Busco a Rosa en la Tomatina

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5 free word translations

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About this article

Level A1 Reading focus

What you'll learn

Present tense and the verb querer, with words for the tomato fight: tomate, jamón, camión and palo.

On the last Wednesday of August in Buñol, near Valencia, the narrator wants not to lose their friend Rosa at La Tomatina. Rosa wears an old blue T-shirt. A soapy pole has a ham on top, and the person who reaches it keeps the ham. Trucks bring ripe tomatoes. People squash a tomato before throwing it, do not throw bottles or hard objects, and stay away from the trucks. The fight lasts one hour, from a first signal to a second. Then Rosa is still nearby.

After reading

Article learning block

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

15 items

Phrases for training

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

Se celebra en Buñol, cerca de Valencia

new

It is celebrated in Buñol, near Valencia

The "se" construction here is a passive voice in Spanish. Se + verb means "is done".

Useful for describing events where the doer is not important.

Miles de personas se tiran tomates

new

Thousands of people throw tomatoes

"Miles de personas" means thousands of people. Reflexive "se" indicates mutual action.

Great for talking about big events with lots of participants.

Es el festival de comida más grande del mundo

new

It is the biggest food festival in the world

"Más grande" = biggest. Superlatives use "más" + adjective.

Learn superlatives for making comparisons.

Todo empezó en mil novecientos cuarenta y cinco

new

Everything started in nineteen forty-five

The number 1945: "mil novecientos cuarenta y cinco". "Empezó" is preterite tense.

Practice numbers and past tense together.

Solo se pueden tirar tomates maduros

new

Only ripe tomatoes may be thrown

"Solo se pueden tirar" = only may be thrown. This is an impersonal permission rule.

Great for learning rules and restrictions.

El tomate es buen limpiador natural

new

The tomato is a good natural cleaner

"Es buen limpiador" = is a good cleaner. "Buen" is the short form of "bueno" before a masculine noun.

Learn descriptive constructions with "es".

Key words

Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.

tomato

tomate

tomato

Masculine noun. "Un tomate" = a tomato.

Basic food vocabulary.

festival

fiesta

festival/party

Feminine noun. "La fiesta" = the party. Very common word.

For describing events and celebrations.

young people

jóvenes

young people

Masculine plural noun. "Los jóvenes" = young people.

For describing people by age.

rule

regla

rule

Feminine noun. "La regla" = rule. Plural: "las reglas".

For describing rules and laws.

tourist

turista

tourist

Noun with masculine/feminine forms. "Un turista" (masc), "una turista" (fem).

For talking about travel and tourism.

in advance

antelación

in advance

Feminine noun. "Con antelación" = in advance. Adverb form also exists.

Useful for planning travel.

Grammar in context

Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.

Passive se

Se celebra en Buñol

Se celebra = is celebrated

The "se" construction creates a passive voice without stating who does the action.

Works for describing events where the doer is irrelevant.

Number 1945

mil novecientos cuarenta y cinco

1945 = one thousand nine hundred forty-five

"Mil" = 1000, "novecientos" = 900, "cuarenta y cinco" = 45. Break big numbers into parts.

Learn large numbers in chunks.

Preterite past tense

empezó, pelearon, repitieron

empezó, pelearon, repitieron — all in preterite

Preterite = simple past for completed actions. These verbs tell stories about past events.