Turning on grandfather's tablet
Elena wants to show her grandfather a photo. A short press does not turn the tablet on; she holds the button and the river appears. In Spain many people say móvil and ordenador; in Mexico, celular and computadora.
Apagar y encender
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About this article
What you'll learn
Present indicative and querer, plus the names móvil, ordenador, celular, and computadora.
The tablet is off. Elena holds the button, a photo of her young grandfather by a river appears, and then she turns the device off. Her home in Spain and her cousin in Mexico do not use the same names for the phone and the computer.
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.
encendemos y apagamos
newwe turn on and off
Encender and apagar are the basic pair of opposites. They are not only for devices: Spanish also says encender una vela, apagar la luz, apagar el fuego.
The same pair works for devices, lamps and candles.
el botón de encendido
newthe power button
El botón de encendido is the fixed Spanish name for the on/off button; the noun encendido comes from the verb encender.
The phrase you need in any device instructions.
presiona el botón
newpress the button
Presiona is the tú imperative of presionar; the same verb in the present is presionas.
The first step in every set of instructions.
mantén el dedo en el botón
newkeep your finger on the button
Mantén is the tú imperative of mantener, an irregular verb: mantengo, mantienes, mantiene.
A short tap is not enough to switch a device on.
mantén presionado el botón
newhold the button down
Mantén presionado joins the imperative mantén with the participle presionado: keep it in the pressed state.
This is what fully shuts a device down, not a quick tap.
Deslizar para apagar
newswipe to power off
Deslizar para apagar is what a phone shows on screen in Spanish; deslizar means to slide your finger.
You read this on any phone set to Spanish.
ahorras energía
newyou save energy
Ahorras is the tú present of ahorrar, to save; Spanish uses it for money and for electricity alike.
The reason the text gives for switching devices off at night.
Key words
Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.
Devices, appliances
aparatos
devices, appliances
Aparato is the everyday word for a phone, a TV or a washing machine; dispositivo sounds more technical.
The most common everyday word for any machine at home.
Device
dispositivo
device
Dispositivo is the word manuals and menus use; cualquier dispositivo means any device at all.
You meet it in every set of written instructions.
Screen
pantalla
screen
Pantalla is a screen of any kind: a phone, a computer or a cinema screen.
Everything the device tells you appears on the screen, en la pantalla.
Still, yet
todavía
still, yet
Todavía means still when something carries on: el aparato todavía funciona. In a negative sentence, todavía no means not yet.
A very frequent little word with no single English match.
Restart
reiniciar
restart
Reiniciar is one action with two steps: the device turns off and then on again. You find it in el menú de configuración, the settings menu.
The first thing to try when a device stops responding.
The side
un lateral
the side (of a device)
El lateral is the side of an object; in football the same word means a fullback.
Where the power button usually sits.
Grammar in context
Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.
Present: encendemos y apagamos
encendemos y apagamos muchos aparatos
every day we turn on and off many devices
Both verbs are in the nosotros present. Todos los días marks a habit, so Spanish uses the plain present, with no continuous form.
This is how Spanish states an everyday routine.
Imperative: presiona
presiona el botón durante uno o dos segundos
press the button for one or two seconds
Presiona is the tú imperative. In -ar verbs it looks exactly like the él form of the present: él presiona, and presiona tú.
Instructions, recipes and manuals are all written in this form.
Pronominal se: se enciende
Cuando el dispositivo se enciende
when the device turns on
Se here does not mean the device turns itself on. With encender, apagar or romper, se marks a change of state that simply happens: la puerta se abre, el teléfono se apaga.
It separates yo enciendo el teléfono from el teléfono se enciende.
Ser and the superlative: es el más importante
El botón de encendido es el más importante
the power button is the most important one
Ser states what something is. The superlative is built as el/la + más + adjective. The article agrees with the noun: el botón es el más importante, la pantalla es la más importante. Importante keeps one form, but adjectives ending in -o do change: el más pequeño, la más pequeña.
The way Spanish says the biggest, the best, the most important.
Stem change e/ie: enciendo
yo enciendo la computadora
I turn the computer on
Encender changes e to ie when the stress falls on that syllable: enciendo, enciendes, enciende, encienden. The nosotros form keeps the e: encendemos. Apagar is regular and never changes.
Without this you will not recognise enciende as the same verb as encendemos.
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