Spanish GCSE Reading and Grammar-Constance e Imran Episode 27 (learn through a novel)

Spanish GCSE Reading and Grammar – Constance e Imran Episode 27 (learn through a novel)

TOPIC: Spanish Verbs Explained — Part 3: SER (with clear Examples & Reading Practice)

In every blog you will always find the same format:

  1. The story episode in Spanish.
  2. The translation into English.
  3. A grammar explanation with examples from the story.

This way you can practise reading, understanding and grammar, all at the same time.

Constance e Imran – Episodio 27

Constance and Imran – Episode 27

Caminan unos metros sin hablar, mirando el póster que Maya sostiene con cuidado.
They walk a few metres in silence, looking at the poster Maya is holding carefully.
—Este artista… —dice ella—. Millones de personas ven sus obras en las redes sociales.
—This artist… —she says—. Millions of people see his works on social media.
—Es que el arte callejero puede cambiar un barrio entero —dice—. Cuando una idea es pintada en la calle, la ve gente que nunca entraría en una galería. Es más democrático.
—Street art can change an entire neighbourhood —he says—. When an idea is painted on the street, people who would never enter a gallery can see it. It’s more democratic.
Constance sonríe.
Constance smiles.
—En clase vimos una vez un documental sobre Banksy. ¿Os acordáis?
—We watched a documentary about Banksy in class once. Do you remember?
—Claro —contesta Daniel—. Sus obras sobre refugiados están en ciudades de todo el mundo. Y aunque duren poco, hacen pensar.
—Of course —Daniel replies—. His works about refugees are in cities all over the world. And even if they don’t last long, they make people think.
Maya mira el póster con intensidad.
—La exposición es en el Museo del Mar, ¿no?
Maya looks at the poster intensely.
—The exhibition is in the Museum of the Sea, right?
—Sí —dice Imran—. Podemos pasar mañana. Está cerca de la biblioteca.
—Yes —says Imran—. We can go tomorrow. It is near the library.
Daniel sigue mirando el dibujo.
—A veces, una simple imagen dice lo que los políticos nunca dicen. Por eso me gusta la sociología… porque estudia cómo pensamos como sociedad.
Daniel keeps looking at the drawing.
—Sometimes, a single image says what politicians never say. That’s why I like sociology… because it studies how we think as a society.
Maya respira hondo.
—Pues mañana vamos. Este artista quiere decir algo… y yo quiero escucharlo.
Maya takes a deep breath.
—Then let’s go tomorrow. This artist wants to say something… and I want to listen.

📘 GRAMMAR:

Check episodes 23 to 26 to revise when to use “ser” and “estar”. I will explain now the last two cases where we use “ser”.

1. The passive voice: this means that the subject of the sentence doesn’t do anything, it’s passive. Example:

…una idea es pintada en la calle… → … an idea is painted on the street…

2. “Ser” vs “estar” with places and events

Está cerca de la biblioteca. → it is near the library.

You already know that, it was explained in episode 24: when you want to say where is something or somebody, always use “estar”.

Now, take a look at this:

La exposición es en el Museo del Mar. → The exhibition is in the Museum of the Sea.

Here we are saying where an event takes place. We use “ser” for events such as meetings, concerts, weddings or exhibitions.

💡 TIP:

Since in our episode we see the word biblioteca, it’s a great moment to learn a common trap for English speakers.

🏛️ Do you remember that the Romans invaded England and they spoke Latin? And did you know that Spanish comes from Latin? This explains why we have many similar words, because they have Latin roots:

completar — to complete

repetir — to repeat

estudiar — to study

This is very helpful for you, because you can recognise many words. The problem is that there are also words that look very similar but have a totally different meaning. Take a look:

😕 carpet is alfombra — carpeta is a folder — so, carpet is not carpeta.

😕 long is largo — large is grande — so, large is not largo.

😕 lecture is conferencia — reading activity is actividad de lectura — so, lecture is not lectura.

These words are called “false cognates”. Here is the example in our episode:

Está cerca de la biblioteca. → it is near the library.

😕 library is biblioteca — librería is a bookshop — so, library is not librería.

I made a video explaining more about false cognates:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zllVW8OMQxk

We will continue studying them.

Find all the episodes here:

Spanish for London — Contents GCSE Spanish

Highly qualified native teacher with 30 years of experience.
One-to-one lessons via Zoom.
Contact me at
laura@spanishforlondon.com

We post two new episodes every week — keep up with Constance and Imran’s story!

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