📖LearnModule 13 · Lesson 1 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, first halfUnit 1 · El énfasis
Es que… — fue Juan quien llamó
Module 13 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C2, first half), lesson 1 of 30: English says I saw HIM yesterday and lets the voice do the work. On this page: 10 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 que no puedo
the thing is, I cannot
ehs keh noh PWEH-doh
fue Juan quien llamó
it was Juan who called
fweh hwahn kyehn yah-MOH
es aquí donde vivo
this is where I live
ehs ah-KEE DOHN-deh BEE-boh
soy yo quien tiene la culpa
I am the one to blame
soy yoh kyehn TYEH-neh lah KOOL-pah
el énfasis
the emphasis
ehl EHN-fah-sees
resaltar
to highlight
rreh-sahl-TAR
la voz que insiste
the stressing voice
lah bohs keh een-SEES-teh
reconstruir la frase
to rebuild the sentence
rreh-kohns-TRWEER lah FRAH-seh
la concordancia
the agreement (grammar)
lah kohn-kohr-DAHN-syah
yo resalto lo esencial
I highlight the essential point
yoh rreh-SAHL-toh loh eh-sehn-SYAHL
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
English says I saw HIM yesterday and lets the voice do the work. Spanish will not: it rebuilds the sentence. Fue a él a quien vi ayer. Fue ayer cuando lo vi. Es aquí donde vivo. And the everyday opener es que puts the whole explanation in the spotlight: es que no puedo.
Y también · And also
Quien for a highlighted person, donde for a place, cuando for a time, como for a manner. The verb after quien agrees with the person: soy yo quien tiene la culpa is the standard form, and soy yo quien tengo la culpa is heard and accepted too.
Ojo · Watch out
es que is not it is that — it is the thing is, an explanation offered in advance: es que no puedo. And fue Juan quien llamó, never fue Juan que llamó: a highlighted person takes quien (or el que), a place donde, a time cuando.
resaltar, presente — the table
yo resalto · tú resaltas · él/ella/usted resalta · nosotros resaltamos · ustedes resaltan · ellos/ellas resaltan
Do it now — on paper
Say all 10 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with es que no puedo.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out resaltar, presente 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.