A Class Plants an Oak Tree | Spanish A2
Read an A2 Spanish story about planting an oak with a park gardener and learning about roots, water, acorns, and tree stakes.
El día que plantamos un árbol en el parque
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About this article
What you'll learn
ecology, planting a tree, oaks and acorns, preterite narration, 16 learning cards
A school class plants a young oak while following a park gardener’s site-specific guidance. They keep the trunk flare at soil level, gently firm the soil, water the tree, and learn that not every sapling needs a stake. The story also introduces acorns and squirrel caches.
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.
fue una experiencia inolvidable
newIt was an unforgettable experience
Use this phrase to say something made a lasting impression on you. "Fue" is the preterite of "ser".
Essential for describing memorable events and feelings.
nos reunimos a las nueve de la mañana
newWe met at nine in the morning
"Reunirse" is reflexive, so it always carries a pronoun: nos reunimos, se reunieron. Use "a las + hour" to say when.
Important for narrating when events happened.
los árboles producen oxígeno
newTrees produce oxygen
"Producir" is irregular only in the yo form: yo produzco. Everything else is regular: produce, producimos, producen.
Core ecology vocabulary, plus a useful irregular verb.
son como los pulmones de la Tierra
newThey are like the lungs of the Earth
"Ser como" introduces a comparison: X is like Y. Here the trees are compared to lungs.
"Ser como" is the simplest way to build a comparison in Spanish.
queremos verlo crecer durante años
newWe want to see it grow for years
"Querer + infinitive" expresses a wish, and the object pronoun attaches to the infinitive: ver + lo = verlo. Watch the tilde: "años" (years) and "anos" are not the same word.
Shows how to express hopes and where the object pronoun goes.
prometimos cuidar el planeta
newWe promised to care for the planet
"Prometer + infinitive" means to promise to do something. "Prometimos" is the preterite of "prometer".
Lets you talk about promises and commitments.
Key words
Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.
plantar
plantar
to plant
Regular -ar verb. In the text it appears after "ir a + infinitive": "Fuimos a plantar" = we went to plant.
Essential verb for gardening and ecology topics.
raíces
raíces
roots
Feminine noun. Singular "la raíz", plural "las raíces": the z turns into c and the accent mark disappears.
The z/c plural change repeats in many words: lápiz/lápices, luz/luces.
regadera
regadera
watering can
From the verb "regar" (to water). Note that "regar" changes its stem: yo riego, tú riegas, nosotros regamos.
A useful tool word that also introduces a stem-changing verb.
apisonar
apisonar
to tamp down, to firm down
To press soil down so that no air pockets are left around the roots. Related to "pisar" (to step on).
The exact verb for one of the steps in planting anything.
estaca
estaca
stake
A wooden post put into the ground beside a young tree to hold it straight. "De madera" shows the material.
Also teaches the pattern "de + material": de madera, de plástico, de metal.
bellota
bellota
acorn
The fruit of an oak. Squirrels bury acorns for the winter and forget some of them, and the forgotten ones grow into new oaks.
Not guessable from English, and it names the one thing every oak is known for.
Grammar in context
Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.
Preterite of regular -ar verbs
explicó que los árboles producen oxígeno
he explained that trees produce
Drop -ar and add -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron. "Explicar" gives "explicó". The accent carries the whole meaning: "explico" is I explain, now, and "explicó" is he explained, then.
The backbone of any story told in the past, and proof that the accent mark is not decoration.
Para + infinitive for purpose
para hacer nuestra ciudad más verde
to make our city greener
"Para + infinitive" answers the question "what for?". The text uses it three times: para hacer, para quitar, para resistir.
The standard way to say why you are doing something.
Comparatives with "más... que"
dos veces más grande que
twice as big as
"Más + adjective or adverb + que" compares two things, and a quantity can go in front: "dos veces más grande". The text also has "más despacio que otros árboles" and "más viejo que nosotros".
Core A2 structure, and one of the few that works with adverbs as well as adjectives.
Irregular preterites
El profesor dijo
the teacher said
A small group of very common verbs builds the preterite on its own stem and takes no accent mark: decir gives "dijo", ir and ser both give "fue" and "fuimos", poner gives "pusimos", sostener gives "sostuvo". All of them appear in this text.
These are the first verbs you meet in any past-tense story, and not one of them follows the regular pattern.
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