📖LearnModule 13 · Lesson 24 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, first halfUnit 5 · Las figuras retóricas
La metáfora
Module 13 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C2, first half), lesson 24 of 30: Spanish metaphor is often architectural or maritime. On this page: 11 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
el hilo del razonamiento
the thread of the argument
ehl EE-loh dehl rrah-soh-nah-MYEHN-toh
sentar las bases
to lay the foundations
sehn-TAR lahs BAH-sehs
ir a la deriva
to drift (with no plan)
eer ah lah deh-REE-bah
una lluvia de críticas
a barrage of criticism
OO-nah YOO-byah deh KREE-tee-kahs
la metáfora
the metaphor
lah meh-TAH-foh-rah
la comparación
the simile
lah kohm-pah-rah-SYOHN
navegar
to sail
nah-beh-GAR
tropezar
to stumble
troh-peh-SAR
tropezar con una dificultad
to run into a difficulty
troh-peh-SAR kohn OO-nah dee-fee-kool-TAHD
marítimo
maritime
mah-REE-tee-moh
nosotros navegamos sin rumbo
we sail without a course
noh-SOH-trohs nah-beh-GAH-mohs seen RROOM-boh
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
Spanish metaphor is often architectural or maritime, and the dead ones are worth knowing: el hilo del razonamiento, sentar las bases, ir a la deriva, tropezar con una dificultad.
Y también · And also
A comparison announces itself with como; a metaphor does not. Una lluvia de críticas is a metaphor and no Spanish reader notices — which is exactly when it works.
Ojo · Watch out
A comparison announces itself with como; a metaphor does not. sentar las bases is a dead metaphor, safe to use; una lluvia de críticas works because nobody notices it. tropezar changes z to c before e: tropecé.
navegar, presente — the table
yo navego · tú navegas · él/ella/usted navega · nosotros navegamos · ustedes navegan · ellos/ellas navegan
Do it now — on paper
Say all 11 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with el hilo del razonamiento.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out navegar, 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.