Cómo cuidar mi salud: Comer bien y hacer deporte

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About this article

Level A2 Reading focus

What you'll learn

Spanish food and activity vocabulary, deber + infinitive, and tú imperatives in an everyday situation.

Sara returns home for her water bottle before a school outing. Hugo and his friends share food and enjoy a walk without competing.

After reading

Article learning block

Phrases, words, grammar, and quick practice from this text.

18 items

Phrases for training

Add useful phrases to SRS or mark them as already known.

estar sanos y fuertes

new

to be healthy and strong

Uses "estar" for a temporary or goal-oriented state, common in health contexts.

Useful for expressing health goals and states.

la alimentación y el ejercicio físico

new

nutrition and physical exercise

"La alimentación" = nutrition, "el ejercicio físico" = physical exercise. Two pillars of health.

Essential vocabulary for discussing health.

cinco raciones de fruta y verdura cada día

new

five portions of fruit and vegetables a day

A specific health recommendation. "Una ración" = a portion/ serving.

Learn a concrete daily recommendation.

beber entre seis y ocho vasos al día

new

drink six to eight glasses a day

Uses "entre... y..." to indicate a range. Concrete water recommendation.

Learn the daily water intake recommendation.

el movimiento es vida

new

movement is life

A memorable metaphorical phrase. Simple and punchy for learners.

A quotable phrase to remember the key message.

dormir lo suficiente

new

to sleep enough

"Lo suficiente" = enough. Useful for discussing sufficient sleep.

Essential for sleep and health discussions.

la salud es un tesoro

new

health is a treasure

Metaphor comparing health to a treasure. Easy and memorable.

A beautiful phrase to express the value of health.

Key words

Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.

Proteins

proteínas

proteins

Proteins build and repair muscles. Sources: meat, fish, eggs, legumes.

Essential nutrition vocabulary.

Carbohydrates

carbohidratos

carbohydrates

Carbohydrates give quick energy. Sources: bread, rice, pasta, potatoes.

Basic nutrition vocabulary.

Legumes (pulses)

las legumbres

pulses: lentils, chickpeas, beans

False friend. Spanish "las legumbres" means pulses (lentils, chickpeas, beans), not vegetables in general. Vegetables are "las verduras".

Prevents a very common mix-up between "legumbres" and "verduras".

Sweets, candy

las chuches

sweets, candy

"Las chuches" is the everyday word Spanish children use for sweets. It is the short form of "las chucherías".

Real spoken Spanish that you cannot guess from English.

Bones

huesos

bones

Bones are strengthened through physical activity and good nutrition.

Important for skeletal health discussions.

Wholegrain products

productos integrales

wholegrain products

False friend. Applied to food, "integral" means wholegrain, not "integral" or "essential": pan integral, arroz integral, pasta integral.

A label word you will read in every Spanish supermarket.

Grammar in context

Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.

Modal verb deber + infinitive

debemos comer

we must eat

Deber + infinitive expresses obligation or recommendation. "We must eat..."

Model for expressing obligation and recommendations.

Ayudar a + infinitive

nos ayuda a limpiar nuestro cuerpo

it helps us to clean our body

"Ayudar" always takes "a" before the infinitive: ayudar a limpiar, ayudar a crecer, ayudar a tener.

The "a" is obligatory and easy to forget.

Imperative tú

Si te sientes cansado, descansa

if you are tired, rest

Tú imperative is formed from the verb stem: descansar → descansa, comer → come.

For giving advice and instructions.

a que + present subjunctive

ayuda a que nuestros huesos y músculos estén sanos

it helps our bones and muscles to be healthy

When "ayudar a" introduces a new subject with "que", the verb goes into the present subjunctive: estar becomes estén or esté, funcionar becomes funcione.

It appears three times in the text, and "estén" is hard to recognise as a form of "estar".

Simple future (futuro simple)

él cuidará de ti

he will take care of you

The simple future adds the endings -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án to the whole infinitive: cuidar gives cuidará. Some stems are irregular: tener gives tendremos, decir gives dirá. Almost every ending carries a written accent.