Tennis Is Fun: Spanish story (A1)
Clara wants a real set on the red clay court at her club in Zaragoza. Her father counts ten balls over the net instead. A1 reading.
El tenis es divertido
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About this article
What you'll learn
Present tense, querer plus an infinitive, and tennis words: pista, raqueta, red, tierra batida.
Clara wants to play a real set at her neighborhood club in Zaragoza. The court is tierra batida, so the ground is red and the ball leaves a mark. Her father says the game today is ten balls over the net that stay inside. She does not play a set. Her white shoes keep the red dust. Clear present-tense Spanish for A1.
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.
¿Cuál es tu deporte favorito?
newwhat is your favourite sport?
Cuál asks which one out of several options. Note the two signs: a Spanish question opens with an upside down mark and closes with a normal one.
A question you can ask a real person, not only read on a page.
jugar al tenis
newto play tennis
Spanish says jugar a + sport, and a + el contracts to al: jugar al tenis, jugar al fútbol.
The pattern for naming any sport you play.
los fines de semana
newon weekends
Spanish uses the article and no preposition: los fines de semana. The plural is fines de semana, never fin de semanas.
Says how often something happens.
ropa cómoda
newcomfortable clothes
The adjective follows the noun and agrees with it: ropa is feminine singular, so cómoda, not cómodo.
Ropa is singular in Spanish where English says clothes.
zapatillas deportivas
newsports shoes, trainers
Zapatillas deportivas are the shoes you run in. Careful: in Mexico and Colombia the same shoes are called tenis.
The word changes across the Spanish speaking world, and this text shows both.
Mira la pelota con atención
newwatch the ball carefully
Mira is the tú command form of mirar. For -ar verbs the command to one person looks like the he or she present form: mira, habla, juega.
The commonest shape of advice and instructions in Spanish.
juega con la mano izquierda
newhe plays with his left hand
Con la mano izquierda means with the left hand; the other one is la derecha. A left-handed player is un zurdo.
Nadal is the most famous zurdo in tennis, so the word comes up constantly.
Key words
Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.
Clay court
tierra batida
clay, the court surface
Tierra batida is the red surface made of crushed brick. The ball bounces slowly on it, so the rallies are long.
The surface Spanish tennis is built on, and the word English calls clay.
Court
cancha
court
Cancha is the playing area. In Spain people say pista de tenis instead, and both are correct. Notice se juega, an impersonal form meaning it is played.
Choosing cancha or pista tells a listener which side of the Atlantic you learned Spanish on.
Ball
pelota
ball
Pelota is the small yellow tennis ball. In Spain a big inflated ball, like a football, is usually un balón.
In Spain pelota and balón are not interchangeable, and the size decides.
Coach
entrenador
coach, trainer
Entrenador comes from the verb entrenar, to train. A woman coach is la entrenadora.
Works for any sport, and it brings the verb entrenar with it.
Red: the net
red
net
Red means net, not the colour red. The same word means a network: la red is the internet.
A false friend for English speakers, and this text puts it right next to colour words.
Match
partido
match, game
Un partido is one match. The same word means a political party, so the context decides.
What you need to talk about a game you played or watched.
Grammar in context
Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.
Gustar: me, te, le gusta
le gusta jugar al tenis
he or she likes playing tennis
Gustar works the other way round: the thing liked is the subject. You change the pronoun, not the verb: me gusta, te gusta, le gusta, nos gusta. With an infinitive it stays singular, gusta.
The only way to say you like something, and the person is carried by the pronoun.
Present tense: the tú forms
corres, saltas y golpeas la pelota
you run, jump and hit the ball
Three tú forms in a row: correr gives corres, saltar gives saltas, golpear gives golpeas. Spanish leaves out tú because the ending already says who.
The endings -as and -es are how you address one person, and the end of this text is full of them.
Ser de: where someone is from
Rafael Nadal es de Manacor
Rafael Nadal is from Manacor
Ser de + a place says where a person comes from. You ask it with ¿De dónde eres? Estar would mean something else: where someone is right now.
The first thing you say about a person and the first thing you get asked.
Estar: how you feel right now
estás cansado pero contento
you are tired but happy
Estar + adjective is a state that can change: today estás cansado, not always. Compare es de Manacor, which never changes.
Ser and estar both translate as to be, and this pair draws the line between them.
Juegas: questions and the u to ue change
juegas al tenis
do you play tennis?
Jugar is the only Spanish verb that changes u to ue: juego, juegas, juega, juegan, while jugamos and jugáis keep the u. The question needs both marks, one at the start and one at the end.
Someone who only knows the infinitive jugar will not recognise juegas, and this is the question you would actually ask another player.
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