La mamá llamó hoy.

In Spanish, it is very common to use the definite article with family members when you are talking about them, especially as the subject of a sentence.

So:

• La mamá llamó hoy. = Mom called today.

This does not usually mean the mom in a cold or impersonal way. In Spanish, this structure is normal.

Compare:

• La mamá está en casa. = Mom is at home.
• El padre trabaja mucho. = Dad works a lot.

But when you speak to the person directly, you normally do not use the article:

• Mamá, ven aquí. = Mom, come here.

Also, in many situations Spanish speakers might prefer a possessive instead:

• Mi mamá llamó hoy. = My mom called today.

So la mamá is grammatical, but whether it sounds most natural depends on context.

Mamá is the everyday, affectionate word, like mum/mom.

Madre is more neutral or formal, like mother.

So:

• mamá = mum / mom
• madre = mother

Examples:

• Mi mamá llamó hoy. = My mom called today.
• Su madre llamó hoy. = His/Her mother called today.

A native speaker would usually use mamá in personal, family conversation, and madre in more formal or descriptive contexts.

Llamó is the preterite form of llamar for he/she/it:

• yo llamé = I called
• tú llamaste = you called
• él/ella llamó = he/she called

It is used for a completed action in the past.

So La mamá llamó hoy means that the call happened as a completed event.

Why not the others?

• llama = calls / is calling
• llamaba = was calling / used to call

Compare:

• La mamá llamó hoy. = Mom called today.
• La mamá llama hoy. = Mom is calling today / calls today.
• La mamá llamaba todos los días. = Mom used to call every day.

Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb ending already gives the information.

In llamó, the ending -ó tells you it is third person singular in the preterite, so it can mean:

• he called
• she called
• it called

Since the subject is already stated as La mamá, there is no need to add ella.

So Spanish prefers:

• La mamá llamó hoy.

rather than:

• La mamá ella llamó hoy. ❌

You could say Ella llamó hoy, but only if the subject is already understood from context.

Here, llamar most naturally means to call, usually to call on the phone.

So in this sentence:

• La mamá llamó hoy. = Mom called today.

But llamar can have other meanings too, depending on context:

• Llamar a alguien = to call someone
• Llamarse = to be called / to be named
• Llamar = to shout/call out

Examples:

• Me llamó ayer. = She called me yesterday.
• Se llama Ana. = She is called Ana / Her name is Ana.
• Llamó desde la puerta. = He called out from the doorway.

In this sentence, though, most learners should understand it as a phone call unless context suggests otherwise.

The accent mark shows where the stress goes: ma-MÁ.

Without the accent, mama is a different word in Spanish, not mom.

So:

• mamá = mom
• mama = a different word, such as breast/udder, or a verb form in some contexts

The written accent is very important because it changes both pronunciation and meaning.

The accent mark in llamó helps show both pronunciation and meaning.

• llamó = he/she called
• llamo = I call

So the accent changes the verb form.

Compare:

• Yo llamo. = I call / I am calling.
• Ella llamó. = She called.

The stress also changes:

• LLA-mo
• lla-MÓ

So the accent is not optional here; it tells you which tense and person the verb is in.

Spanish word order is more flexible than English. Putting hoy at the end is completely normal.

• La mamá llamó hoy.

This is a natural way to say it.

You can also move hoy for emphasis:

• Hoy llamó la mamá.
• Hoy la mamá llamó.

These are possible, but they can sound more marked or emphatic depending on context.

For a basic neutral sentence, La mamá llamó hoy is very natural.

In most of Spain today, ll is pronounced like y in yes, or something close to that.

So llamó sounds approximately like:

• ya-MO

However, pronunciation can vary by region. Traditionally, ll and y were pronounced differently, but in most modern Spanish varieties, including most of Spain, they are pronounced the same. This is called yeísmo.

So for most learners of modern Spain Spanish, pronouncing llamó with a y-like sound is a good target.

Yes, very often.

In much of Spain, when the time period is still connected to the present, speakers commonly use the present perfect:

• La mamá ha llamado hoy.

This is especially common with expressions like:

• hoy = today
• esta mañana = this morning
• esta semana = this week
• este año = this year

So in everyday Spain Spanish, many speakers would find ha llamado hoy more natural than llamó hoy.

That said, llamó hoy is still understandable and grammatical, and it may sound more natural in some regions, styles, or when the speaker sees the event as a finished past action.

So for Spain Spanish, a learner should know:

• more typically: La mamá ha llamado hoy
• also possible: La mamá llamó hoy

Yes, absolutely.

In fact, Mi mamá llamó hoy is often more natural if you mean my mom called today.

Compare:

• La mamá llamó hoy.
• Mi mamá llamó hoy.

Mi mamá clearly means my mom.

La mamá can work, but it depends more on context. It may refer to a specific mother already understood in the conversation, and in some contexts it can sound less natural than mi mamá.

So if you are learning how to say My mom called today, the safest choice is often:

• Mi mamá llamó hoy.