Hello and Welcome to Your Daily Pinch of Spanish! 🙂
Today I want to talk about something thats been going on near where I live, and its actually very annoying: a fire. More like a wildfire.
Its not particularly big, an its not that out of control, you could say (as in it doesnt seem to be spreading much), and it is far enough so that everyone in this neighborhood is safe, but the smoke still gets here and it is annoying, especially at night.
Ill talk to you about it in Spanish now, and later give you the translation and notes:
Cerca de mi casa está quemando un fuego, en el tope de un monte. Lleva ya cinco días, y si veo el humo subir hoy, entonces ya serán seis. Está cerca de mi casa, pero no al punto que sea peligroso. El humo es lo más que presenta una molestia, porque la casa se llena de ese mal olor, en especial en la noche. A veces parece como si al fin se hubiera apagado el fuego, pero luego, en la tarde (quizá por el sol caliente y el calor) vuelve a encender, y el humo a subir. Espero que ya lo controlen los bomberos el día de hoy.
Now let me give you the full translation of this in English:
Near my house theres a fire burning, on the top of a hill. Its been burning for five days, and if I see the smoke coming up today, then it will be six. Its close to my house, but not to the point that its dangerous. The smoke is the biggest annoyance, because the house gets full of that bad smell, especially at night. Sometimes it appears as if the fire finally extinguished, but then later, in the afternoon (perhaps because of the hot sun and the heat) it goes on again, and the smoke rises. I hope the firefighters control it today.
Vocabulary and notes:
Vocabulary
(*I wont give you all of the words, since some Im going to explain as a phrase in a moment.)
1- Cerca (sehr-cah) Near, close to
2- Está (Ehs-tah) to be (present form)
3- Quemando (Keh-mahn-doh) Burning, to be burning (from verb quemar)
4- Tope (toh-peh) The top
5- Monte (Mohn-teh) Hill
6 Cinco (seen-koh) Five
7- Entonces (ehn-tohn-sehs) Then
8- Pero (peh-roh) But
9- Peligroso (peh-lee-groh-soh) dangerous
10- Humo (oo-moh) Smoke
11- molestia (Moh-lehs-tee-ah) Annoyance
*Annoying translates to molesto, or, molestoso; and also fastidioso.
12- Casa (kah-sah) House
13- Mal olor (mahl oh-lohr) Bad smell, bad odor
14- Noche (Noh-cheh) Night
15- Luego (loo-eh-goh) Later
16- Tarde (Tahr-deh) Afternoon
17- Sol (Sohl) Sun
18- Caliente (Kah-lee-ehn-teh) Hot, warm
19- Calor (ka-lohr) Heat
20- Encender (ehn-sehn-dehr) To turn on, to switch on
21- Subir (soo-beer) Rise
22- Espero (ehs-peh-roh) I hope (from verb esperar. It also translates to wait, in this form I wait.)
23- Controlen (cohn-troh-lehn) control (from verb controlar)
24- Bomberos (bohm-beh-rohs) Firefighters (*plural. Singular is: bombero)
25- Hoy (oi) Today
Notes:
Lleva ya This expression translates to its been or it has gone on. Literally, it would translate to it carries already. Lleva ya cinco días Its been five days, or, it has gone on for five days.
Si ___ entonces ___ The word si (without an accent) means if. Its the conditional. Usually it will be followed by entonces, like in English if is followed by then. Si (something happens) entonces (outcome). Si veo el humo subir hoy if I see the smoke rise today entonces ya serán seis (días) Then it will be six (days).
Sometimes the word entonces wont be there, but as a conditional, it will usually have an outcome. An extra example: Si llueve hoy, no voy a salir if it rains today, I wont go out.
Hubiera This word causes confusion even to native Spanish speakers. (Well, it did to me for a long time lol). And why, you may ask? Its because there is another word that is used in the same context and means exactly the same thing: Hubiese (oo-bee-seh). The two are interchangeable; you can use it exactly the same. Now, I read that hubiese is more formal than hubiera, at least it originally it was. Today you can use both for the same purpose and in the same context. It translates to would have or there was. Extra examples: Hubiera/hubiese dormido más I would have slept more.
Ella hubiese ganado She would have won
*Update: I hadnt even finished writing this when I saw the smoke rising, so, yet ANOTHER day of smoke here. That fire just keeps going and going.
This is it for today! This is quite a long one, isnt it? I hope you have enjoyed this post, and that you find it useful, which is the most important.
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See you next time! 🙂
