español · B1 · vocabulary · 4 minutes
Cooking methods
Turn ingredients into an ordered process with precise commands.
Understand the choice
Read and give a recipe as an ordered process: cut, boil, fry, bake, mix, and add ingredients while controlling heat. Commands and attached object pronouns make these verbs immediately practical.
Core rule: Cooking instructions use commands and attach object pronouns to affirmative commands.
Notice it in context
Primero corta las verduras y luego fríelas a fuego lento.
First cut the vegetables and then fry them over low heat.
Cooking instructions use commands and attach object pronouns to affirmative commands.
Añade sal y mezcla bien.
Add salt and mix well.
Two short commands sequence actions.
Hay que hervir el arroz diez minutos.
The rice must be boiled for ten minutes.
Hay que gives an impersonal instruction.
What to remember
- Freír has the participles frito and freído; frito is especially common as an adjective and in food names.
- A fuego lento means over low heat; al horno means baked or in the oven.
Common trap: When a pronoun attaches to an affirmative command, preserve stress with an accent when needed: fríe + las becomes fríelas.