Looking for a Sister in Plaza Mayor
A1 Spanish: a brother searches Madrid's Plaza Mayor, counts nine arches, asks at the Casa de la Panadería, passes Philip III's statue, and finds his sister at the Arco de Cuchilleros.
Un paseo por la Plaza Mayor de Madrid
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. . , . . . . « ». . . .
. . 1617 . . 1790 . . . .
. . , . . . : « . . .»
. . 1616. 1848. . . .
. . . , . .
« », .
« », . « .»
. . .
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About this article
What you'll learn
Present-tense narration, place words, hay, and simple past forms for the plaza's history.
A man looks for his sister in Madrid's Plaza Mayor. He walks under the arcades, remembers the old Arrabal market, the 1617 plan, three fires and the 1790 rebuilding with nine arches, asks at the Casa de la Panadería, passes the statue of Philip III, and meets her on the stairs of the Arco de Cuchilleros.
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.
bajo ellos
newunder them
Bajo means under, and ellos refers back to los soportales.
Useful for locating something without repeating the noun.
Hace muchos siglos
newmany centuries ago
Hace plus a period says how long ago something happened.
Useful for placing events in the distant past.
a caballo
newon horseback
A caballo describes a person riding a horse.
Useful for describing statues, travel and historical scenes.
uno de los edificios principales
newone of the main buildings
Uno de los introduces one member of a larger group.
Useful for identifying an important example within a group.
Key words
Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.
Arcades
soportales
arcades
Soportales are covered walkways supported by columns or arches.
A useful word for historic squares and buildings.
Market
mercado
market
A mercado is a place where people buy and sell goods.
Useful for talking about towns, food and shopping.
Fires
incendios
fires
Incendios are large, destructive fires.
Useful in historical accounts and safety information.
Facade
fachada
facade
A fachada is the exterior front of a building.
Useful for describing architecture.
Statue
estatua
statue
An estatua is a sculpture representing a person, animal or figure.
Useful in museums, squares and city tours.
Arch
arco
arch
An arco is a curved structure over an opening.
Useful for describing doors, bridges and monuments.
Grammar in context
Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.
Hay for existence
hay soportales
there are arcades
Hay states that something exists and does not change for singular or plural nouns.
Useful for describing places.
Era for a past identity
era la Plaza del Arrabal
was the Plaza del Arrabal
Era is the imperfect form of ser and describes what a place was in the past.
Useful for giving historical background.
Preterite for completed events
sufrió tres incendios grandes
suffered three large fires
Sufrió is a preterite form and presents the fires as completed past events.
Useful for telling historical events.
Question with querer
¿Qué edificio quieres ver?
Which building do you want to see?
Quieres is the tú form of querer, with e changing to ie.
Useful for asking another person about a preference.
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