Clara runs the 100 metres flat
Clara wants to run 100 metres in a straight line, with no hurdles. Many outdoor tracks are 400 metres a lap. Her school has no starting blocks today.
Cien metros de emoción
Tap any word to see its translation
. . , . . . .
. . , . , . . .
, . . , . . . , .
. . . . . . . .
. , . , , . . , , . .
Keep reading with translations
Create a free account: 7 days of Pro, then 20 word translations a day or a paid plan.
About this article
What you'll learn
Spanish present tense, the verb querer, and athletics words: cien metros lisos, calle, salida and meta.
Clara wants to run the 100 metres flat, a straight race with no hurdles. Many outdoor tracks measure 400 metres to the lap, but she does not run a full lap. She is in lane 4. Many official sprint races use starting blocks. At her school today there are none. Nobody states a time.
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.
competición de atletismo
newathletics competition
Competición de atletismo is the standard name for a school track-and-field event.
Central topic of the article about race preparation.
cien metros en línea recta
newone hundred metres in a straight line
Cien metros en línea recta is the shortest sprint: one straight, no bends. In Spanish the event is called los cien metros lisos, because there are no hurdles.
Names the exact race the narrator runs.
Tres veces por semana
newthree times a week
Tres veces por semana marks how often the narrator trains.
Describes the regular training schedule from the article.
la posición de salida correcta
newcorrect starting position
La posición de salida correcta is the stance a sprinter holds before the gun.
Key preparation detail for the sprint start.
mi marca anterior
newmy previous best time
In sport la marca is a result or a best time, not a brand. Mejorar la marca means to beat your own result.
Lets you talk about results with a native word instead of the borrowed récord.
No miro atrás
newI do not look back
No miro atrás is a race strategy: keep your eyes on the finish line only.
Mental tip from the moment the gun fires.
Key words
Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.
Lanes on a track
calles
lanes (on a running track)
Calle usually means street, but on an athletics track una calle is a lane. A full-size track usually has eight of them.
A false friend: the same word means street outside the stadium.
Starting blocks
tacos de salida
starting blocks
Los tacos de salida are the blocks a sprinter pushes off from. Un taco can also be a wedge or a block of wood.
The technical word for the sprint start, and one word with several senses.
Finish line
meta
finish line (la meta)
La línea de meta marks the end of the hundred metres. On its own, meta also means a goal or an aim.
End of the race, the key moment of the story.
Stretching exercises
estiramientos
stretching, warm-up stretches
Los estiramientos prepare the muscles before running.
Injury prevention step before practice in the article.
Training sessions
entrenamientos
training sessions
Los entrenamientos are the practice sessions before the competition.
Core of the plot: two months of preparation.
Nerves
nervios
nerves, pre-race anxiety
Los nervios cause the shaking before a race. Spanish keeps this word in the plural where English uses a singular feeling.
Emotional state before the race in the story.
Grammar in context
Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.
Stem change: empiezan
Los entrenamientos empiezan dos meses antes
the training starts two months earlier
Empiezan is the present of empezar. The stem changes: e becomes ie in empiezo, empiezas, empieza and empiezan, but not in empezamos.
Stem-changing verbs are the first big surprise in the Spanish present.
Frequency: tres veces por semana
Tres veces por semana, corro alrededor del campo
three times a week I run around the field
Tres veces por semana + present verb describes a habit.
Combines frequency and action from the training paragraph.
Hay que + infinitive: levantarse
hay que levantarse rápido
you have to get up quickly
Hay que + infinitive states an obligation with no named subject: one has to. The verb stays in the infinitive and the reflexive pronoun se stays attached to its end: levantarse.
Hay que is how Spanish gives a general instruction, and its form never changes.
Irregular yo: salgo
La pistola suena y salgo disparada
the gun goes off and I shoot away
Salgo is the yo form of salir and adds a g the infinitive does not have: salgo, sales, sale, salimos, salen. Suena comes from sonar, where the o becomes ue.
Two irregular patterns in one short sentence, and both verbs are very frequent.
Cuesta + infinitive
cuesta respirar
it is hard to breathe
Costar means to cost, but with an infinitive it means to be hard: me cuesta correr, running is hard for me. Cuesta also shows the o to ue stem change of costar.
The everyday way to say that something is difficult for you.
Asking with tú: corres
¿Cuántos metros corres sin parar?
how many metres do you run without stopping?
Corres is the tú form: yo corro, tú corres. A written Spanish question needs both signs, the opening ¿ and the closing ?.
Turns the story into a question you can put to a real person.
Read a book in Spanish
All A1 books
Comments
Log in to leave a comment
LoginNo comments yet. Be the first!