Spanish GCSE Reading and Grammar — Constance e Imran Episode 43 (learn through a novel)
- The story episode in Spanish.
- The translation into English.
- A grammar explanation with examples from the story.
El café estaba casi vacío. Imran y Leo se sentaron junto a la ventana. Durante unos segundos, ninguno habló.
The café was almost empty. Imran and Leo sat down by the window. For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.
—Bueno —dijo Leo—. Supongo que después de invitar a tomar café a un desconocido porque me hizo llorar en un parque debería presentarme. Tengo diecisiete años, estudio en una escuela en Wollaton y normalmente no abordo a chicos desconocidos.
“Well,” Leo said. “I suppose that after asking a complete stranger to have coffee with me because he made me cry in a park, I should introduce myself. I’m seventeen, I go to a school in Wollaton, and I don’t normally approach guys I don’t know.”
Imran sonrió.
Imran smiled.
—¿Normalmente?
“Normally?”
—Bueno, nunca lo había hecho.
“Well, I’d never done it before.”
—Eso me tranquiliza.
“That’s reassuring.”
—¿Por qué? ¿Pensabas que era una técnica?
“Why? Did you think it was some kind of technique?”
—Un poco.
“A little.”
Leo se rio.
Leo laughed.
—No. Escucharte cantar me emocionó. Y lo que dijiste antes de cantar también. Eso de querer ser músico y no vivir la vida que otros han elegido para ti. A mí me gustaría hacer fotografía o algo relacionado con imágenes. Pero no tengo ninguna prisa por decidirlo.
“No. Hearing you sing moved me. And so did what you said before you sang. About wanting to be a musician and not living the life other people have chosen for you. I’d like to do photography or something related to images. But I’m in no hurry to decide.”
Imran lo miró sorprendido.
Imran looked at him in surprise.
—¿Tus padres no te presionan?
“Don’t your parents put pressure on you?”
—No demasiado.
“Not too much.”
—¡Qué suerte tienes!
“You’re so lucky!”
Leo lo observó unos segundos.
Leo watched him for a few seconds.
—¿Y lo de ser gay? ¿También te presionan con eso?
“And what about being gay? Do they put pressure on you about that too?”
Imran se quedó inmóvil.
Imran froze.
—¿Cómo sabes que soy gay?
“How do you know I’m gay?”
—No lo sabía. Solo esperaba que lo fueras.
“I didn’t. I was just hoping you were.”
Imran soltó una carcajada.
Imran burst out laughing.
—Eso es trampa.
“That’s cheating.”
—Un poco.
“A little.”
Leo bebió un sorbo de café.
Leo took a sip of his coffee.
—Yo salí del armario hace dos años. No fue una tragedia, aunque tampoco fue perfecto. Hubo gente que se alejó. Un chico con el que era amigo desde pequeño dijo que no tenía nada contra los gays, pero que prefería que yo no me cambiara de ropa delante de él después de hacer deporte.
“I came out two years ago. It wasn’t a tragedy, although it wasn’t perfect either. Some people drifted away. A guy I’d been friends with since I was little said he had nothing against gay people, but he didn’t want me to get changed in front of him after doing sport.”
—Qué idiota.
“What an idiot.”
—Sí. Como si por ser gay me gustaran automáticamente todos los hombres del planeta. Ni él era mi tipo ni yo estaba desesperado.
“Yeah. As if being gay automatically meant I fancied every man on the planet. Neither was he my type nor was I desperate.”
—¿Y no te dolió?
“Didn’t it hurt?”
—Claro que me dolió. Lo conocía desde niño. Pero después pensé que el problema era suyo, no mío.
“Of course it did. I’d known him since I was a kid. But then I realised the problem was his, not mine.”
Imran movió lentamente la cucharita.
Imran slowly stirred his coffee.
—A mí todavía me cuesta pensar así. Se lo dije a mi madre hace poco.
“I still find it hard to think like that. I told my mother recently.”
—¿Y?
“And?”
—Fue un desastre.
“It was a disaster.”
—Lo siento.
“I’m sorry.”
—Ella cree que es algo que hay que ocultar.
“She thinks it’s something that has to be hidden.”
Leo negó con la cabeza.
Leo shook his head.
—Lo que nunca he entendido es por qué hay gente que lo considera antinatural. La homosexualidad se ha documentado en más de mil quinientas especies: delfines, carneros. Hay pingüinos y albatros del mismo sexo que incluso forman vínculos estables.
“What I’ve never understood is why some people think it’s unnatural. Homosexuality has been documented in more than fifteen hundred species: dolphins, rams. There are same-sex penguins and albatrosses that even form stable bonds.”
—¿Cómo sabes todo eso?
“How do you know all that?”
—Cuando la gente te dice que vas en contra de la naturaleza, tienes dos opciones: o te lo crees o investigas. Y entonces descubres que la naturaleza no tiene ningún problema contigo, ni tú con ella.
“When people tell you that you’re going against nature, you have two choices: either you believe them or you do some research. And then you discover that nature has no problem with you, and neither do you with nature.”
Imran miró por la ventana.
Imran looked out of the window.
—A veces me pregunto si esta realidad no estará equivocada.
“Sometimes I wonder if this reality might be wrong.”
Leo no respondió inmediatamente.
Leo didn’t answer immediately.
—Yo también lo pensé durante mucho tiempo. Pero un día decidí que no iba a permitir que nadie me convenciera de que había algo malo en mí.
“I thought that too for a long time. But one day I decided I wasn’t going to let anyone convince me that there was something wrong with me.”
—Parece fácil.
“You make it sound easy.”
—No lo es. La seguridad no me la trajo nadie. La fui construyendo laboriosamente. Me fui construyendo.
“It isn’t. No one brought me that confidence. I built it slowly, with a lot of effort. I built myself.”
Imran levantó la mirada.
Imran looked up.
—Yo no soy tan valiente.
“I’m not that brave.”
—¿No? Acabas de cantar en español en medio de un parque. Has dicho delante de tus amigos que quieres dedicar tu vida a la música aunque tu familia espere otra cosa de ti. Y le dijiste a tu madre que eres gay.
“Aren’t you? You’ve just sung in Spanish in the middle of a park. You told your friends that you want to devote your life to music even though your family expects something else from you. And you told your mother you’re gay.”
Imran se quedó callado. Leo sonrió.
Imran remained silent. Leo smiled.
—Creo que deberías repensar tu definición de valentía. Las cosas cambian porque alguien se atreve a cambiarlas. Durante mucho tiempo se produjo muchísimo sufrimiento simplemente porque las personas diferentes tenían que vivir ocultas: las mujeres encerradas en sus hogares, la gente como nosotros. Y los que se negaron a aceptar esto condujeron a la sociedad, poco a poco, hacia un lugar mejor.
“I think you should reconsider your definition of courage. Things change because someone dares to change them. For a long time, a great deal of suffering was produced simply because people who were different had to live in hiding: women confined to their homes, people like us. And those who refused to accept this led society, little by little, towards a better place.”
Imran lo miró.
Imran looked at him.
—Hablas mucho.
“You talk a lot.”
—Es uno de mis defectos.
“It’s one of my faults.”
—¿Tienes más?
“Do you have any others?”
—Ninguno.
“None.”
Imran volvió a reírse. Leo se inclinó ligeramente hacia él.
Imran laughed again. Leo leaned slightly towards him.
—Ahora voy a arriesgarme otra vez.
“Now I’m going to take another risk.”
—¿Otra técnica?
“Another technique?”
—No. Esta vez es una pregunta.
“No. This time it’s a question.”
Imran esperó.
Imran waited.
—Me gustas.
“I like you.”
Imran sintió que se le calentaba la cara.
Imran felt his face grow warm.
—Tú también me gustas.
“I like you too.”
—Bien. Eso nos simplifica bastante las cosas.
“Good. That makes things quite a lot easier for us.”
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| Decir | Traer | Conducir | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yo | dije | traje | conduje |
| Tú | dijiste | trajiste | condujiste |
| Él, ella, usted | dijo | trajo | condujo |
| Nosotros, nosotras | dijimos | trajimos | condujimos |
| Vosotros, vosotras | dijisteis | trajisteis | condujisteis |
| Ellos, ellas, ustedes | dijeron | trajeron | condujeron |
Why does a J appear in these irregular Preterites?
The J in forms such as dije, traje, conduje and other verbs ending in -ducir is the result of the historical evolution of Spanish from Latin. As the language developed, certain consonant and vowel combinations in these verbs changed their pronunciation and eventually produced the sound that we now write with J. This happened in decir and traer, and also became a regular pattern in verbs ending in -ducir, such as conducir → conduje and producir → produje. So, although these forms look irregular today, the J is not random: it is the result of historical sound changes that became part of the Spanish verb system. Irregularities always have a reason; nothing is by chance.
You have plenty of examples in our episode:
Y lo que dijiste antes de cantar también. And so did what you said before you sang.
La seguridad no me la trajo nadie. No one brought me that confidence.
Durante mucho tiempo se produjo muchísimo sufrimiento. For a long time, a great deal of suffering was produced.
Y los que se negaron a aceptar esto condujeron a la sociedad, poco a poco, hacia un lugar mejor. And those who refused to accept this led society, little by little, towards a better place.
More verbs ending in -ducir with this pattern are: deducir, inducir, introducir, producir, reducir, reproducir, seducir, traducir, etc.
All the negative words and the way to use them are explained in this blog:
And of course, you can read many of these words in our story:
No tenía nada contra los gays. He had nothing against gay people.
Ni él era mi tipo ni yo estaba desesperado. Neither was he my type nor was I desperate.
La naturaleza no tiene ningún problema contigo. Nature has no problem with you.
No iba a permitir que nadie me convenciera de que había algo malo en mí. I wasn’t going to let anyone convince me that there was something wrong with me.
Find all the episodes here: Contents – GCSE Spanish
We post two new episodes every week — keep up with Constance and Imran’s story!
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