Pulveriza las hojas esta mañana.

Here, pulveriza is most naturally the affirmative tú command of pulverizar:

• (tú) pulveriza = spray / pulverize
• infinitive: pulverizar

For regular -ar verbs, the affirmative tú command usually matches the él/ella/usted present form:

• hablar → habla
• mirar → mira
• pulverizar → pulveriza

So Pulveriza las hojas esta mañana is telling one person informally: Spray the leaves this morning.

It is true that pulveriza can also be the normal present tense form he/she/you(formal) sprays, but in this sentence, with no subject stated, it is most naturally understood as a command.

Because Spanish uses a conjugated verb, not the infinitive, for normal commands.

• pulverizar = to spray / to pulverize
• pulveriza = spray! (telling tú to do it)

English often uses the bare verb for commands:

• Spray the leaves

Spanish uses the imperative form:

• Pulveriza las hojas

So pulverizar las hojas would mean to spray the leaves, not the command spray the leaves.

Spanish often uses the definite article where English might not.

• las hojas = the leaves

In instructions or everyday speech, Spanish commonly includes the article with body parts, objects, and things already understood in context.

So:

• Pulveriza las hojas sounds natural.
• Pulveriza hojas would sound more like spray leaves in a more general or indefinite sense, which is less likely here.

In this sentence, las hojas probably means the specific leaves the speaker and listener both know about.

Hojas is the plural of hoja.

Common meanings include:

• leaves (of a plant)
• sheets (of paper)

In this sentence, the context usually makes it leaves, especially because pulverizar is often used for spraying plants or surfaces.

Grammar-wise:

• la hoja = singular, feminine
• las hojas = plural, feminine

Because in Spanish, time expressions like this morning, this afternoon, this week, etc. are usually said without a preposition.

So:

• esta mañana = this morning
• esta tarde = this afternoon/evening
• esta noche = tonight / this evening
• esta semana = this week

Using en here would sound unnatural in standard Spanish for this meaning.

Yes, you can move it, although the emphasis changes slightly.

All of these are possible:

• Pulveriza las hojas esta mañana.
• Esta mañana, pulveriza las hojas.

The original version puts the action first, then adds the time.
If you put esta mañana first, it emphasizes when to do it.

Both are natural.

You would use the direct object pronoun las:

• Pulveriza las hojas → Pulverízalas

With an affirmative command, object pronouns are attached to the end of the verb.

So:

• Pulveriza las hojas esta mañana.
• Pulverízalas esta mañana.

Notice the written accent in Pulverízalas. It is added to keep the stress in the correct place after attaching the pronoun.

For a negative tú command, Spanish uses the present subjunctive:

• No pulverices las hojas esta mañana.

Why pulverices?

Because pulverizar is a -zar verb, and in forms based on the subjunctive, the z changes to c before e:

• pulverizar
• no pulverices

This spelling change keeps the sound consistent.

Compare:

• affirmative: Pulveriza
• negative: No pulverices

In Spain, you commonly need different command forms depending on who you are addressing.

• tú: Pulveriza las hojas esta mañana.
• usted: Pulverice las hojas esta mañana.
• vosotros: Pulverizad las hojas esta mañana.
• ustedes: Pulvericen las hojas esta mañana.

This is especially useful for Spain because vosotros is very common there in informal plural speech.

A simple approximation is:

• pul-beh-REE-tha in much of Spain
• pul-beh-REE-sa in Latin American varieties and some parts of Spain

A bit more precisely in standard Peninsular Spanish:

• pulveriza → pool-beh-REE-tha

Key points:

• v and b sound very similar in Spanish
• the stress is on ri: pul-ve-RI-za
• in most of Spain, z is pronounced like the th in think

Not always. Although it can mean to pulverize in a literal sense, in everyday Spanish it can also mean to spray, especially with a fine mist or spray bottle.

So with plants, pulverizar las hojas often means something like:

• spray the leaves
• mist the leaves

That is why the sentence can sound more natural in a plant-care context than the very literal English verb pulverize might suggest.

In theory, yes, because pulveriza can also be the él/ella/usted present tense form:

• Él pulveriza las hojas esta mañana. = He sprays the leaves this morning.

But without a subject pronoun like él, ella, or usted, and given the structure of the sentence, it is much more naturally read as a command:

• Pulveriza las hojas esta mañana. = Spray the leaves this morning.

Spanish often relies on context to distinguish these possibilities.