📖LearnModule 14 · Lesson 5 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, continuedUnit 1 · Los niveles de lengua
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Module 14 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C2, continued), lesson 5 of 30: The C2 skill is not knowing three registers. 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
sin costuras
seamlessly
seen kohs-TOO-rahs
relajarse
to relax
rreh-lah-HAR-seh
callarse
to keep quiet
kah-YAR-seh
tutear
to address as tú
too-teh-AR
tratar de usted
to address as usted
trah-TAR deh oos-TEHD
tomárselo a mal
to hold it against someone
toh-MAR-seh-loh ah mahl
el bandazo
the lurch
ehl bahn-DAH-soh
prudente al principio
cautious at first
proo-DEHN-teh ahl preen-SEE-pyoh
esperar la señal
to wait for the cue
ehs-peh-RAR lah seh-NYAHL
nosotros nos callamos
we keep quiet
noh-SOH-trohs nohs kah-YAH-mohs
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
The C2 skill is not knowing three registers; it is moving between them inside one conversation without a seam. A meeting that opens formally and relaxes is normal; one that lurches is not.
Y también · And also
The safe rule: follow the other person down, never up. If they say tú first, you may. Tutear before they do is the one register mistake a Spanish speaker will actually hold against you.
Ojo · Watch out
Follow the other person DOWN, never up: wait for them to tutear first. tutear is to address as tú; tratar de usted is the opposite. callarse is to keep quiet, and it is reflexive: me callo, se calla.
callarse, presente — the table
yo me callo · tú te callas · él/ella/usted se calla · nosotros nos callamos · ustedes se callan · ellos/ellas se callan
Do it now — on paper
Say all 10 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with sin costuras.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out callarse, 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.