Spanish GCSE Reading and Grammar — Constance e Imran Episode 6 (learn through a novel)
- The story episode in Spanish.
- The translation into English.
- A grammar explanation with examples from the story.
Salen de clase caminando juntos, sin hablar al principio. Imran rompe el silencio:
They leave class walking together, not speaking at first. Imran breaks the silence:
«A veces me pregunto si estudio para mí o para mi madre.»
“Sometimes I wonder if I study for myself or for my mother.”
Constance lo mira, sorprendida.
Constance looks at him, surprised.
«¿Tu madre?»
“Your mother?”
Imran asiente.
Imran nods.
«Ella quiere notas perfectas. Medicina, ingeniería… éxito. Yo estudio, estudio, estudio. Pero no sé qué quiero. A veces pienso que quiero vivir otra vida.»
“She wants perfect grades. Medicine, engineering… success. I study, study, study. But I don’t know what I want. Sometimes I think I want to live another life.”
Constance baja la voz:
Constance lowers her voice:
«Yo no tengo eso. Mi madre no espera nada. Vive en su mundo. No me pregunta nada, no lee lo que escribo. ¿Y si nadie espera nada de ti? ¿Para quién hacer algo?»
“I don’t have that. My mother expects nothing. She lives in her own world. She doesn’t ask me anything, she doesn’t read what I write. And if no one expects anything from you? Who do you do something for?”
Imran se ríe sin alegría.
Imran laughs without joy.
«Presión y vacío. Es como caminar en una cuerda floja.»
“Pressure and emptiness. It’s like walking on a tightrope.”
Constance sonríe apenas, con un toque de ironía.
Constance smiles faintly, with a hint of irony.
«Sí. Y nadie abajo para atraparnos. Aunque bueno, tampoco me importaría caer encima de Jason.»
“Yes. And no one below to catch us. Though honestly, I wouldn’t mind falling on Jason.”
Ambos se ríen suavemente. El pasillo queda vacío. Solo se oye el eco de sus pasos.
They both laugh softly. The hallway is empty. Only the echo of their steps can be heard.
In episodes 4 and 5, we covered the Simple Present Tense for verbs ending in AR and ER. We will discuss today the last group of verbs ending in IR.
«A veces pienso que quiero vivir otra vida.» → VIVIR, to live
«No me pregunta nada, no lee lo que escribo.» → ESCRIBIR, to write
As always, take the verb, drop the ending and replace it like this:
VIVIR → VIV-
For only one person:
- yo vivo – I live
- tú vives – you live
- él/ella vive – he/she lives
For more than one person:
- nosotros/as vivimos – we live
- vosotros/as vivís – you all or you both live
- ellos/ellas viven – they live
And each time that you have a regular verb ending with IR, you do the same, as with escribir:
- yo escribo
- tú escribes
- él/ella escribe
- nosotros/as escribimos
- vosotros/as escribís
- ellos/ellas escriben
Notice that the only two forms with an i are nosotros and vosotros.
Great. Now you know your first tense: the Regular Simple Present.
«A veces me pregunto si estudio para mí o para mi madre.»
You can do something always, never or sometimes. How to say this in Spanish?
- Siempre estudio matemáticas. – I always study Math.
- A veces estudio historia. – Sometimes, I study history.
- Nunca estudio francés. – I never study French.
- Siempre escucho música, pero nunca hago mis deberes. – I always listen to music, but I never do my homework.
Find all the episodes here: Contents – GCSE Spanish
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We post two new episodes every week — keep up with Constance and Imran’s story!
