Learn Spanish (Latin America): A medida que amases la masa madre, va a ser más elástica. - As you knead the sourdough, it is going to be more elastic.

A medida que amases la masa madre, va a ser más elástica.

As you knead the sourdough, it is going to be more elastic.

Breakdown of A medida que amases la masa madre, va a ser más elástica.

as / at the same time as (progression)

Questions & Answers about A medida que amases la masa madre, va a ser más elástica.

Why is amases in the subjunctive here?

The phrase a medida que (as / in proportion to) takes the subjunctive when describing a progression that hasn't finished happening yet. Because this is an anticipated action—you are about to knead the dough, and it will change as you do it—amases is in the present subjunctive. If you were stating a general, experienced fact (e.g., 'every time you knead the dough, it gets elastic'), you would use the indicative amasas.

Could I use mientras instead of a medida que in this sentence?

You could, but it loses a specific nuance. Mientras simply means two actions happen at the same time ('while you knead'). A medida que highlights a gradual, parallel progression: the dough's elasticity increases step-by-step in direct proportion to your kneading.

What is the literal translation of masa madre?

It translates literally to 'mother dough.' This is the standard Spanish term for both the baked sourdough bread and the sourdough starter itself.

Why does the second half use va a ser instead of the simple future tense será?

Both are grammatically correct, but in spoken Latin American Spanish, the ir a + infinitive structure (va a ser) is overwhelmingly preferred over the simple future tense (será) for predicting future events.