YOU SAID:
my mom cut a potato and then fried it
INTO JAPANESE
私のお母さんはジャガイモを切って揚げた
BACK INTO ENGLISH
My mother cut the potatoes and fried them.
INTO JAPANESE
母はジャガイモを切って揚げました。
BACK INTO ENGLISH
My mother cut the potatoes and fried them.
That didn't even make that much sense in English.