A Manuscript for Thinking About Play: Spanish C2
A C2 Spanish reading about Alfonso X's Libro del axedrez, dados e tablas, completed in Seville in 1283.
Un manuscrito para pensar el juego
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About this article
What you'll learn
Historical narration, contrastive and concessive expressions, pronominal reference, and cultural-analysis vocabulary
Clara reads an illustrated medieval manuscript about chess, dice, tables, and the cultural journeys of games.
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.
no como un adorno, sino como una coordenada
newnot as an ornament, but as a coordinate
The phrase contrasts two ways of reading a date.
Useful for making a precise contrast.
una combinación de ambos
newa combination of both
Ambos refers to two things already named.
Useful for linking two ideas without repeating them.
a través de fuentes árabes
newthrough Arabic sources
A través de introduces the route or medium through which something arrives.
Useful for explaining cultural transmission.
aun así
neweven so
Aun así introduces a contrast that remains true despite what came before.
Useful for making a concessive argument.
Key words
Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.
Word: colofón
colofón
colophon
Colofón means a closing note that can give information about a manuscript.
Useful for reading descriptions of old books.
Word: repertorio
repertorio
repertoire
Repertorio means a set of works, pieces, or items gathered together.
Useful for discussing a collection of games or texts.
Word: azar
azar
chance
Azar means an outcome that is not fully controlled.
Useful for discussing games and uncertainty.
Word: transmisión
transmisión
transmission
Transmisión means the passage of an idea, practice, or object from one place or group to another.
Useful for cultural-history analysis.
Word: miniaturas
miniaturas
miniatures
Miniaturas are small illustrations in a manuscript.
Useful for describing illustrated books.
Word: manuscrito
manuscrito
manuscript
Manuscrito means a text written by hand rather than printed.
Useful for discussing historical documents.
Grammar in context
Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.
Grammar: se empezó y se terminó
se empezó y se terminó
it was begun and finished
The impersonal construction with se focuses on the action instead of naming the people who did it.
Useful for formal historical narration.
Grammar: lo considera
lo considera una de las últimas obras
considers it
Lo replaces el manuscrito as a direct object.
Useful for avoiding repetition in formal prose.
Grammar: la convierte
la convierte en materia de reflexión
turns it into
La replaces la incertidumbre, a feminine noun.
Useful for tracking reference across a sentence.
Grammar: se conserva
se conserva en la Real Biblioteca
is kept / is preserved
The passive se describes the manuscript's present location without naming an agent.
Useful for describing collections and archives.
Grammar: deja de serlo
deja de serlo
stops being so
Dejar de + infinitive marks the end of a state, and lo refers to neutral.
Useful for expressing that a state no longer continues.
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