Breakdown of A mãe frita a cebola com azeite.
a mãe
the mother
com
with
o azeite
the olive oil
a cebola
the onion
Questions & Answers about A mãe frita a cebola com azeite.
Why is com (with) used here when the English translation says "in" olive oil?
In Portuguese, when you cook something using a fat or liquid, you use the preposition com (with). You are literally saying Mum fries the onion with olive oil. Using em (in) would sound like the onion is just resting inside a pool of unheated oil.
Doesn't azeite just mean "oil"?
Azeite specifically means "olive oil", which is the default cooking oil in Portugal. If you want to talk about generic vegetable oil or sunflower oil, you would use the word óleo.
Why does the English translation say "Mum" but the Portuguese says A mãe (The mum)?
In European Portuguese, it is standard to use definite articles (o or a) before family members and people's names. While English just says "Mum", Portuguese naturally says A mãe.
Is frita a verb or an adjective here?
Here, frita is the verb. It is the he/she/it form of the regular verb fritar (to fry) in the present tense. You might also see frita used as an adjective to describe food, like in batata frita (french fry), but in this sentence it is the action Mum is doing.