📖LearnModule 14 · Lesson 10 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, continuedUnit 2 · Las expresiones fijas
Cuándo no emplearlas
Module 14 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C2, continued), lesson 10 of 30: One idiom in a paragraph is a writer with an ear. 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
el oído
the ear (for language)
ehl oh-EE-doh
la guía de conversación
the phrase book
lah GEE-ah deh kohn-behr-sah-SYOHN
emplear
to use
ehm-pleh-AR
demasiado a menudo
too often
deh-mah-SYAH-doh ah meh-NOO-doh
una vez por párrafo
once per paragraph
OO-nah behs pohr PAH-rrah-foh
la nota de síntesis
the briefing note
lah NOH-tah deh SEEN-teh-sees
cambiar a mitad de camino
to change partway through
kahm-BYAR ah mee-TAHD deh kah-MEE-noh
más grave
more serious
mahs GRAH-beh
tú empleas demasiados refranes
you use too many proverbs
too ehm-PLEH-ahs deh-mah-SYAH-dohs rreh-FRAH-nehs
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
One idiom in a paragraph is a writer with an ear. Three is a phrase book. Nothing marks a non-native faster than an expression used correctly but too often.
Y también · And also
And never in a formal report. A nota de síntesis containing ser pan comido has changed register mid-document, which at C2 is a harder error than a grammatical one.
Ojo · Watch out
One idiom per paragraph at most, and none in a report or a nota de síntesis. emplear here is to use (a word); to hire someone is contratar. el oído is the hearing, the inner ear; la oreja (Module 1) is the ear you can see.
emplear, presente — the table
yo empleo · tú empleas · él/ella/usted emplea · nosotros empleamos · ustedes emplean · ellos/ellas emplean
Do it now — on paper
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with el oído.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out emplear, 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.