Mi madre pone granada en la ensalada cuando quiere algo diferente.

Pone is the third-person singular present tense of poner, which means to put or to add.

The subject is mi madre, so the verb has to match she:

• yo pongo = I put
• tú pones = you put
• él / ella pone = he / she puts

So Mi madre pone... means My mother puts/adds...

In Spanish, ingredients and food items are often used without an article when you are talking about adding them to a dish in a general way.

So:

• pone granada en la ensalada = she puts pomegranate in the salad

This sounds natural in Spanish, just like:

• pone sal = she adds salt
• pone queso = she adds cheese

You could sometimes hear la granada, but in this sentence granada without an article is the most natural choice.

Yes, in this sentence granada means pomegranate.

Spanish granada can also refer to other things in different contexts:

• granada = pomegranate
• granada = grenade
• Granada = the city in Spain

Here, because it appears in a salad, the meaning is clearly pomegranate. In writing, the city is capitalized: Granada.

Spanish normally uses en with something being placed in a dish.

So:

• poner algo en la ensalada = to put something in the salad

Using a here would not sound natural. Think of en as showing where the ingredient ends up.

Other similar examples:

• poner azúcar en el café
• poner aceite en la sopa

Here la ensalada refers to the salad, a specific salad being prepared or eaten.

Spanish often uses the definite article more than English does. In this sentence, en la ensalada sounds very natural because it refers to the salad in question.

If you said just en ensalada, that would be incorrect here.

Quiere is the third-person singular present tense of querer = to want.

The sentence describes a habit or something that happens generally:

• My mother puts pomegranate in the salad when she wants something different.

Spanish often uses the present tense for habitual actions, just like English does:

• cuando quiere = when she wants
• or more naturally in context, whenever she wants

Because this sentence talks about a real, repeated situation, not something hypothetical, doubtful, or uncertain.

• cuando quiere algo diferente = when/whenever she wants something different

This is a normal factual statement about what she does. That is why the indicative is used: quiere.

A subjunctive would be more likely in a sentence referring to the future or something not yet realized, for example:

• cuando quiera algo diferente... = when she wants / whenever she may want something different in the future

But in your sentence, the speaker is describing a usual pattern, so quiere is correct.

Algo means something, and it is the most natural word here.

So:

• algo diferente = something different

While una cosa diferente is grammatically possible, it sounds less natural and less elegant in this context.

Also notice that after algo, the adjective usually comes after it:

• algo bueno = something good
• algo raro = something strange
• algo diferente = something different

No. In this structure, algo comes first:

• algo diferente

You cannot say:

• diferente algo

With words like algo, nada, and mucho, the adjective normally follows:

• algo interesante
• nada útil
• mucho mejor

So algo diferente is the correct order.

Spanish often avoids subject pronouns unless they are needed for emphasis or clarity.

Here, the sentence begins with mi madre, which already tells you who the subject is, so there is no need to add ella.

• Mi madre pone... = natural
• Ella pone... = possible, but only if the subject is already understood or you want emphasis
• Mi madre ella pone... = incorrect in normal Spanish

So the noun phrase mi madre does the job by itself.

Most naturally, it describes a habit or repeated behavior.

The present tense in Spanish often works this way:

• Mi madre pone granada en la ensalada cuando quiere algo diferente.
• My mother puts pomegranate in salad when she wants something different.

This sounds like something she tends to do from time to time, not just one single occasion.

If you wanted one specific past event, you would normally use a past tense, for example:

• Mi madre puso granada en la ensalada... = My mother put pomegranate in the salad...

Yes. In this sentence, cuando can often be understood as when or whenever, depending on the context.

Because the sentence describes a repeated habit, English often sounds more natural with whenever:

• My mother puts pomegranate in the salad whenever she wants something different.

So both ideas are possible, but whenever brings out the habitual meaning more clearly.

Not necessarily. Singular granada here refers to the ingredient in a general sense, not necessarily one whole fruit.

Spanish often uses the singular name of a food item to mean some of that ingredient:

• pone tomate = she adds tomato
• pone cebolla = she adds onion
• pone granada = she adds pomegranate

In real life, she is probably adding pomegranate seeds, but Spanish can still say granada in a general way. If you wanted to be more specific, you could say:

• pone semillas de granada en la ensalada = she puts pomegranate seeds in the salad

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

For example, you could also say:

• Mi madre, cuando quiere algo diferente, pone granada en la ensalada.

This version adds a slight pause and emphasizes the time clause a bit more. But the original order is simpler and very natural:

• Mi madre pone granada en la ensalada cuando quiere algo diferente.

So both are correct; the original is just a straightforward neutral sentence.