📖LearnModule 10 · Lesson 24 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1 + B2 mastery, and the C1 bridgeUnit 5 · La exposición oral
Reaccionar en el momento
Module 10 of the free Spanish course (CEFR B1 + B2 mastery, and the C1 bridge), lesson 24 of 30: When a question surprises you. On this page: 9 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
es una buena pregunta
that is a good question
ehs OO-nah BWEH-nah preh-GOON-tah
yo diría que
I would say that
yoh dee-REE-ah keh
si entiendo bien
if I understand correctly
see ehn-TYEHN-doh byehn
ganar tiempo
to buy time
gah-NAR TYEHM-poh
reformular
to rephrase
rreh-fohr-moo-LAR
el silencio
the silence
ehl see-LEHN-syoh
sorprender
to take by surprise
sohr-prehn-DEHR
nervioso
nervous (m)
nehr-BYOH-soh
espontáneo
spontaneous (m)
ehs-pohn-TAH-neh-oh
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
When a question surprises you, buy time in Spanish rather than in silence. Es una buena pregunta. Yo diría que… Si entiendo bien, usted me pregunta si…
Y también · And also
Repeating the question back is the most useful of the three: it gives you four seconds, and it makes sure you answer what was actually asked. Nervioso is normal; espontáneo is what the examiner writes down when it works.
Ojo · Watch out
Repeat the question back before answering: si entiendo bien, usted me pregunta si… It buys four seconds and makes sure you answer what was actually asked.
decir, condicional — the table
yo diría · tú dirías · él/ella/usted diría · nosotros diríamos · ustedes dirían · ellos/ellas dirían
Do it now — on paper
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with es una buena pregunta.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out decir, condicional in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.