Mi abuela prefiere la espumadera al cucharón cuando hace sopa.

Prefiere is the 3rd person singular present tense of preferir: (ella) prefiere = she prefers.

This verb is a stem-changing verb in the present tense:

• yo prefiero
• tú prefieres
• él/ella prefiere
• nosotros preferimos
• vosotros preferís
• ellos prefieren

So mi abuela prefiere means my grandmother prefers.

• prefera is not a correct form here.
• prefería means used to prefer / was preferring, which would change the meaning.

In Spanish, when you say that someone prefers one thing to another, the usual pattern is:

preferir + thing preferred + a + thing not preferred

So:

• prefiere la espumadera al cucharón = she prefers the skimmer/slotted spoon to the ladle

Here, al is just a + el:

• a el → al

This is very common:

• Prefiero el té al café.
• Prefieren caminar al conducir.

Al is a contraction of a + el.

So:

• a el cucharón becomes al cucharón

Spanish normally contracts a + el into al:

• Voy al mercado.
• Se lo di al profesor.

The only common exception is when el is part of a proper name, such as:

• a El Escorial

But in your sentence, cucharón is a normal masculine noun, so al is required.

Spanish uses definite articles much more often than English does. With tools, objects, and general categories, Spanish often sounds more natural with the article:

• la espumadera
• el cucharón

Even when English might say:

• Grandma prefers skimmers to ladles

Spanish often prefers:

• Mi abuela prefiere la espumadera al cucharón

Here the articles make the sentence sound natural and standard. They refer to the utensils as types of thing, not necessarily one specific individual spoon and one specific ladle sitting on the table.

Because espumadera is a feminine noun and cucharón is a masculine noun.

So their articles are:

• la espumadera
• el cucharón

This is something you usually have to learn with each noun. The endings help sometimes:

• nouns ending in -a are often feminine
• nouns ending in -ón are often masculine

But there are exceptions in Spanish, so it is best to learn vocabulary with its article:

• la espumadera
• el cucharón

These are different kitchen tools:

• la cuchara = spoon
• el cucharón = ladle (large deep spoon for serving soup, stew, etc.)
• la espumadera = usually slotted spoon or skimmer, used to lift food or skim foam/fat from liquid

So in this sentence, your grandmother prefers using a slotted spoon/skimmer rather than a ladle when making soup.

Both can exist, but they do not always sound the same.

• hacer sopa often means to make soup in a general sense
• hacer la sopa often sounds more like making the soup, referring to a more specific soup already understood from context

In your sentence, cuando hace sopa sounds like a general habit:

• when she makes soup

It is talking about what she usually does, not one specific soup.

Because this sentence describes a habitual action, not something happening right now.

• cuando hace sopa = when she makes soup / when she is making soup in a general repeated sense
• cuando está haciendo sopa would emphasize an action in progress at a specific moment: when she is in the middle of making soup

Spanish often uses the simple present where English might use either makes or is making, depending on context. Here the simple present is the natural choice for a habitual situation.

Yes. The subject of hace is still mi abuela.

So the sentence means:

• Mi abuela prefiere... = My grandmother prefers...
• cuando hace sopa = when she makes soup

Spanish often does not repeat subject pronouns if the subject is already clear. So there is no need to say cuando ella hace sopa, although you could add ella for emphasis.

Yes. Spanish word order is fairly flexible, although some versions sound more natural than others.

For example, you could also say:

• Cuando hace sopa, mi abuela prefiere la espumadera al cucharón.

This means the same thing, but it puts the time clause first:

• When she makes soup, my grandmother prefers the skimmer to the ladle.

The original order is perfectly natural too.

The accent mark shows where the stress goes:

• cu-cha-RÓN

Without the accent mark, Spanish stress rules would make it sound different. Since cucharón ends in n, a word without a written accent would normally be stressed on the second-to-last syllable. But the correct stress is on the last syllable, so the written accent is needed.

This accent mark does not change the meaning by itself here; it mainly tells you how to pronounce the word correctly.

In standard Spain pronunciation, prefiere is approximately:

• preh-FYEH-reh

The stress is on the middle syllable:

• pre-FIE-re

A rough breakdown:

• pre as in preh
• fie like fyeh
• re like reh

Also, in Spain, the r is tapped lightly, not pronounced like a strong English r.

No. They are different words:

• mi = my (possessive adjective)
• mí = me after a preposition

In your sentence:

• Mi abuela = My grandmother

Examples:

• Mi casa = my house
• para mí = for me

So here it must be mi, without an accent mark.