is the third-person singular present tense of trabajar = to work.

So:

• yo trabajo = I work
• tú trabajas = you work
• él/ella trabaja = he/she works

Since the subject is mi madre, you use trabaja:

• Mi madre trabaja = My mother works

Spanish often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is.

So instead of saying:

• Mi madre ella trabaja...

you simply say:

• Mi madre trabaja...

Even without mi madre, trabaja already suggests he/she works from context.

Because cerca is normally followed by de.

So you say:

• cerca de = near
• lejos de = far from

Examples:

• Vivo cerca de aquí. = I live near here.
• Está cerca de la estación. = It is near the station.

So:

• cerca de la tintorería = near the dry cleaner’s

Because tintorería is a feminine noun, so it takes la:

• la tintorería

Also, de + el contracts to del, but de + la does not contract.

So:

• de el banco → del banco
• de la tintorería stays de la tintorería

La tintorería means the dry cleaner’s or the dry-cleaning shop.

It is the place where clothes are cleaned, especially delicate items like coats, suits, and dresses.

So:

• cerca de la tintorería = near the dry cleaner’s

The accent mark shows where the stress goes: tintorería.

Without getting too technical, the written accent tells you that the stressed syllable is the -rí- part.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• tin-to-re-RÍ-a

Written accents in Spanish are very important because they show correct stress and can sometimes distinguish between words.

Puede is the third-person singular of poder = to be able to / can.

So:

• puede = he/she can

Recoger means to pick up or to collect.

Together:

• puede recoger = she can pick up / she is able to pick up

So in the sentence:

• Mi madre ... puede recoger el abrigo mañana = My mother ... can pick up the coat tomorrow

Recoger is a very common verb for to pick up / collect something, especially from a place like a shop, office, or school.

Examples:

• recoger un paquete = pick up a parcel
• recoger a los niños = pick up the children
• recoger el abrigo = pick up the coat

In Spain, coger can also mean to take or to catch, and it is completely normal there. But recoger is often more precise here because the idea is collecting something from a place.

Spanish often uses the definite article more than English does.

Here, el abrigo means the coat, referring to a specific coat that both speakers understand from context.

If you said just abrigo, it would sound incomplete in this sentence.

So:

• recoger el abrigo = pick up the coat

The personal a is used before specific people (and sometimes pets), not before things.

Compare:

• Veo a mi madre. = I see my mother.
• Recojo el abrigo. = I pick up the coat.

Since el abrigo is an object, not a person, there is no personal a.

Here it means tomorrow.

Mañana can mean:

• tomorrow
• morning

Context tells you which one it is.

In this sentence, puede recoger el abrigo mañana clearly means tomorrow.

If you want to say in the morning, Spanish usually says:

• por la mañana = in the morning

So:

• mañana = tomorrow
• por la mañana = in the morning

Spanish often uses the present tense to talk about the near future, especially when there is a clear time expression like mañana.

So:

• Mi madre puede recoger el abrigo mañana literally uses present tense, but naturally means:
• My mother can pick up the coat tomorrow

This is very normal in Spanish, just like in English when we say:

• I’m leaving tomorrow instead of
• I will leave tomorrow

Yes. Spanish word order is flexible, although the original sentence is very natural.

For example, you could also say:

• Mañana mi madre puede recoger el abrigo.
• Mi madre puede recoger mañana el abrigo.

These all mean roughly the same thing, but the emphasis changes slightly.

The original version is neutral and natural:

• Mi madre trabaja cerca de la tintorería y puede recoger el abrigo mañana.

Usually yes. Y is the normal word for and.

Example:

• trabaja cerca de la tintorería y puede recoger el abrigo mañana

A small spelling rule: before words beginning with an i sound, Spanish often uses e instead of y:

• padre e hijo = father and son

But in this sentence, y is correct because the next word is puede.

A simple approximation is:

• tra-BA-ha

Important points:

• j in Spanish sounds like a strong English h or a throaty sound
• the stress is on BA

So trabaja is not pronounced like English trabaja with a hard j sound.

Yes, sometimes puede can express possibility, not just ability.

Depending on context, it can mean:

• can
• is able to
• may
• might

In this sentence, the most natural meaning is probably:

• she can pick up the coat tomorrow or
• she’ll be able to pick up the coat tomorrow

The exact nuance depends on context.

It breaks down like this:

• Mi madre = subject
• trabaja = first verb
• cerca de la tintorería = place expression
• y = and
• puede recoger = second verb idea
• el abrigo = direct object
• mañana = time expression

So the full structure is:

subject + verb + place + and + modal verb + infinitive + object + time

That makes it a very useful model sentence for building similar ones:

• Mi hermano estudia cerca de la biblioteca y puede devolver el libro mañana.