📖LearnModule 11 · Lesson 5 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, first halfUnit 1 · El registro — la voz escrita
Leer una página de literatura
Module 11 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C1, first half), lesson 5 of 30: A literary paragraph, with the two pasts at work: Era de noche. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
era de noche
it was nighttime
EH-rah deh NOH-cheh
la ciudad dormía
the city was sleeping
lah syoo-DAHD dohr-MEE-ah
una puerta se abrió
a door opened
OO-nah PWEHR-tah seh ah-BRYOH
oscuro
dark, gloomy
ohs-KOO-roh
nadie lo vio
nobody saw him
NAH-dyeh loh byoh
el abrigo oscuro
the dark coat
ehl ah-BREE-goh ohs-KOO-roh
la sombra
the shadow
lah SOHM-brah
de pronto
suddenly (all at once)
deh PROHN-toh
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
A literary paragraph, with the two pasts at work: Era de noche. La ciudad dormía. De pronto una puerta se abrió y salió un hombre. Llevaba un abrigo oscuro. Nadie lo vio.
Y también · And also
The imperfecto still paints (era, dormía, llevaba); the pretérito fires the events (se abrió, salió, vio). The same machine as B1 in different clothes — and in an older novel the -ra pluperfect and the pretérito anterior may join it, so read for the event, not the ending.
Ojo · Watch out
nadie lo vio: when nadie comes first the verb is affirmative — no double no. And vio here is ver (he saw), not vivir (he lived, vivió): three letters decide the verb.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with era de noche.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 5 in Module 11 are the written half of this page.
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.