Mi hermana sigue cocinando con el delantal puesto, aunque ya es tarde.

It means she keeps cooking or she is still cooking.

This is the structure:

• seguir + gerund = to keep doing something / to continue doing something

So:

• sigue = she continues / she keeps on
• cocinando = cooking

Together, sigue cocinando expresses an action that is ongoing and has not stopped.

For example:

• Sigue hablando. = He/She keeps talking.
• Seguimos esperando. = We’re still waiting.

Because after seguir, Spanish normally uses a gerund to show a continuing action.

So the pattern is:

• seguir + gerund

Examples:

• sigue cocinando = she keeps cooking
• sigo estudiando = I’m still studying
• siguen trabajando = they keep working

You would not normally say sigue a cocinar in this meaning.
And sigue cocina is ungrammatical.

So cocinando is there because Spanish uses the gerund after seguir to express continuation.

Cocina simply means she cooks or she is cooking, depending on context.

Sigue cocinando adds the idea of continuation:

• Cocina. = She cooks / She is cooking.
• Sigue cocinando. = She is still cooking / She keeps cooking.

So sigue tells you that the action was already happening before and is still going on now.

In this sentence, that matters because of aunque ya es tarde:
it suggests that even though it’s already late, she has not stopped.

Literally, it means something like:

• with the apron put on

But in natural English, you would usually say:

• with her apron on
• wearing an apron

So:

• con el delantal puesto = with the apron on

This is a very common Spanish pattern:

• con + noun + past participle/adjective

It describes the state something is in.

Examples:

• con la puerta cerrada = with the door closed
• con la luz encendida = with the light on
• con los zapatos puestos = with shoes on

Because puesto describes a resulting state, not the action of putting something on.

Compare:

• poniendo = putting on / placing
• puesto = put on / on / worn

In this sentence, the idea is not that she is in the middle of putting the apron on.
The idea is that she has it on while cooking.

So:

• con el delantal puesto = with the apron on
• not with the apron being put on

This is why the past participle puesto is the natural choice.

Because in this expression, puesto works like a descriptive word showing the state of the noun:

• el delantal puesto = the apron on

Spanish often places this kind of descriptive participle after the noun.

Compare:

• la ventana abierta = the open window / the window open
• la camisa planchada = the ironed shirt
• los zapatos puestos = the shoes on

So delantal puesto is the normal order.

Yes, delantal is masculine in standard Spanish, so it takes:

• el delantal

That is why the participle also agrees in masculine singular:

• puesto

So the combination is:

• el delantal puesto

If the noun were feminine, the participle would change:

• la chaqueta puesta = the jacket on

Agreement matters here:

• masculine singular: puesto
• feminine singular: puesta
• masculine plural: puestos
• feminine plural: puestas

Spanish often uses the definite article (el, la, los, las) where English would use a possessive like his, her, their.

So in English, we often prefer:

• with her apron on

But in Spanish, it is very natural to say:

• con el delantal puesto

This often happens with clothing, body parts, and personal items when the owner is obvious from context.

Examples:

• Me duele la cabeza. = My head hurts.
• Se puso el abrigo. = He/She put on his/her coat.

So el delantal sounds completely normal here.

Aunque means although / even though.

It introduces a contrast:

• Mi hermana sigue cocinando... = My sister is still cooking...
• aunque ya es tarde = even though it’s already late

So the full sentence contains the idea:

• she continues cooking despite the fact that it is late

This is different from pero (but).
Aunque introduces a subordinate clause, while pero links two more independent ideas.

Compare:

• Sigue cocinando, aunque ya es tarde. = She keeps cooking, although it’s already late.
• Es tarde, pero sigue cocinando. = It’s late, but she keeps cooking.

Both are possible, but they structure the sentence differently.

Because here the speaker is presenting it’s late as a real, known fact.

• aunque ya es tarde = although it is already late

With aunque, Spanish can use either the indicative or the subjunctive, depending on meaning.

Very roughly:

• indicative: the fact is real / accepted as true
• subjunctive: the fact is uncertain, hypothetical, or not being asserted as true

Here, the speaker clearly means that it really is late, so es (indicative) is correct.

Compare:

• Aunque es tarde, seguimos. = Although it’s late, we continue.
• Aunque sea tarde, seguiremos. = Even if it’s late, we’ll continue.

The second one is more hypothetical.

Here ya means already.

So:

• ya es tarde = it’s already late

It adds the idea that the time has reached a point where you might expect a change of behaviour — for example, you might expect her to stop cooking.

That works especially well with sigue cocinando, because the sentence suggests:

• it is already late,
• and yet she is still continuing.

Yes, Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns like yo, tú, él, etc., because the verb form already shows the subject.

But mi hermana is not a pronoun — it is a noun phrase, and it is included because the speaker wants to identify exactly who is doing the action.

If the context were already clear, you might hear:

• Sigue cocinando con el delantal puesto...

But with Mi hermana, the sentence explicitly says:

• My sister is the one still cooking.

So it is not grammatically necessary in every context, but it is completely natural and often useful.

In this sentence, it clearly means she is wearing the apron.

Literally, puesto comes from poner (to put), but in many everyday expressions it means that something is on or being worn.

Examples:

• tener la tele puesta = to have the TV on
• llevar gafas puestas = to be wearing glasses
• tener el abrigo puesto = to have your coat on

So here, the meaning is not ambiguous in normal usage:

• con el delantal puesto = wearing the apron / with the apron on

Yes — that is a very natural translation.

Other good translations would be:

• My sister keeps cooking with her apron on, although it’s already late.
• My sister is still cooking, apron on, even though it’s already late.

The best English version depends on style, but the key ideas are:

• sigue cocinando = is still cooking / keeps cooking
• con el delantal puesto = with her apron on
• aunque ya es tarde = even though it’s already late