Mi madre añade un puñado de maíz a la ensalada.

My mother adds a handful of corn to the salad.

Breakdown of Mi madre añade un puñado de maíz a la ensalada.

• un: a
• mi: my
• a: to
• de: of

Questions & Answers about Mi madre añade un puñado de maíz a la ensalada.

What form is añade?

Añade is the third-person singular present indicative form of añadir.

So mi madre añade means my mother adds or my mother is adding, depending on context.

A quick pattern:

• yo añado = I add
• tú añades = you add
• él/ella añade = he/she adds

In this sentence, mi madre is a third-person singular subject, so añade is the correct form.

Why is it mi madre and not la mi madre?

In modern Spanish, possessives like mi, tu, su, nuestro normally go before the noun without an article.

So:

• mi madre = my mother
• tu casa = your house

Using la mi madre is not standard modern Spanish.

You can also sometimes hear structures like la madre mía, but that is much less neutral and usually more expressive or literary. For normal everyday Spanish, mi madre is the standard form.

What does un puñado de mean exactly?

Un puñado de literally means a handful of.

It comes from puño = fist, so the idea is the amount that fits in your hand.

It is a very common expression for approximate quantities, especially in cooking:

• un puñado de arroz = a handful of rice
• un puñado de nueces = a handful of nuts

In recipes, it often suggests a rough, non-exact amount.