Breakdown of La masa necesita más agua a medida que añades la harina.
necesitar
to need
el agua
water
más
more
añadir
to add
la masa
dough
a medida que
as / at the same time as (progression)
la harina
flour
Questions & Answers about La masa necesita más agua a medida que añades la harina.
Why is añades in the indicative here instead of the subjunctive?
A medida que takes the indicative when describing a general fact, a habit, or an experienced progression. Because this sentence states a general cooking rule (the dough always needs more water as you add the flour), we use the indicative añades. If we were talking about an anticipated action in the future (e.g., 'The dough will need more water as you add the flour later'), we would use the subjunctive añadas.
What is the difference between using a medida que and mientras in this sentence?
Both can translate to 'as' or 'while,' but a medida que highlights a gradual, parallel progression. It tells us that one action changes in proportion to the other (the more flour you add, the more water it needs). Mientras simply means two actions are happening at the same time, without emphasizing that proportional, gradual change.
Could I use según instead of a medida que?
Why do we use the article in la harina when English just says 'add flour'?
In Spanish, it is very common in instructions or recipes to use the definite article to refer to the specific ingredients already assumed to be involved in the task. La harina implies 'the flour that belongs to this recipe.' If you just said añades harina, it would also be grammatically correct but would sound more like adding some unspecified amount of generic flour.
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