Level B1 · Chapter 56.5
Review 10: lessons 49 to 56
The vocabulary from lessons 49 to 56 that does not come back, the grammar of the block in one table, and two exercises. Part One ends here.
What you will learn
- Check, word by word, how much of the vocabulary from lessons 49 to 56 you actually remember.
- Tell what had already happened before, using the pluperfect.
- Agree and disagree without sounding blunt.
The story in easy Spanish
Aquella noche don Quijote habló con mucha seriedad de las armas y las letras.
That night Don Quixote spoke very seriously about arms and letters.
«En resumen, quien inventó la pólvora castigó el valor de los valientes».
“In short, whoever invented gunpowder punished the courage of the brave.”
Después habló un cautivo al que habían encerrado veintidós años en Argel.
Afterwards a captive spoke, a man they had kept shut up for twenty two years in Algiers.
Desde una ventana bajaba una caña con oro y con cartas escritas en árabe.
From a window a cane used to come down with gold and with letters written in Arabic.
Zoraida le escribía que quería ser cristiana y que su padre la mataría.
Zoraida wrote to him that she wanted to be a Christian and that her father would kill her.
«Si salimos de noche, nadie nos ve», dijo el renegado, y escaparon por mar.
“If we leave at night, nobody sees us,” said the renegade, and they escaped by sea.
A la mañana siguiente un barbero señaló a Sancho y reclamó su bacía.
The next morning a barber pointed at Sancho and claimed back his basin.
«Eso es el yelmo de Mambrino», contestó don Quijote sin levantarse.
“That is Mambrino’s helmet,” answered Don Quixote without getting up.
«Perdone usted, es de latón y sirve para afeitar», dijo el pobre hombre.
“Excuse me, it is brass and it is for shaving people,” said the poor man.
Don Fernando y sus amigos le siguieron la broma con cara de piedra.
Don Fernando and his friends kept the joke going with straight faces.
«Yo opino que es un yelmo», dijo uno, y los demás dieron la misma opinión.
“In my opinion it is a helmet,” said one, and the rest gave the same opinion.
Con la albarda, en cambio, la discusión empezó a subir de tono.
With the packsaddle, on the other hand, the argument began to grow heated.
Tres cuadrilleros se pusieron rojos de rabia, y allí se pegaron todos.
Three constables turned red with rage, and everybody there came to blows.
Unos sujetaban y otros gritaban, y nadie sabía quién peleaba contra quién.
Some were holding people down and others were shouting, and nobody knew who was fighting whom.
Don Quijote pidió con voz de trueno que aquella vergüenza terminara.
Don Quixote demanded in a voice like thunder that this disgrace should end.
Un cuadrillero se puso pálido y leyó una orden de detención contra él.
A constable turned pale and read out an arrest warrant against him.
El cura explicó que estaba enfermo del juicio, pagó lo roto y les impuso la paz.
The priest explained that he was sick in his wits, paid for the damage and imposed peace on them.
Poco después fue atado por unos hombres disfrazados y metido en una jaula de madera.
A little later he was tied up by some men in disguise and put into a wooden cage.
Se creyó víctima de un encantamiento y se dejó llevar encerrado en el carro.
He believed himself the victim of a spell and let himself be carried along shut in the cart.
En su pueblo el carro fue rodeado por los vecinos, que miraban aquel misterio.
In his village the cart was surrounded by the neighbours, who stared at that mystery.
El ama le daba caldo caliente y le suplicaba que se ocupara del trigo.
The housekeeper gave him hot broth and begged him to see to the wheat.
La sobrina escondió la llave, porque leer estaba prohibido en aquella casa.
The niece hid the key, because reading was forbidden in that house.
Seguía delgado y amarillo, y volvía a hablar de caballerías a quien entrara a barrer.
He was still thin and sallow, and he went back to talking about chivalry to whoever came in to sweep.
Vocabulary
Basin or helmet? (lesson 53)
- la bacía
- the barber’s basin
- el yelmo
- the helmet
- el latón
- brass
- afeitar
- to shave
- reclamar
- to claim back
- la opinión
- the opinion
- opinar
- to hold an opinion
- la broma
- the joke
- señalar
- to point at
- la seriedad
- seriousness
- subir de tono
- to grow heated
The general brawl (lesson 54)
- el cuadrillero
- the constable
- la rabia
- rage
- pegar
- to hit
- sujetar
- to hold down
- el trueno
- thunder
- pálido
- pale
- la detención
- the arrest
- el juicio
- judgement, sanity
- la vergüenza
- shame, disgrace
- imponer
- to impose
The cage on the cart (lesson 55)
- la madera
- wood
- disfrazado
- in disguise
- el encantamiento
- the enchantment, the spell
- encerrado
- shut in, locked up
- rodear
- to surround
- el misterio
- the mystery
The knight in his bed (lesson 56)
- el caldo
- the broth
- suplicar
- to beg
- ocuparse de
- to take care of, to see to
- el trigo
- wheat
- prohibido
- forbidden
- la llave
- the key
- barrer
- to sweep
- delgado
- thin
- amarillo
- yellow, sallow
- la caballería
- chivalry, knight errantry
Lessons 49 to 56 in one table
Start with the vocabulary list above. Lessons 49 to 52, the captive’s story, have no list here: their vocabulary already comes back on its own inside that block, and repeating it would spend your reading time twice on the same words.
| point | rule | from the summary above |
|---|---|---|
| discourse markers | en primer lugar, por otra parte, en cambio, en resumen | En resumen, quien inventó la pólvora. |
| pluperfect | había plus the participle, for what came before the past you are telling | Lo habían encerrado veintidós años en Argel. |
| reported speech | dijo que, escribió que, and the verb steps one tense back | Zoraida le escribía que quería ser cristiana. |
| si plus present | a condition that really can happen, present tense on both sides | Si salimos de noche, nadie nos ve. |
| agreeing and disagreeing | yo opino que, perdone usted pero, en cambio, desde luego | Perdone usted, es de latón. |
| ponerse, hacerse, quedarse | the change of a moment, the change for good, and the state you are left in | Se puso pálido y leyó la orden. |
| passive with ser | ser plus the participle, and whoever did it comes in with por | El carro fue rodeado por los vecinos. |
| verb chains | seguir plus gerund, dejar de plus infinitive, volver a plus infinitive | Volvía a hablar de caballerías. |
The full conjugations are in the verb tables at the back of the book.