Leo changes out of the blue shirt
Leo wants the blue number 7 shirt, but the other team is in blue too. He wears white and takes off his bracelet.
Los colores de mi equipo
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About this article
What you'll learn
Spanish present tense, colour words, and simple football rules about the goalkeeper kit, team colours and jewellery.
Leo wants to wear the blue shirt with number 7. Goalkeeper Andrés wears yellow, because a goalkeeper's colour must differ from his teammates and from the referee. Leo removes his bracelet: jewellery is not allowed in a match. The other team is also in blue, so the coach hands out white shirts and Leo changes.
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.
me pongo mi ropa especial
newI put on my special clothes
Ponerse is reflexive: me pongo means I put the clothes on myself.
Works with any garment: me pongo la camiseta, me pongo las botas.
de color azul
newblue in color
Ser de color + a color names the color of a thing: es de color azul.
After de color the color word stays the same for masculine and feminine.
nos ayuda a elegir
newhelps us choose
Ayudar needs a before the infinitive: nos ayuda a elegir, never nos ayuda elegir.
Drop that a and the sentence stops being Spanish. Useful in any shop.
me queda perfecta
newit fits me perfectly
Quedar works like gustar: the garment is the subject and me is the person, so it is la camiseta me queda, not yo quedo.
This is what you say in the fitting room: me queda grande, me queda pequeña.
te acostumbras
newyou get used to it
Acostumbrarse is reflexive and takes a: te acostumbras a las botas.
The tú here is impersonal and means anyone, not one particular person.
hay que jugar limpio
newyou have to play fair
Hay que + infinitive gives a rule with no named subject, so it applies to everyone.
Jugar limpio means to play fair; the grandmother is joking, because she has just washed the kit.
juega de blanco
newplays in white
Jugar de + color is how Spanish says which strip a team wears. No article and no en.
You hear it in every match report: juega de blanco, juega de rojo, juega de amarillo.
cuesta caminar
newwalking is hard at first
Costar + infinitive means something takes effort. It stays in the third person: cuesta caminar, cuesta entender.
The same verb also states a price (cuesta veinte euros), so the context tells you which meaning you have.
Key words
Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.
Jersey / shirt
camiseta
jersey / shirt
La camiseta is the top of the kit, the one with the number on the back.
Also the everyday word for a T-shirt, so it is worth knowing outside sport too.
Socks
calcetines
socks
Los calcetines of a football kit are long ones: they reach the knees.
Almost always plural, because you talk about a pair.
Locker room
vestuario
locker room / changing room
El vestuario is the room where a team changes; the word comes from vestir, to dress.
Same word for the changing room in a gym, a pool or a shop.
Team badge
escudo
team badge / crest
El escudo is the club crest on the shirt. The same word means a shield.
Spanish fans talk about besar el escudo, kissing the crest, after a goal.
Studs / cleats
tacos
studs / cleats
Los tacos are the studs on the sole of a boot; they stop you slipping on grass.
The same word is a Mexican taco and, in Spain, a swear word, so context decides.
Goalkeeper
portero
goalkeeper
El portero guards the goal. Outside football the same word means the caretaker of a building.
The rules make the goalkeeper wear a different color so the referee can tell him from the rest.
Grammar in context
Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.
Reflexive sentirse
Me siento orgulloso cuando llevo estos colores
I feel proud when I wear these colors
Sentirse is reflexive and is followed by an adjective that agrees: me siento orgulloso, me siento orgullosa.
Sentir means to feel something; sentirse means to feel a certain way yourself.
Ser: color agreement
Los calcetines son azules
the socks are blue
Azul has one form for masculine and feminine but adds -es in the plural: azul, azules.
Colors ending in -o change for gender (negro, negra); azul, verde and gris do not.
Ser: adjective agreement
Los pantalones son cortos y negros
the shorts are short and black
Both adjectives agree with the masculine plural pantalones: cortos y negros.
Every adjective in the list has to agree, not only the first one.
Negation: no + poder
No podemos usar joyas
we cannot wear jewelry
No goes right in front of the conjugated verb: no podemos usar. Only an unstressed pronoun can come between them, as in no las permiten.
The rule is real: the laws of football forbid jewelry during play.
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