22. January 25 2023

Question 1

estar al pelo

Answer 1

slang, Caribbean, to be well, to be good

Question 2

perder los papels

Answer 2

to lose it
To go crazy mad

Question 3

on all fours

Answer 3

a gatas

Question 4

ponerse a + infinitivo

Justo cuando llegábamos a la playa, se puso a llover.

Answer 4

to start

It started raining just as we were arriving at the beach.

Question 5

deber de +infinitivo

1. Debe de ser muy interesante poder viajar a las islas Galápagos.
2. Esto es chantaje, Juan. Debes de decírselo a la policía.

Answer 5

must, have to, used with infinitive to express probability

1. It must be really interesting to be able to travel to the Galapagos Islands.
2. This is blackmail, Juan. You have to tell the police.

Question 6

light, of little weight

These earrings are light, so they’re perfect for children.

Answer 6

liviano (lee-byah-noh)

Estos aretes son muy livianos, así que son perfectos para los niños.

Question 7

exhausted

The guys were exhausted, and so they had to rest for a while.

Answer 7

extenuado (ehks-teh-nwah-doh)

Los chicos estaban extenuados y por eso tuvieron que descansar un poco.

Question 8

to stuff oneself, to gorge oneself

She stuffed herself with sweets and now she has a stomach ache.

Answer 8

atracarse (ah-trah-kahr-seh)

Se atracó de golosinas y ahora tiene dolor de estómago.

Question 9

on an empty stomach

It’s inadvisable to take that medication on an empty stomach.

Answer 9

en ayunas (ehn ah-yoo-nahs)

Es desaconsejable tomar ese medicamento en ayunas.f

Question 10

plier

I cut the red cable with the pliers from the toolbox.

Answer 10

el alicante (ah-lee-kah-teh)

Corté el cable rojo con el alicate de la caja de herramientas.

Question 11

groceries

Luis and I usually buy the groceries at the corner store to support local businesses.

Answer 11

los abarrotes (ah-bah-rroh-tehs)

Luis y yo generalmente compramos los abarrotes en la tienda de la esquina para apoyar el comercio local.

Question 12

los víveres (bee-beh-rehs)

Los víveres enviados a la zona del desastre incluían comida enlatada, arroz, pasta, aceite y sal.

Answer 12

food, provisions

The food sent to the disaster zone included canned food, rice, pasta, oil, and salt.

Question 13

help (x2)

I was mugged yesterday and nobody came when I called for help.

Answer 13

el socorro (soh-koh-rroh)
la ayuda

Me atracaron ayer y nadie vino cuando pedí socorro.

Question 14

to knock down

The stench of the rotting food almost knocked me over.

Answer 14

tumbar (toom-bahr)

El hedor de la comida podrida casi me tumbó.

Question 15

shortcut (shorter path)

He takes a shortcut through the supermarket parking lot to get home quicker.

Answer 15

el atajo (ah-tah-hoh)

Toma un atajo por el estacionamiento del supermercado para llegar más rápido a casa.

Question 16

inmutar (een-moo-tahr)
alterarse
enojarse

Pensé que la música iba a hacer enojar a mi compañero de trabajo, pero este ni se inmutó.

Answer 16

to get upset

I thought the music would anger my coworker, but he didn’t get upset.

Question 17

slang

In Argentina, “guita” is slang for “money.”

Answer 17

la jerga (hehr-gah)

En la jerga de Argentina, “guita” significa “dinero”.

Question 18

dar a conocer

Answer 18

to anounce

Question 19

dar a entender

Answer 19

to imply

Question 20

tener + past participle (-ido)

Tengo escritas veinte páginas de mi futura novela.

Tienes pintadas dos habitaciones. Falta una más para terminar

Answer 20

nuance: a result obtained after accumulation or repetition of action

I have twenty pages of my future novel written.

You have two rooms painted. There is one more left to finish.

Question 21

llevar + gerund (-ando)

Carlos lleva trabajando en ese colegio dos años.

Answer 21

to express the duration of an ongoing action

Carlos has been working in that school for two years.

Question 22

andar + gerund (-ando)

Carmen anda diciendo que eres un imbécil.

Answer 22

going around going something

Carmen is going round saying that you are an idiot.

Question 23

venir a + infinitive

Entonces, ese párrafo viene a decir que…

Los materiales vienen a costar de 100 a 150 euros.

Answer 23

to express an approximation

So, that paragraph is pretty much saying that…

The materials cost approximately 100 to 150 euros.

Question 24

ir + gerund (-ando)

Carmen ha ido llamando a los clientes mientras yo hablaba con el jefe.

Answer 24

emphasize the progression of an action

Carmen has been calling the clients (one by one) while I was talking to the boss.

Question 24

ir + gerund (-ando)

Carmen ha ido llamando a los clientes mientras yo hablaba con el jefe.

Answer 24

emphasize the progression of an action

Carmen has been calling the clients (one by one) while I was talking to the boss.

Question 25

quedarse + gerund

Nos quedamos esperando el autobús hasta tarde.

Answer 25

to keep on doing something
to continue doing something, to carry on doing something

We kept waiting for the bus until late.

Question 26

verse + past participle (-ido)

Se vio rodeado de cámaras y le entró el pánico.

Nos hemos visto humillados y hemos decidido abandonar la reunión.

Answer 26

nuance: resulting state provoked by change

He was/found himself surrounded by cameras and he panicked

We’ve been/felt humiliated and we’ve decided to withdraw from meeting.

Question 27

venir + gerund (-ando)

Vengo pensando que quizás debería disculparme con Antonio.

Los vecinos vienen diciendo que estaría bien hacer reformas en el bloque.

Answer 27

express an action in progress

I’m thinking that maybe I should apologise to Antonio.

The neighbors are saying that it’d be good to renovate the block.

Question 28

llevar+ past participle (-ido)

Llevamos recorridos 6 kilómetros. Esta tarde seguiremos caminando.

Este autor lleva publicadas 5 novelas cortas.

Answer 28

nuance: accumulation or repetition and implies that the action will continue in the future

we’ve done 6 kilometres. We will continue to walk this afternoon.

This author has [had] published 5 short novels [so far].