Spanish GCSE Reading and Grammar — Constance e Imran Episode 49 (learn through a novel)
- The story episode in Spanish.
- The translation into English.
- A grammar explanation with examples from the story.
Whitmore escribió dos fechas en la pizarra:
Whitmore wrote two dates on the board:
1932 — 1949
1932 — 1949
—Dos novelas —dijo—. Brave New World, de Aldous Huxley, y 1984, de George Orwell. Dos futuros terribles. Pero por razones muy diferentes. En 1984 hay una dictadura. Cuando Orwell publicó la novela, el estalinismo era una realidad. Y el mundo acababa de conocer también el nazismo. Orwell imaginó una sociedad en la que el poder controla a las personas mediante la vigilancia, el miedo, la censura, la tortura. El Gran Hermano te observa. Si piensas algo que el poder no permite, estás en peligro.
“Two novels,” he said. “Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, and 1984, by George Orwell. Two terrible futures. But for very different reasons. In 1984, there is a dictatorship. When Orwell published the novel, Stalinism was a reality. And the world had also just witnessed Nazism. Orwell imagined a society in which those in power control people through surveillance, fear, censorship and torture. Big Brother is watching you. If you think something that those in power do not allow, you are in danger.”
—Eso es lo que da miedo —dijo Maya.
“That’s what’s frightening,” Maya said.
—Por supuesto. Nos asustamos ante la idea de que alguien pueda quitarnos la libertad. Pero Huxley había imaginado algo diferente diecisiete años antes. En el mundo de Huxley, no necesitan torturarte para que obedezcas. La sociedad ha conseguido que la mayoría de las personas estén satisfechas con lo que tienen y no quieran nada diferente.
“Of course. We get frightened at the idea that someone could take away our freedom. But Huxley had imagined something different seventeen years earlier. In Huxley’s world, they don’t need to torture you to make you obey. Society has managed to make most people satisfied with what they have and unwilling to want anything different.”
—¿Entonces son felices? —preguntó Imran.
“So are they happy?” Imran asked.
—Sí, si aceptamos una definición muy barata del concepto de felicidad. Desde pequeños reciben un condicionamiento que determina qué deben desear, cómo deben vivir, qué deben consumir. Y cuando algo los incomoda, tienen soma, una droga legal que elimina el malestar. No necesitan prohibirles los libros. Simplemente consiguen que nadie quiera leerlos. La ignorancia es para ellos un bien deseado.
“Yes, if we accept a very cheap definition of happiness. From childhood, they undergo conditioning that determines what they should desire, how they should live and what they should consume. And whenever something makes them uncomfortable, they have soma, a legal drug that takes the discomfort away. There is no need to ban books. They simply make sure that nobody wants to read them. For them, ignorance is something desirable.”
Constance frunció el ceño.
Constance frowned.
—Eso es peor.
“That’s worse.”
—¿Por qué?
“Why?”
—Porque en 1984 sabes que no eres libre.
“Because in 1984, you know you aren’t free.”
Whitmore asintió.
Whitmore nodded.
—Exactamente. Winston se da cuenta de que vive oprimido. Sufre porque quiere una libertad que no tiene. Pero ¿qué ocurre si conseguimos una sociedad en la que las personas ya no deseen ser libres?
“Exactly. Winston realises that he is living under oppression. He suffers because he wants a freedom he doesn’t have. But what happens if we create a society in which people no longer want to be free?”
Nadie respondió.
No one answered.
—Pensad en nuestro mundo —continuó Whitmore—. No tenemos soma ni vivimos en la sociedad de Huxley. Pero tenemos entretenimiento permanente. Primero fue la televisión; después llegaron internet, los teléfonos inteligentes, las redes sociales. Podemos pasar horas mirando imágenes, vídeos, publicidad, opiniones, noticias, productos. Y cada vez que nos aburrimos, aparece algo nuevo. Es lo que algunos llaman dopamina barata. El soma moderno.
“Think about our world,” Whitmore continued. “We don’t have soma, and we don’t live in Huxley’s society. But we do have constant entertainment. First there was television; then came the internet, smartphones and social media. We can spend hours looking at images, videos, advertising, opinions, news and products. And every time we get bored, something new appears. It’s what some people call cheap dopamine. Modern-day soma.”
Daniel sacó el teléfono del bolsillo y lo miró.
Daniel took his phone out of his pocket and looked at it.
—Eso ha sido bastante personal.
“That felt rather personal.”
Algunos se rieron.
Some of them laughed.
—No estoy diciendo que vuestro teléfono sea una dictadura —continuó Whitmore—. Estoy planteando una pregunta. Orwell temía que nos ocultaran la información. Huxley imaginó un mundo en el que podía haber tanta información, tanto entretenimiento y tantas distracciones que la verdad terminara perdida entre todo lo demás, navegando en el océano de la irrelevancia.
“I’m not saying your phone is a dictatorship,” Whitmore continued. “I’m asking a question. Orwell feared that information would be hidden from us. Huxley imagined a world in which there could be so much information, so much entertainment and so many distractions that the truth would end up lost among everything else, floating in an ocean of irrelevance.”
—Pero nosotros podemos apagar el teléfono —dijo Maya.
“But we can turn our phones off,” Maya said.
—Claro. Y podemos leer. Pensar. Elegir. La pregunta es si lo hacemos.
“Of course. And we can read. Think. Choose. The question is whether we do.”
Imran miró a Daniel.
Imran looked at Daniel.
—No demasiado.
“Not very often.”
—Habla por ti —dijo Daniel.
“Speak for yourself,” Daniel said.
—Llevas diez minutos con el teléfono en la mano.
“You’ve had your phone in your hand for the last ten minutes.”
Daniel lo guardó. Whitmore sonrió.
Daniel put it away. Whitmore smiled.
—En una dictadura, alguien decide por ti. Eso es aterrador. Pero imaginad otra posibilidad: nadie os obliga a nada. Nadie quema los libros. Nadie os prohíbe pensar. Simplemente os ofrecen tantas distracciones que poco a poco os olvidáis de que hay otras opciones mucho más productivas que un estúpido vídeo de TikTok.
“In a dictatorship, someone decides for you. That’s terrifying. But imagine another possibility: nobody forces you to do anything. Nobody burns books. Nobody forbids you to think. They simply offer you so many distractions that little by little you forget that there are other, far more productive options than some stupid TikTok video.”
Constance levantó la mano.
Constance raised her hand.
—Entonces creemos que somos libres.
“So we think we’re free.”
—Quizá incluso lo seamos. Pero la libertad sirve de poco si renunciamos voluntariamente a utilizarla. Cuando leemos 1984, nos angustiamos porque reconocemos inmediatamente al enemigo: un Estado que vigila, censura y castiga. Huxley nos plantea un problema más incómodo. ¿Y si un día no hace falta quitarnos la libertad porque nosotros mismos dejamos de interesarnos por ella?
“Perhaps we even are. But freedom is of little use if we voluntarily give up using it. When we read 1984, we get distressed because we immediately recognise the enemy: a state that watches, censors and punishes. Huxley presents us with a more uncomfortable problem. What if one day there is no need to take away our freedom because we ourselves have stopped caring about it?”
Constance miró los dos títulos de la pizarra.
Constance looked at the two titles on the board.
—Pero si tuvieras que elegir cuál te preocupa más…
“But if you had to choose which one worries you more…”
Whitmore tardó unos segundos en responder.
Whitmore took a few seconds to answer.
—Una dictadura puede durar décadas. Pero mientras alguien sepa que no es libre, existe la posibilidad de que quiera cambiarla. Lo que realmente me preocupa es una sociedad en la que nadie tenga que prohibirnos pensar porque nosotros mismos hayamos decidido que pensar da demasiado trabajo. ¿O es casualidad que en las escuelas no se enseñe filosofía o pensamiento crítico como asignaturas independientes?
“A dictatorship can last for decades. But as long as someone knows they are not free, there is a possibility that they will want to change it. What really worries me is a society in which nobody needs to forbid us to think because we ourselves have decided that thinking is too much effort. Or is it just a coincidence that philosophy and critical thinking aren’t taught in schools as independent subjects?”
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One of the things that we hear very frequently is that all the verbs with “me, te, se, nos, os, se” are reflexive. This is absolutely wrong. In Spanish, we can split verbs into two main groups: non-pronominal and pronominal verbs. When a verb only requires the personal pronoun, as in “yo camino, tú cantas, él duerme”, it is a non-pronominal verb. When a verb requires an additional pronoun, as in “yo me baño, yo me aburro, yo me enfermo”, it is a pronominal verb.
Having said that, pronominal verbs are split again into two main groups: reflexive and quasi-reflexive verbs. I explained reflexive verbs in episode 28:
Let’s compare both groups:
Verbos reflexivos:
Yo me baño (I bathe myself)
They always take a reflexive pronoun
The subject does something to himself or herself
Verbos cuasi-reflexivos:
Yo me enfermo (I get sick)
The pronouns are not reflexive, even though the same words are being used
The subject doesn’t do anything, something happens to him or her
As you see here, both groups are completely different, and the only similarity is the presence of “me, te, se, nos, os, se” in front, although the grammatical function is not the same:
🧩 Yo me baño (‘me’ stands for ‘to myself’).
🧩 Yo me enfermo (‘me’ doesn’t stand for ‘to myself’).
And remember: in grammar, names have a reason. We called the second group quasi-reflexive, because “quasi” means “almost” in Latin. So, they are “almost reflexive” (because they have the same form), but they are not reflexive at all. There is no reflection on the other side of the mirror.
So, to speak Spanish properly, you need to be able to recognise reflexive and quasi-reflexive verbs. I will give you a couple of examples of the second group:
Quasi-reflexive verbs referred to emotions or mental processes:
(to get bored)
(to remember)
(to get sad)
(to be happy)
(to get distressed)
(to regret)
(to be amazed)
(to get frightened)
(to be ashamed)
(to get confused)
(to realise)
(to have fun)
(to feel thrilled)
(to fall in love)
(to get angry)
(to be informed)
(to get sad)
(to make a mistake)
(to worry)
(to complain)
Quasi-reflexive verbs referred to changes of states:
(to fall)
(to get tired)
(to recover)
(to faint)
(to get sick)
(to get hurt)
(to get better)
(to die)
(to get lost)
(to rot)
(to catch a cold)
You find all these examples in our episode:
Nos asustamos ante la idea de que alguien pueda quitarnos la libertad. We get frightened at the idea that someone could take away our freedom.
Winston se da cuenta de que vive oprimido. Winston realises that he is living under oppression.
Y cada vez que nos aburrimos, aparece algo nuevo. And every time we get bored, something new appears.
Os olvidáis de que hay otras opciones mucho más productivas que un estúpido vídeo de TikTok.
You forget that there are other, far more productive options than some stupid TikTok video.
Cuando leemos 1984, nos angustiamos. When we read 1984, we get distressed.
This topic continues in the next episode number 50. I also wrote a blog about “parecer and parecerse”: https://spanishforlondon.com/2025/05/09/56-parecer-and-parecerse/
🧩 Tardar → focuses on the person performing the action and how long it takes them to do it. It refers to an action:
María tarda dos horas. Yo tardé tres días en escribir el artículo.
🧩 Durar → refers to the duration of an event, situation or thing, rather than to the time someone takes to do something:
El viaje dura dos horas. La película dura noventa minutos.
In English, this distinction is neutralised:
It takes María two hours (agent). María tarda dos horas.
The journey takes two hours (event). El viaje dura dos horas.
So, you have only one verb in English and two in Spanish, but this is not a surprise!
Examples from our episode:
Whitmore tardó unos segundos en responder. Whitmore took a few seconds to answer.
Una dictadura puede durar décadas. A dictatorship can last for decades.
Find all the episodes here: Contents – GCSE Spanish
We post new episodes every week — keep up with Constance and Imran’s story!
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