Questions & Answers about Añadimos el cuajo ahora.
Why is añadimos translated as the present tense 'we add' when it looks like the past tense 'we added'?
Is cuajo related to any other useful words?
Yes! Cuajo means 'rennet' (the substance used to curdle milk). It comes from the highly useful verb cuajar, which means 'to curdle' or 'to set'. At a B2 level and beyond, you will also hear cuajar used metaphorically to mean 'to come together', 'to materialize', or 'to catch on', like when a plan or an idea finally takes shape.
In Latin America, would it be more natural to say ahorita instead of ahora here?
It depends on the exact timing and the region, but ahora is a perfect fit here. While ahorita is incredibly common in Latin America, it often carries a colloquial nuance of 'in a little bit', 'right this exact second', or even 'just a moment ago'. In an instructional context like a recipe, the standard ahora offers clear, neutral timing without the elastic ambiguity of ahorita.
How would I apply this lesson's rule about hasta to say 'We do not add the rennet until now'?
To use the Latin American delayed inception structure, you would drop the negative word and simply say: Añadimos el cuajo hasta ahora. Even though it literally looks like an affirmative sentence ('We add the rennet until now'), speakers in regions like Mexico and Central America will understand it as 'We did not add the rennet until now' or 'We only just added the rennet'.
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