Mi hermana quiere cocinar gambas con ajo esta noche.

Because mi is a possessive adjective used before a noun: mi hermana = my sister.

Mía is a possessive pronoun, and it usually stands on its own, replacing the noun rather than coming before it. For example:

• Esta hermana es mía. = This sister is mine.
• La casa es mía. = The house is mine.

So before a noun, you use:

• mi hermano
• mi hermana
• mis amigos

not mía hermana.

After querer (to want), Spanish normally uses an infinitive if the same person wants to do the action.

So:

• quiere cocinar = she wants to cook
• quiero comer = I want to eat
• queremos salir = we want to leave

You do not use:

• quiere cocina — cocina here would be a conjugated verb form or a noun, so it does not fit.
• quiere cocinando — Spanish does not usually use the -ing form after querer.

A useful pattern is:

• querer + infinitive

Because Spanish often drops subject pronouns when the subject is already clear.

Here, the sentence already has the subject:

• Mi hermana quiere...

So adding ella is unnecessary.

Spanish prefers this:

• Mi hermana quiere cocinar gambas con ajo esta noche.

You could say Ella quiere cocinar... if the context already makes it clear who ella is, but with mi hermana already stated, repeating the subject would usually sound redundant.

In Spain, gambas commonly refers to prawns/shrimp, especially in food contexts. The exact English translation can vary depending on region and size, so learners often see both shrimp and prawns.

In Spain:

• gambas al ajillo is a very common dish
• gamba often suggests a prawn-like shellfish used in cooking

Related words you may also see:

• langostinos = often larger prawns
• camarones = more common in many Latin American varieties, less typical in Spain for this kind of sentence

So for Spanish from Spain, gambas sounds very natural.

Because Spanish often leaves out the article when talking about an ingredient in a general way.

So:

• gambas con ajo = prawns/shrimp with garlic
• pan con tomate = bread with tomato
• pollo con arroz = chicken with rice

Using con el ajo would sound more specific, as if you were talking about some particular garlic already mentioned. In a normal recipe or food description, con ajo is the natural choice.

Because after verbs like cocinar, Spanish often uses a bare plural noun when speaking generally about what someone is going to cook.

So:

• cocinar gambas = to cook prawns/shrimp
• comprar verduras = to buy vegetables
• hacer galletas = to make cookies

If you said las gambas, it would usually sound more specific:

• the prawns we already mentioned
• some particular prawns known in the situation

Here, gambas simply means the food she wants to cook, not a specifically identified set.

Because Spanish often uses the present tense to talk about a planned or intended future action, especially when there is a time expression like esta noche.

So:

• Mi hermana quiere cocinar gambas con ajo esta noche.
• literally uses present in quiere
• but the phrase esta noche places the action in the future

This is very common in both Spanish and English:

• Tonight she wants to cook...
• Tomorrow I’m going to the doctor.
• Esta tarde salgo. = I’m going out this afternoon.

You could also use future-related structures, but this sentence is already perfectly natural.

Yes, Spanish word order is fairly flexible, but some orders sound more natural than others.

The most neutral order here is:

• Mi hermana quiere cocinar gambas con ajo esta noche.

You could also hear:

• Esta noche mi hermana quiere cocinar gambas con ajo.
• This puts more emphasis on tonight.

But something like:

• Mi hermana quiere cocinar esta noche gambas con ajo is possible, though less smooth in ordinary conversation.

A simple rule:

• put the main idea first
• move time expressions like esta noche to the beginning if you want to emphasize them

In Spain, quiere is pronounced roughly like KYEH-reh.

A few useful details:

• qu before i/e sounds like a hard k
• the u is silent in que/qui
• so quiere is approximately KYE-re

Also:

• ie forms a diphthong here, so it is said together
• the r in quiere is a light tap, not a strong English r

A rough pronunciation of the whole sentence in Spain might be:

• Mee ehr-MAH-nah KYEH-reh koh-thee-NAR GAM-bahs kon AH-hoh ES-tah NO-cheh

In much of Latin America, cocinar would sound with s in the middle (ko-si-NAR), but in most of Spain the c before i is pronounced like the th in thin.

Because Spanish j is not like the English j in jam.

In Spain, j is pronounced with a strong throaty sound, similar to the ch in the Scottish pronunciation of loch, or a strong breathy h for English speakers trying to approximate it.

So:

• ajo sounds roughly like AH-ho with a rougher h
• not AJ-oh

This is one of the most noticeable pronunciation differences for English speakers.

Not exactly, though they are closely related.

• con ajo literally means with garlic
• al ajillo is a more specific food expression, often meaning something like cooked in a garlicky style, usually with garlic and oil

In Spain, gambas al ajillo is a very common dish name.
So:

• cocinar gambas con ajo = cook prawns/shrimp with garlic
• cocinar gambas al ajillo = cook them in the classic garlic style

Both are natural, but al ajillo sounds more like a named dish.

Yes, sometimes. Spanish often leaves out the subject if the verb form makes it clear enough.

For example, in context:

• Quiere cocinar gambas con ajo esta noche.

This could mean:

• She wants to cook garlic prawns tonight if everyone already knows you are talking about your sister.

However, quiere could also refer to he, she, or you (formal), so Spanish speakers often include the subject when needed for clarity. In this sentence, mi hermana makes everything completely clear.