Sofía washes her hands: Spanish A1 reading
Sofía comes in from the street, wants bread, and washes her hands with soap. An A1 text about germs, soap, and a towel.
Sofía se lava las manos
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About this article
What you'll learn
Present tense and hygiene vocabulary: jabón, gérmenes, toalla, enjuagar.
Sofía gets home and wants bread, but first she washes her hands. She uses soap, rubs between her fingers, and counts slowly to twenty. She dries them on a clean towel and then eats.
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.
Lavarse las manos
newTo wash hands
Lavarse = "to wash oneself" + hands. The reflexive pronoun se indicates the action returns to the subject.
Core phrase of the article. A regular hygiene action.
antes de comer
newBefore eating
antes de + infinitive = before doing something. Takes infinitive, not a conjugated verb.
Frequent pattern for expressing time of action.
después de ir al baño
newAfter going to the toilet
después de + infinitive = after doing something. Same pattern as "antes de".
Key hygiene rule learned at A1 level.
durante al menos veinte segundos
newAt least twenty seconds
durante al menos = for at least / during at least. Expresses minimum duration.
Useful time expression for describing procedures.
Primero mojamos las manos
newFirst we wet our hands
Primero = first. Marks the order of steps in a procedure.
Starts a sequence of steps in instructions.
Es importante frotar entre los dedos
newIt is important to rub between the fingers
Es importante + infinitive = it is important to do something. Expresses advice or instruction.
Useful pattern for expressing importance.
Key words
Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.
Soap
el jabón
Soap
el jabón = soap. Used with verbs like aplicar, usar. Essential hygiene vocabulary.
Central word of the article. Essential for describing hand washing.
Germs
los gérmenes
Germs
los gérmenes = germs. General term for disease-causing microorganisms.
Important scientific word appearing in many health contexts.
Bacteria
las bacterias
Bacteria
las bacterias = bacteria. Specific type of microorganisms. Always plural in Spanish.
Scientific word related to hygiene and health.
To rinse
enjuagar
To rinse
enjuagar = to rinse. Regular -ar verb. Second step after soaping.
Action in the hand washing sequence. Easy to memorize.
To dry (oneself)
secarse
To dry (oneself)
secarse = to dry (oneself). Reflexive verb. Important final step.
Reflexive verb. Final step of the hygiene procedure.
To prevent
prevenir
To prevent
prevenir = to prevent. e→ie stem-changing verb. Used with purpose or result.
Useful word for describing preventive measures.
Grammar in context
Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.
Reflexive verbs: nos lavamos
nos lavamos
Reflexive verbs in present tense
-nosotros reflexive pronoun attaches to the verb: lavarnos → nos lavamos. Action returns to the subject.
Reflexive verbs are very important at beginner level. The article has many examples.
antes de + infinitive
antes de + infinitivo
Time construction: antes de + infinitive
antes de = before. After antes de always comes an infinitive, never a conjugated verb. Same pattern for después de.
Basic time constructions, mandatory at A1 level.
Sequence: Primero… Luego… Después…
Primero… Luego… Después…
Sequence markers for actions
Primero, luego, después = first, then, after that. Show the order of steps in a procedure.
The article describes a procedure with clear step-by-step sequence.
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