📖LearnModule 13 · Lesson 25 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, first halfUnit 5 · Las figuras retóricas
La gradación
Module 13 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C2, first half), lesson 25 of 30: Spanish argument likes to climb. 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
no solo… sino también
not only… but also
noh SOH-loh… SEE-noh tahm-BYEHN
lo que es más
what is more
loh keh ehs MAHS
en el fondo
at bottom
ehn ehl FOHN-doh
la gradación
the escalation
lah grah-dah-SYOHN
subir la apuesta
to raise the stakes
soo-BEER lah ah-PWEHS-tah
el ritmo
the rhythm
ehl RREET-moh
la caída del párrafo
the fall at the end
lah kah-EE-dah dehl PAH-rrah-foh
no cambiar nada
to change nothing
noh kahm-BYAR NAH-dah
dudo que ustedes hayan hecho eso
I doubt you did that
DOO-doh keh oos-TEH-dehs AH-yahn EH-choh EH-soh
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 argument likes to climb. No solo… sino también… y, lo que es más… Each step raises the stakes, and the last one carries the point.
Y también · And also
Its opposite is deflation for effect — y, en el fondo, eso no cambia nada. A C2 writer uses both, and the rhythm of a paragraph is usually one climb and one drop.
Ojo · Watch out
no solo… sino también… y lo que es más climbs; en el fondo deflates. A paragraph usually holds one climb and one drop — not three climbs. sino, one word, follows a negative; si no, two words, is if not.
hacer, pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo — the table
yo haya hecho · tú hayas hecho · él/ella/usted haya hecho · nosotros hayamos hecho · ustedes hayan hecho · ellos/ellas hayan hecho
Do it now — on paper
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with no solo… sino también.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out hacer, pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo 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.