Early at the Sagrada Familia
Nora arrives early in Barcelona, hears the works up close, and watches a crane lift a stone. Gaudí died in 1926, and the church is still unfinished.
Las grúas de la Sagrada Familia
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About this article
What you'll learn
Present tense for a visit, querer with an infinitive, and en for where a place is.
Nora takes a train to Barcelona and arrives early to meet Marta at the door of the Sagrada Familia. The very large church is in Catalonia, in the northeast of Spain. Antoni Gaudí worked on it for many years and died in 1926, and it is still not finished. Some towers are already very tall and others are not. Nora hears the works up close, sees the cranes, and watches a stone rise slowly. She and Marta go inside while construction continues above. The building changes very slowly, and the finish date has also changed over the years.
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.
Perfecto para las vacaciones
newperfect for vacation
Perfecto para las vacaciones is a ready phrase to praise a travel destination.
Useful when describing a country as a holiday spot.
¿Conoces la paella?
newdo you know paella?
Conoces is the tú form of conocer, used for being familiar with a thing, a place or a person. The text asks it three times: ¿Conoces la paella?, ¿Conoces el flamenco?, ¿Conoces España?
The everyday way to ask someone whether they know a dish, a place or a person, and the question you can answer yourself at the end of the text.
para compartir
newto share / for sharing
Para compartir explains the purpose of tapas - eating together.
Useful in restaurants and when describing Spanish food culture.
También hay muchas montañas
newthere are also many mountains
Hay covers both there is and there are: the form never changes, whatever follows it. The text uses it twice, each time with a plural: también hay tapas, también hay muchas montañas.
Hay is how Spanish says what exists in a place, and it is one single form to learn instead of a singular and a plural.
es famosa por
newis famous for
Es famosa por + noun phrase is a typical city description.
Useful for presenting Barcelona and other places.
Puedes ir a la playa
newyou can go to the beach
Puedes ir a la playa uses poder + ir a + place.
Phrase from the nature and seasonal activities section.
se divierte
newhas fun / enjoys oneself
Se divierte is reflexive: the person enjoys themselves.
Describes the festival atmosphere in the article.
Key words
Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.
Friendly
amigable
friendly
Amigable describes people's character; muy amigable means very friendly.
Key adjective from the description of Spanish people.
Delicious
deliciosa
delicious
Deliciosa agrees with comida (feminine): la comida es deliciosa.
Describes Spanish cuisine in the text.
Paella
paella
paella
Traditional dish with rice, seafood and vegetables.
One of the main dishes mentioned in the Spain article.
Tapas
tapas
tapas
Small portions of food meant to be shared.
Cultural word from the Spanish food section.
La gente is singular
la gente
people
La gente means people, but in Spanish it is a singular noun, so the verb stays singular: la gente es muy amigable, la gente baila, canta y se divierte. Never la gente son.
English treats people as plural, so this is one of the first mistakes learners make; the text gives you two examples in a row.
Grammar in context
Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.
Ser: es
España es un país muy bonito
Spain is a very beautiful country
Es + noun or adjective (ser) says what Spain is: un país, muy bonito.
Ser gives the lasting character of a thing, in contrast with the está of the next sentence.
Estar: location
Está en el sur
it is in the south
Está en el sur uses estar, the verb Spanish keeps for where something is.
Right next to the ser of the previous sentence: ser says what Spain is like, estar says where it is.
Gustar
Les gusta hablar y reír
they like to talk and laugh
Les gusta + infinitive: the activity is the subject, so gusta stays singular even with two infinitives (hablar y reír).
The main pattern for saying what someone enjoys doing.
Poder + infinitive
puedes ver muchos museos
you can see many museums
Only poder is conjugated; the second verb stays in the infinitive and nothing goes between the two. The text builds three sentences this way: puedes ver, puedes ir, puedes cocinar.
The normal way to say what you can do in a place, and the most repeated structure in the article.
Mucho agrees, muy does not
muchas fiestas
many festivals
Mucho takes the gender and number of the noun after it: mucho sol, muchos museos, muchas fiestas, muchas montañas, muchas opciones. Muy never changes and stands in front of an adjective: muy bonito, muy amigable, muy emocionante.
The text uses this quantity word five times with three different endings, and mucho against muy is the pair beginners mix up most.
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