A1 Spanish Reading: My Grandfather's Garden
Read an A1 Spanish story about a garden, a vegetable plot, tomato seeds, and the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid.
El jardín de mi abuelo
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A child helps a grandfather water flowers and a vegetable plot. The story introduces the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid, explains why a tomato is a fruit, and ends with three personal questions.
En el jardín hay flores de muchos colores. Hay rosas rojas, flores amarillas y hojas verdes. Mi abuelo riega las flores por la mañana.
La huerta es diferente. En la huerta hay tomates, lechugas y fresas. Mi abuelo cultiva estas plantas con paciencia.
El domingo vamos al Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid. Allí hay más de 5.000 especies de plantas. Mi abuelo lee los nombres de las plantas en pequeñas etiquetas.
Un tomate tiene semillas y crece de una flor. Dentro del tomate hay muchas semillas. Por eso, el tomate es un fruto.
En la cocina, usamos el tomate como una verdura. Mi abuelo lo corta para una ensalada. Me gusta ayudarle y poner los tomates en un plato.
Hoy llevo una regadera azul. Primero riego las flores. Después riego las plantas de tomate. En la huerta, las plantas reciben agua, luz y tierra para crecer.
Mi abuelo me pregunta: «¿Ves las semillas?». Yo digo: «Sí, están dentro del tomate». Él sonríe y dice que una semilla pequeña puede dar una planta nueva.
Me encanta regar las plantas y aprender sus nombres. El jardín tiene flores para mirar. La huerta tiene comida para la mesa.
¿Tienes un jardín, una huerta o una planta en casa?
¿Qué fruta o verdura te gusta cultivar?
¿Puedes explicar dónde están las semillas de un tomate?
About this article
What you'll learn
Garden and vegetable plot vocabulary, hay and tiene, simple descriptions, and questions with tienes, te gusta, and puedes
A child helps a grandfather water flowers and a vegetable plot. The story introduces the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid, explains why a tomato is a fruit, and ends with three personal questions.
After reading
Article learning block
Phrases, words, grammar, and quick practice from this text.
Phrases for training
Add useful phrases to SRS or mark them as already known.
un jardín y una huerta
newa garden and a vegetable plot
Jardín is a garden, while huerta is a plot for growing vegetables and fruit.
This pair helps distinguish two kinds of green space.
En el jardín hay flores de muchos colores
newThere are flowers of many colors in the garden
Hay means there is or there are. It does not change for singular or plural.
Use hay to say that something exists in a place.
En la huerta hay tomates, lechugas y fresas
newThere are tomatoes, lettuce, and strawberries in the vegetable plot
Huerta names a place where people grow vegetables, fruit, or herbs.
The sentence reinforces garden vocabulary and hay.
El Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid tiene más de 5.000 especies de plantas
newThe Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid has more than 5,000 plant species
Especie means species. The sentence gives a real fact about the garden in Madrid.
It adds a concrete cultural fact and a useful word.
Un tomate tiene semillas y crece de una flor
newA tomato has seeds and grows from a flower
A tomato develops from a flower and has seeds. That is why it is a fruit.
This sentence teaches a simple and true fact about tomatoes.
En la cocina, usamos el tomate como una verdura
newIn cooking, tomato is used as a vegetable
In cooking, tomato is often used as a vegetable, even though it is a fruit in botany.
The sentence contrasts cooking use with botanical meaning.
Key words
Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.
Garden
jardín
garden
Jardín is a space with flowers, trees, or a place to relax.
It is a basic word for talking about plants and outdoor places.
Vegetable plot
huerta
vegetable plot
Huerta is a plot where people grow vegetables, fruit, or herbs.
It helps distinguish a vegetable plot from a decorative garden.
Seeds
semillas
seeds
Semillas are small parts of a plant that can grow into a new plant.
The word is useful for talking about fruit and growing plants.
Fruit
fruto
fruit
Fruto means a fruit that develops from a flower and often contains seeds.
This word explains why a tomato is a fruit.
Watering can
regadera
watering can
A regadera is a container with a handle for watering plants.
It names a useful object for caring for plants.
Grammar in context
Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.
Hay: there is, there are
hay
there is, there are
Hay expresses existence. The form is the same with one flower and with many flowers.
It is essential for saying that something exists in a place.
Adjective agreement with colors
flores amarillas y hojas verdes
yellow flowers and green leaves
Amarillas agrees with flores and verdes agrees with hojas. Both forms are plural.
An adjective agrees with its noun in number and, when visible, gender.
Riego: I water
riego
I water
Riego is the yo form of regar, to water. The e changes to ie: regar, riego.
The card explains a common vowel change in the present tense.
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