Spanish GCSE Reading and Grammar — Constance e Imran Episode 16 (learn through a novel)
- The story episode in Spanish.
- The translation into English.
- A grammar explanation with examples from the story.
—Tu tiempo es limitado. No lo desperdicies viviendo el sueño de otra persona —dice mirando a Imran—.
—Your time is limited. Don’t waste it living someone else’s dream —she says, looking at Imran.
Él baja la mirada.
He lowers his gaze.
—A veces siento que solo sirvo para cumplir las expectativas de mi familia.
—I sometimes feel that I only serve to meet my family’s expectations.
Eleanor sonríe con dulzura.
Eleanor smiles gently.
—Yo también lo sentía. En los años sesenta las mujeres empezábamos a pedir permiso para soñar. Y después aprendimos que no hacía falta pedirlo.
—I used to feel the same. In the sixties, women were just starting to ask for permission to dream. And later we learned we didn’t need to ask for it.
Constance escucha fascinada.
Constance listens, fascinated.
—¿Y qué hiciste tú?
—And what did you do?
—Me fui a Grecia con una mochila y un cuaderno. Escribí mi historia. No la que otros querían para mí.
—I went to Greece with a backpack and a notebook. I wrote my story —not the one others wanted for me.
Imran suspira.
Imran sighs.
—Ojalá yo pudiera hacer lo mismo.
—I wish I could do the same.
—Puedes, si juegas con tus propias reglas.
—You can, if you play by your own rules.
—¿Y si no me dejan elegir? —pregunta Imran.
—And what if they don’t let me choose? —asks Imran.
—Date tú mismo el permiso, no se lo pidas a nadie —responde Eleanor—, y elige la vida que quieras vivir.
—Give yourself permission, don’t ask it from anyone —Eleanor replies—, and choose the life you want to live.
Eleanor se levanta y les muestra una foto antigua: ella joven, en Grecia, frente al mar.
Eleanor stands up and shows them an old photo: her younger self, in Greece, by the sea.
—Ahí estaba empezando a ser yo.
—That’s where I was starting to be myself.
—Quizás nosotros también deberíamos empezar —dice Constance.
—Maybe we should start too —says Constance.
Imran la mira serio.
Imran looks at her seriously.
—¿Y si lo que elijo cambia todo?
—And what if what I choose changes everything?
Eleanor sonríe.
Eleanor smiles.
—Entonces, querido, significa que elegiste bien.
—Then, my dear, it means you chose well.
In episodes 14 and 15, we saw the irregular verbs in the Present Tense. This is what you know so far:
🔴 When the verbal stem has e, it often changes to ie — except in the nosotros and vosotros forms. If you don’t remember this, go back to episode 14!
🔴 When the verbal stem has o, it often changes to ue — except in the nosotros and vosotros forms. If you don’t remember this, go back to episode 15!
Finally, we’ll see the last group of verbs following the same pattern:
🔴 When the stem has e, it often changes to i — except in the nosotros and vosotros forms.
So, we have three groups of verbs with vowel change in the present tense:
- 🔴 e changing for ie → querer, yo quiero…
- 🔴 o changing for ue → poder, yo puedo…
- 🔴 e changing for i → pedir, yo pido…
🔹 Example: REPETIR (to repeat)
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | repito | I repeat |
| tú | repites | you repeat |
| él, ella, usted | repite | he or she repeats, you (formal) repeat |
| nosotros, nosotras | repetimos | we repeat |
| vosotros, vosotras | repetís | you all or you both repeat |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | repiten | they, you all or you both (formal) repeat |
Here is the example from our episode:
A veces siento que solo sirvo para cumplir las expectativas de mi familia.
This is only one example, but this irregularity affects many verbs. Some of them are:
| Pedir | Servir | Competir | Elegir |
|---|---|---|---|
| pido | sirvo | compito | elijo |
| pides | sirves | compites | eliges |
| pide | sirve | compite | elige |
| pedimos | servimos | competimos | elegimos |
| pedís | servís | competís | elegís |
| piden | sirven | compiten | eligen |
I made this video, where you have the whole explanation. This covers episodes 14, 15 and 16.
When you study any language, it’s extremely important to understand that you enter a new territory, and in many cases, things are conceived and expressed in another way. If you merely translate word by word, you will fail when trying to speak.
Take the verb “to play”. We have one verb in English but two in Spanish:
| Sentence | Spanish | Verb |
|---|---|---|
| I play tennis | juego al tenis | jugar (games/sports) |
| I play guitar | toco la guitarra | tocar (instruments) |
And also, notice this:
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | juego | I play |
| tú | juegas | you play |
| él, ella, usted | juega | he or she plays, you (formal) play |
| nosotros, nosotras | jugamos | we play |
| vosotros, vosotras | jugáis | you all or you both play |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | juegan | they, you all or you both (formal) play |
This verb behaves like the verbs changing o for ue, although it has an u (jugar). Why? Because in old Spanish, it was jogar.
Find all the episodes here: 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!
