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Instrucciones
‘Verbos’ is a presentation designed to get you thinking about your
reading exam. It will help you to learn 50 common verbs used in
Spanish.
It’s not just about 50 verbs though; it also includes other types of words
that are related to the verbs. For example look at the 3 words below.
We have a verb, adjective and noun all linked to each other.
(seguir – to follow / siguiente – following / seguidores – followers)
VERB
ADJECTIVE
NOUN
Learning 50 verbs will help you in your exams but learning how to use
patterns and intuition from what you already know is a powerful
linguistic tool.
At the end there is a section for cognate verbs as well!!!
Move on to next screen to begin.
I do not own Lady Gaga
Verbos
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COGNATES
1. Seguir – to follow / to continue
Main menu
ADJECTIVE
El caracol sigue la tortuga
The snail follows the tortoise
Can you see how there are
El día siguiente
verbs, adjectives and nouns
The following day
linked here?
Try to see the patterns and
distinguish the different types of
word linked by a meaning.
VERB
Si sigues comiendo comida basura, vas a engordarte
If you continue eating junk food, you’ll get big
Sigue todo recto
Carry straight on
NOUN
Tienes que seguir este curso de medicina
You have to follow this course of medicine
Los seguidores del cristianismo leen la biblia
The followers of christianity read the bible
2. Pedir – to ask for / to order
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¿Qué vas a pedir en el restaurante?
What are you going to order in the restaurant?
Hoy hice un pedido de un nuevo ordenador
Today I made an order for a new computer
Pidió la mano de su novia
He asked for his girlfriend’s hand (in marriage)
Sometimes you don’t
recognise a verb because the
spellings are different from
tense to tense.
Try to recognise the
consonants and then think
about verbs you know with
these consonants
...p..d = poder /pedir
3. Buscar – to look for/to search
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La policía busca a un ladrón con gafas
The police are looking for a thief with a glasses
See how sometimes
you recognise a verb in
a phrase.
Fui a la biblioteca en busca de un libro sobre arte
I went to the library in search of a book about art
Busco la playa
I’m looking for the beach
Also, you can see that sometimes Spanish uses 1
word to express 2, 3 or 4 English words.
‘Busco’ = I’m looking for
4a. Sonreír – to smile / 4b. Reírse – to laugh
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Sonríe y el mundo sonreirá contigo
Smile and the world will smile with you
El mensaje me hizo reír mucho
The message made me laugh a lot
Try to associate these two verbs with each other as they
are very close in meaning.
Some people think of special ways to remember which
is which: the ‘sun’ smiles at you (but doesn’t normally
laugh) so ‘sonreír’ = to smile.
Su sonrisa es un poco espantosa
His smile is a bit scary
Tiene una risa contagiosa
She has a contagious laugh
5. Elegir/Escoger – to choose
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Es difícil elegir entre los dos candidatos
It’s difficult to choose between the 2 candidates
Tendrás que escoger la puerta correcta
You’ll have to choose the correct door
Fue una prueba de elección multiple
It was a multi-choice test
Sometimes you come across words which are
cognates but would not be translated by their
English equivalent.
‘Elección’ looks like ‘election’ but if you look more
carefully at the sentence then a better translation
would be the word ‘choice’
6. Aumentar/Subir – to raise/to go up/to increase
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Me gustaría aumentar de peso
I would like to increase my weight
La temperatura aumentará a 30 grados este verano
The temperature will rise to 30˚ this summer
La subida se hace a pie – No hay funicular
The climb is made on foot – There is no cable car
Sometimes verbs are used to make nouns like the
example here. You can guess what they mean by
putting the words together.
Espantar = to scare
Pájaros = birds
Un espantapájaros = A scarecrow
Hay un subibaja en el jardín
There is a seesaw in the garden
7. Gastar – to spend
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Gasté mi dinero en un concierto de JLS
I spent my money on a JLS concert
El presidente no controla los gastos de su mujer
The president doesn’t control his wife’s spending
No quiero malgastar mi tiempo con planchar la ropa
I don’t want to waste my time with ironing the clothes
If you know ‘mal’ means ‘bad’ then you should be able to
guess that it gives a negative meaning to a word
...gastar – spend
malgastar – waste
...educado – polite
maleducado - rude
8. Saber – to know (something)
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Sé que Juan no sabe nadar
I know that Juan doesn’t know how to swim
La profesora es una persona muy sabia
Be aware that many times there are
words like ‘sé – i know’ that look nothing
like their infinitives ... ‘saber – to know’.
Don’t be tempted to make bad judgments
on a sentence’s meaning just because you
think you know a word. ‘Saber ‘ means ‘to
know’ but ‘Saber a’ means ‘to taste of’
‘
It would be a bad judgment to think the
sentence below means ‘The ice cream
knows the strawberry’!
El helado sabe a fresa*
The ice cream tastes of strawberries*
The teacher is a very knowledgeable person
Odio a Marco – es un sabelotodo
I hate Marco – he’s a know-it-all
9. Conocer – to know (someone) / to meet
Nos conocimos en Las Vegas
We met in Las Vegas
Conozco al jefe del tribú
I know the chief of the tribe
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Italia es un país conocido por su comida
Italy is a country known for its food
Tengo algunos conocimientos de la cultura japonesa
I have some knowledge of japonese culture
Sometimes verbs are used with a reflexive pronoun ‘nos’ to translate the idea of
‘each other’.
For example ‘Nos vemos’ – ‘We see each other’
‘Nos conocemos’ – We meet each other / We know each other
10. Dar – to give
Dale las llaves a Pedro
Give the keys to Pedro
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Doy un paseo por el parque cada día
I go for a walk around the park every day
Las noticias me dieron mucha pena
Su padre le dio un reloj para su cumpleaños
The news made me very sad
His father gave him a watch for his birthday
Sometimes verbs are used for literally thousands of phrases. Unfortunately the verb ‘dar’
sometimes does not translate as ‘to give’ in some of these phrases.
‘Dar mucha pena’ literally means ‘to give lots of pain’ (to make someone sad)
11. Pasar – to spend (time)/to pass / to happen
¿Qué pasa?
What’s happening?
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Para llegar al aeropuerto, tienes que pasar por el estadio
To get to the airport, you have to pass by the stadium
‘Pasar’ is a verb with lots and lots of meanings in Spanish as well as English. Always try to
decide which definition makes the best sense.
‘¿Me pasas las patatas por favor?’ ‘Will you pass me the potatoes please?’
Voy a pasar un año estudiando en China
I’m going to spend a year in China
La semana pasada había manifesticaciones
Last week there were demonstrations
12. Encontrar – to find / to meet
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Bla bla
bla
No puedo encontrar mi pasaporte
I can’t find my passport
Often verbs are reflexive which
means you add ‘myself, yourself
etc to the meaning.
Here it has the meaning of ‘I
found myself a bit dizzy’ It’s not
exactly how we’d say it but it
makes sense.
Me encontré un poco mareado
I felt a bit dizzy
Le encuentro un poco hablador
I find him a little chatty
The smallest words can help you figure out meaning:
Le = him/her (me = me... te = you... nos = us)
Encuentro un poco hablador??? I find a bit chatty X
Le encuentro un poco hablador – I find him a bit chatty √
El teatro se encuentra en las afueras del pueblo
The theatre is found on the outskirts of town
13. Pagar – to pay
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¿Es posible pagar en metálico?
Is it possible to pay in cash?
Para reservar los billetes necesitamos un pago adelantado
To reserve the tickets, we need payment in advance
Some verbs in Spanish would be 2 words
in English:
‘pagar’ = to pay for
‘buscar’ = to look for
Mis padres me pagan los estudios
My parents pay for my studies
Try to take the words in a sentence and
make sense of them ‘ My parents me pay
the studies’
My parents pay for my studies
14. Ayudar – to help
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Las ayudantes del mago se cortan en dos.
The magician’s helpers are cut in two
Ayudaba en la cocina antes del accidente con el pastel
I used to help in the kitchen before the accident with the cake
Necesito tu ayuda con este proyecto
I need your help with this project
Make sure you pick up on the word ‘de’ in the exam.
It shows you what belongs to what:
El primer día del verano – The first day of summer
Música de todos los estilos – Music of all styles
Los conductores de Madrid – Drivers from Madrid
15. Conseguir – to achieve / to get
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El director consiguió un gran éxito
The director achieved great success
Es importante conseguir la diagnosis apropiada temprano
It’s important to get the correct diagnosis early
Be aware that there are many ‘false friends’
in Spanish (words that appear to be cognates
but mean something completely different)
No vas a conseguir el respeto si gritas
You’re not going to get respect if you shout
E.G éxito = success
actual = current
sensible = sensitive
avisar = to warn
16. Poder – to be able to (can)
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Aqui no se puede fumar
You can’t smoke here
La viuda no pudo creer lo que oyó
The widow couldn’t believe what she heard
Verbs like poder are so common that it will probably appear 9-10
times in a reading exam.
You must know its different uses: (se puede – you can) (podrías – you
could)
and particularly its noun and adjective forms: (poder – power)
(poderoso) powerful.
Tenemos el poder de salvar el medio ambiente
We have the power to save the environment
Ha comprado una moto muy poderosa
He has bought a very powerful motorbike
17. Esperar 1 – To hope
Espero que no llueva
I hope that it doesn’t rain
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Hay esperanza que la cumbre producirá una solución
There is hope that the conference will produce a solution
When you use ‘se’ + a verb, it becomes passive. This means it translates as ‘It is + verb’
Confused ??? Ok Here are some examples:
1.Esperar = to hope & Se espera = It is hoped
2. Decir = To say & Se dice = It is said + Se dijo = It was said
3. Llamar = To call & Se llama = It is called
4. Conseguir = To achieve & Se consigue = It is achieved
¿Juan tiene el anillo?...Espero que sí
Does Juan have the ring?...I hope so
Se espera que los huelguistas vuelvan en dos días
It is hoped that the strikers will return in two days
18. Esperar 2 – to wait
Llevo dos horas esperando el autobús
I’ve been waiting 2 hours for the bus
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El gato se apostó en espera de un ratón
The cat sat down in expectation of a mouse
Esperar can mean ‘to wait’, ‘to hope’ or ‘to expect’.
The exam will probably include this verb to test that you
know these different meanings. Use your common sense
to work out which meaning the verb has.
e.g Espero que venga Juan – I hope Juan comes
Espero a Juan – I’m waiting for Juan
La madre y su niña están en la sala de espera
The mother and her child are in the waiting room
19. Vivir – to live
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Vivía en Australia pero ahora vivo en Dinamarca
No quedó nadie vivo en esta obra
I used to live in Australia but now i live in Denmark
Nobody was left alive in this play
To test your ability to understand written language, the examiner will replace common words
like ‘casa’ or ‘hogar’ with words like ‘vivienda’ to mean house/home.
Don’t be put off by this. Use your head and any language you previously learnt to help
yourself out.
Puerta = Door
Salida = Exit (from salir – to go out)
Comida = Food
Cena = Dinner (from cenar – to eat dinner)
Van a construir un bloque de 50 viviendas
Fue una fiesta muy viva
It was a very lively party
They are going to make a block of 50 homes
20. Volver – to return / to go back
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A la vuelta paramos para gasolina
Dieron una vuelta por el parque
On the return journey we stopped for petrol
They took a turn around the park
Think about the verb ‘volver a’ It would literally translate as
‘to return to’ but it is used to mean ‘to do something again’
or ‘to go back to doing something’.
Volver a empezar = to start again
Volver a ocurrir = to happen again
Volvió a su casa
He returned home
Ha vuelto a tomar drogas
She started to take drugs again
21. Casarse – to get married
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Me caso mañana en la iglesia
I’m getting married tomorrow in church
Nos casamos hace cincuenta años
We got married 50 years ago
Remember that some verbs are reflexive so in the infinitive
they have ‘se’ at the end.
Casarse – to get married Lavarse – to have a wash
This changes according to who is performing the action
Quiero casarme – I want to get married
¿Quieres casarte? – Do you want to get married?
Los novios quieren casarse en Dubai
The bride and groom want to marry in Dubai
22. Viajar – to travel
Los viajeros siempre van a la torre Eiffel
Travellers always go to the Eiffel Tower
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El viaje de vuelta era un poco picado
The return journey was a bit choppy
The endings ‘eros’ ‘antes’ & ‘ores’ are usually added to a verb to make a noun for people
who perform the verb...
1 (viajar = to travel + viajero = traveller)
(Obrar = to work + obrero = worker)
2 (caminar = to walk + caminante = hiker) (ayudar = to help + ayudante = helper)
3 ( jugar = to play + Jugadores = Players) (fumar = to smoke + fumador = smoker)
Viajé en coche desde Londres a Leeds
I travelled by car from London to Leeds
23. Cuidar – to take care of
Pone mucho cuidado en su higiene
She takes lots of care over her hygiene
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Tengo que cuidar de mi hermano menor
I have to take care of my little brother
Again take notice that there are 3 different types of word here:
noun, adjective and verb.
We could also add ‘cuidadosamente’ = ‘carefully’
La funámbula es muy cuidadosa
The tight-rope walker is very careful
Debes cuidar la ortografía
You need to take care over your spelling
24. Hacer – to do/to make
Me hizo llorar
He made me cry
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Hago los deberes en la biblioteca
I do my homework in the library
Hacer is a very common verb so be aware that it has lots of meanings but
generally these are ‘to do’ or ‘to make’ .
Try to bear this in my mind when deciding what sentences mean.
‘Hacer una llamada’ – To make a call
‘Hacer bien en algo’ – ‘To do well’
Pasaremos la clase haciendo investigaciones
We will spend the class doing investigations
Tengo que hacer la cama todas las mañanas
I have to make my bed every morning
25. Ponerse/Hacerse – to become
Se hicieron amigos durante el verano
They became friends during summer
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Se hizo millionario con su empresa
He became a millionaire with his business
Sometimes the reflexives verbs have very different meanings from the nonreflexive versions.
Hacer = to do/make
Hacerse = to become
Poner = to put
Ponerse = to become
producir = to produce
producirse = to take place
Se puso enfadada con el servicio
He got angry with the service
Si te pones triste, llámame a mi casa
If you get sad, call my house
26. Preguntar – to ask
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Me hicieron varias preguntas en la entrevista
They asked me lots of questions in the interview
Remember that reflexive verbs generally
mean doing something to yourself...
Me pregunto si el cartero ha venido
Lavo – I wash
Me lavo – I wash myself
I wonder if the postman has come
Pregunto – I ask
Me pregunto – I ask myself (I wonder)
Le pregunté por su madre
I asked after his mother
27a. Cerrar – to close
27b. Abrir – to open
Cierra la boca ahora!
Close your mouth now!
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Creo que la tienda está abierta el lunes
I think that the shop is open on Monday
Verbs sometimes have past participles which become adjectives:
(Abrir – open Abierta- opened) (Cerrar – close Cerrado – closed)
This is the normal pattern... Tomar = Tomado-taken
Visitar = Visitado-visited
Comer = Comido – eaten
dañar = dañado - damaged
Señor Fernández es muy cerrado – No dice mucho
Ábreme la puerta por favor
Mr Fernández is very closed – He doesn’t say much
Open the door please
28a. Llegar – to arrive
Llegadas
Arrivals
28b. Salir – to leave
Salidas
Departures
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Siempre llega tarde
He always arrives late
Try to remember verbs of opposite pairs (llegar & salir) Other pairs include
(1. abrir-open & cerrar-close)
(2. ganar-win & perder-lose)
(3. empezar-start & acabar-finish) (4. aparecer-appear & desaparecer-disappear)
Me llegó el fax por la mañana
The fax got to me in the morning
El jefe había salido de viaje con su esposa
The boss had left on holiday with his wife
29a. Empezar – to start
La chica acabó ganando el premio
The girl ended up winning the prize
29b.Acabar – to finish
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Voy a acabar con este ordenador inútil con
mi hacha
I’m going to finish off this useless
computer with my axe
In the first exercise we have the word ‘ganando’ which means ‘winning’
This is called a ‘gerund’ and there is a pattern for recognising them. They translate as
verb+ing in English
-ar verbs (tomando = talking) (empezando = starting)
-er&-ir verbs (comiendo = eating) (viviendo = viving)
Para empezar voy a tomar el pescado
To start with i’ll have the fish
Ha empezado a nevar
It has started to snow
30. Cambiar – to change
Quiero cambiar 100 dólares en euros
I want to change 100 dollars into euros
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El mecánico me cambió el neumático
The mechanic changed my tyre
Cambiar is a really important verb to know as it appears frequently in the
exam. Try to focus on learning verbs like cambiar which aren’t cognates –
the more of these you know, the less chance there is of you coming across
vocabulary you don’t understand.
Habrá muchos cambios en este departamento
Estamos cambiando los muebles
There will be lots of changes in this department
We are changing the furniture
31. Llevar – to wear/to carry/to take
Mi padre nos llevó a cenar
My father took us out to dinner
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Me encanta el perfume que llevas
I love the perfume you’re wearing
The verb ‘llevar’ has lots of translations in English; however in Spanish it means literally ‘to
take with you’. This could mean carrying something, wearing something, giving someone a lift
etc.
The final example is more difficult to understand: it is used to suggest an amount of time that
has already gone
‘llevo una hora esperando’ – ‘I’ve been waiting an hour’
‘llevamos dos años juntos’ – ‘We’ve been together for 2 years’
Llevaba a la niña en sus brazos
El avión lleva una hora de retraso
He was carrying the girl in his arms
The plane is an hour late
32. Creer – to believe
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Se cree que el incendio fue provocado
It is thought that the fire was started deliberately
Pronouns like ‘lo’ and ‘la’ refer back to
something already mentioned (masc or
fem)
‘los’ and ‘las’ = plural
No puedo apoyar un partido con creencias racistas
I can’t support a party with racist beliefs
When you find them in reading exams,
try to figure out what they are being
used for.
Me gustan los taxis – los uso todos los
días
I like taxis – I use them every day
Trescientas libras para un empaste! No lo puedo creer!
300 pounds for a filling! I can’t believe it
33. Parecer – to seem/to appear
Parece mentira que tenga 60 años
It seems false that she’s 60 years old
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Pareces una reina en ese vestido
You look like a queen in that dress
Parecer is often used in opinion phrases to replace more common verbs like (pensar, ser and
creer)
Instead of saying
‘Creo que está equivocado’ ‘I think he is wrong’
they may write
‘me parece que está equivocado’ ‘It seems to me he is wrong’
Or in other opinion phrases ‘¿Qué te parecen las flores?’ ‘What do you think of the flowers?
¿Vamos a la discoteca?, ¿Qué te parece?
Shall we go to the disco, what do you think?
El padre y su hijo son muy parecidos
The father and his son are very similar
34. Hay que – You must
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Everyone knows ‘Hay’ = ‘there is/there are’
Hay que seguir una dieta equilibrada
You have to follow a balanced diet
Good students know ‘Había’ = ‘There was’
‘Habrá’ = ‘There will be’
A student wanting to get A/A* needs to know
No había que ser genio para
entender a Einstein
You didn’t have to be a genius to
understand Einstein
Habrá que cruzar el desierto
You will have to cross the desert
‘Hay que’ = ‘You must’
‘Había que’ = ‘You had to’
‘Habrá que’ = ‘You will have to’
Try to know verbs in more than one tense;
especially those as common as ‘hay’
35. Sentir(se) – to feel
Me siento avergonzado
I feel embarrassed
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Lo siento mucho – rompí tu bicicleta
I’m really sorry – I broke your bike
Make sure you know set phrases like ‘lo siento’ for ‘I’m sorry’ and also remember that ‘sentir’
can be used to substitute for verbs like ‘estar’ and ‘tener’ when used to talk about feelings...
Estoy alegre/ Me siento alegre – I am happy
Tenía sed / Me sentía sed – I was thirsty
Sentía hambre cuando salí del gimnasio
No me hables, me has herido los sentimientos
I felt hungry when i came out of the gym
Don’t speak to me, you’ve hurt my feelings
36. Querer – to want / to love
Main menu
¿Cuánto quieres por el coche?
Te quiero mucho mi amor
How much do you want for the car?
I love you lots my darling
Querer is another very common verb, you have probably come across it in ‘quisiera’ ‘i
would like’ or ‘cuando quiera’ ‘whenever’
‘Sin + a verb’ is another common phrase type in Spanish....
Sin querer (without wanting to) Sin pensar (without thinking) Sin pagar (without paying)
Lo dije totalmente sin querer
I said it totally by accident
El chico no quiso comer nada
The boy didn’t want to eat anything
37. Deber – to have to (must)
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Debemos reciclar para salvar el medio ambiente
Se debe comer más fruta para estar sana
We must recycle to save the environment
You must eat more fruit to be healthy
Deber is another very common verb used in many different ways. You’ve probably come
across ‘deberías’ -‘you should’
‘debido a’ -‘owing to’
‘se debe’ - ‘you must’
Try to remember the nouns ‘deber’ – ‘duty’ and ‘deberes’ – ‘homework’
Also the verb can mean ‘to owe’ ... ‘Me deben dos’ – ‘They owe me 2’
Los deberes son muy importantes
Homework is very important
Para un soldado, ir a la guerra es su deber
For a soldier, going to war is a duty
38a. Nacerse– to be born
38b. Morir - to die
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Me muero de frío
Al nacer fue llamado por su padre
I’m freezing to death
At birth he was named after his father
The sentence al+verb gives the idea of ‘upon doing’ or ‘on doing’
For example
‘al salir’ = ‘upon leaving’
Mi fecha de nacimiento es el dos de junio 1978
My date of birth is the 2nd June 1978
‘al darse cuenta de’ = ‘on realising’
La muerte de César es una escena famosa
The death of Caesar is a famous scene
39. Decir – to say
¿Cómo se dice ‘tren’ en ruso?
How do you say ‘train’ in Russian?
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Voy a decirle a Patricia que es mi novio
I’m going to tell Patricia that he’s my boyfriend
Decir can mean ‘to tell’ or ‘to say’. Both are extremely common in exams.
The adjective ‘dicho’ meaning ‘said’ is used the same way in English to describe
something already mentioned...
’Dicho hombre trabaja aquí’ ‘Said man works here’ (man already mentioned)
‘En dichas ciudades’ ‘In said cities’ (in the cities already mentioned)
Juan dijo que va a hacer sol hoy
Juan said it’s going to be sunny today
Dicho documento es totalmente secreto
Said document is totally secret
40. Enseñar – to teach / Aprender – to learn
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Le enseñaron a nadar a los seis años
They taught him to swim at 6 years old
He aprendido el alfabeto árabe de memoria
I’ve learnt the arabic alphabet by heart
Mi hermana enseña inglés en la universidad
My sister teaches English at the university
Again, try to link nouns to verbs...
Aprendizaje – learning
Enseñanza – teaching
sabiduría – knowledge/wisdom
Su capacidad de aprendizaje es increíble
His ability to learn is incredible
41. Mejorar – to improve
El tratamiento la mejoró
The treatment made her better
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Es mejor futbolista que su hermano
He is a better footballer than his brother
You must be careful with words like ‘mejor’ and ‘peor’ .
On their own they mean ‘better’ and ‘worse’; however ‘el mejor’ and ‘la mejor’ mean
‘the best’ and ‘the worst’.
Es la mejor violinista de su generación
She is the best violinist of her generation
42. Empeorar – to get worse
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The phrase cada vez + adjective is used to express the
idea of something getting ‘worse and worse’ or ‘more
and more silly’.
For example
‘Cada vez mejor’ -‘Better and better’
‘Cada vez menos sensible’ – ‘Less and less sensitive’
La situación es cada vez peor en los hospitales
The situation in hospitals is worse and worse
El tiempo empeoró durante la noche
The weather got worse during the night
43. Desarrollar – to develop
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Sometimes a noun linked to a verb can be used
to make a phrase:
Han desarrollado un nuevo tipo de móvil
They’ve developed a new type of mobile
‘Desarrollo’ = ‘development’
‘En desarrollo’ = In development’ or ‘developing’
Inglaterra es un país desarrollado pero Nigeria es un país en desarollo
England is a developed country but Nigeria is a developing country
El deporte me permite desarrollar mi aspecto físico
Sport lets me develop my physical appearance
44. Dejar – to leave
Dejé mi maleta en el aeropuerto
I left my suitcase in the airport
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Quiero dejar de fumar porque es caro
I want to give up smoking because its expensive
Dejar is used in many different meanings ‘to leave’, ‘to let’ ‘to lend’ ‘to stop’
You need to understand the general idea of it meaning ‘to leave something
behind’; even when this is a habit or an action (like smoking)
¿Me dejas tu collar?
Will you lend me your necklace?
Dejaron incompletas las nuevas casas
They left the new houses unfinished
45. Perder – to lose / to miss
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Nunca pierdo un episodio de mi telenovela favorita
I never miss an episode of my favourite soap
Estamos totalmente perdidos
We’re totally lost
Often verbs are converted to adjectives by a change in spelling....
Perder = Perdido-lost
Entender = Entendido-understood
These can be used with ‘estar’ to be...
Mi madre está herida – My mother is injured
El perrito está desarrollado – The puppy is developed (grown up)
Los gemelos son malos perdedores
The twins are bad losers
Comprar una moto es una pérdida de dinero
Buying a motorbike is a waste of money
46. Olvidar – to forget
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We’ve seen a few adjectives coming from
verbs. ‘Olvidadizo’ is an example of this.
Poder – Poderoso = Powerful
Es un chico muy olvidadizo
Cambiar – Cambiante = Changing
He’s a forgetful boy
Olvidé meter la ropa en la lavadora
I forgot to put the clothes in the washer
La cantante cayó en el olvido después de dos álbumes
The singer fell into obscurity/was forgotten after two albums
47. Herir – to injure
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Tiene una herida bastante grave después de una caída
He has quite a serious injury after a fall
Try not to ignore the word ‘que’ as it may give a
lot of information about the word it follows. It
generally means ‘who’ or ‘that’
No puede jugar – está herida
She can’t play – she’s injured
E.g ‘El hombre que recibió el premio era sueco’
‘The man who received the prize was Swedish’
El hombre que hirió a la víctima ha recibido un castigo de tres años
The man who injured the victim has received a 3 year sentence
48. Sacar – to take out
Me sacaron sangre como prueba
They took some blood as a test
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Por favor, no saques la lengua
Please, don’t stick your tongue out
Some words are combinations of nouns and verbs like the two examples below. There are
quite a few examples of these in Spanish.
Matamoscas = Fly swatter
Quiero un sacapuntas
I want a pencil sharpener
Sacamuelas = dentist (slang)
¿Me buscas un sacacorchos?
Will you find me a corkscrew?
49. Entender– to understand
Apart from ‘no’ there are many words which
are used to make sentences negative in
Spanish.
jamás / nunca = never
nadie = nobody
nada = nothing
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No entiendo por qué no quieres saltar
I don’t understand why you won’t jump
jamás doesn’t begin with n so people
sometimes forget its meaning!!
Se entienden por señas
They communicate to each other by
sign language
Según tengo entendido, quieres un préstamo de £5000
As i understand it you want a loan of £5000
50. Leer – to read
Me encanta leer / Me encanta la lectura
I love to read / I love reading
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Mi madre sabe leer los labios
My mum knows how to lip-read
Remember that adjectives usually come after the noun in Spanish so it’s important to read
(and take notice of) the entire sentence.
If you were asked in an exam to say whether the woman in the 4th example likes clothes, you
would’ve needed to notice she was a reading ‘una revista de moda’ not just ‘una revista’.
Los lectores del periódico estarán chocados
Estaba leyendo una revista de moda
The newspaper readers will be shocked
I was reading a fashion magazine
COGNATES
frustrar
Underneath is a list of cognates you will come across while learning Spanish. Practice flick in corner...click to start
frustar –to frustrate
desaparecer – to disappear
acompañar – to accompany
apresurarse – to pressurise
contentar – to make happy
decidir – to decide
funcionar – to function / work
desear – to desire
discutir – to discuss
encontrar – to encounter / find
entrar – to enter
escapar – to escape
intentar – to try / intend
interesarse – to be interested in
invitar – to invite
merecer – to merit / deserve
perdonar – to pardon / forgive
terminar – to end
tocar – to touch
adorar – to adore/to love
comentar – to comment/say
estudiar – to study
explicar – to explain
contestar – to reply
detener – to detain / to arrest
usar – to use
emplear – to employ
visitar – to visit
fabricar – to make
aparcar – to park
formar – to form
reflejar – to reflect
informar – to inform
relajar – to relax
liberar – to free
deprimir – to depress
notar – to note
oprimir – to oppress
ocupar – to occupy
impresionar – to impress
ocuparse – to occupy yourself
ascender – to ascend/ go up
preferir – to prefer
descender – to descend /go down
presentar –to present
cubrir – to cover
resolver – to resolve
descubrir – to discover
concluir – to conclude
describir – to describe
armar – to arm
guardar – to guard/to keep
incluir – to include
salvar –to save
activar –to activate
dañar – to damage
animar – to animate/encourage
prohibir – to prohibit/ ban
progresar – to progress
recibir – to receive
repetir – to repeat
sufrir – to suffer
reunir – to meet
seleccionar – to select
vender – to sell
mover – to move
honrar – to honour
iniciar – to initiate/start
educar – to educate
construir –to construct
costar – to cost
destruir – to destruct
inundar – to inundate
durar – to last
reservar – to reserve