📖LearnModule 15 · Lesson 14 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2 mastery — the capstoneUnit 3 · La exposición preparada
El tiempo que pasa
Module 15 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C2 mastery — the capstone), lesson 14 of 30: Timing is a skill and it is practiced, not hoped for. 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
a los dos tercios
at the two-thirds mark
ah lohs dohs TEHR-syohs
cortar un ejemplo
to cut an example
kohr-TAR oon eh-HEHM-ploh
cortar
to cut
kohr-TAR
el cronometraje
the timing
ehl kroh-noh-meh-TRAH-heh
perdonable
forgivable
pehr-doh-NAH-bleh
la rúbrica
the mark scheme
lah RROO-bree-kah
sin final
with no ending
seen fee-NAHL
ensayado
rehearsed
ehn-sah-YAH-doh
entrenar
to train (practice)
ehn-treh-NAR
ustedes cortan un ejemplo
you (all) cut an example
oos-TEH-dehs KOHR-tahn oon eh-HEHM-ploh
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
Timing is a skill and it is practiced, not hoped for. Mark your notes at the two-thirds point; if you are not there when two-thirds of the time has gone, cut an example, never the conclusion.
Y también · And also
The commonest failure in a timed presentation is a full argument with no ending. An incomplete middle is forgivable; a missing conclusion is what the mark scheme punishes.
Ojo · Watch out
Mark the two-thirds point in your notes (a los dos tercios) and cut an example if you are not there yet. A missing conclusion is what la rúbrica, the mark scheme, punishes; an incomplete middle is forgivable.
cortar, presente — the table
yo corto · tú cortas · él/ella/usted corta · nosotros cortamos · ustedes cortan · ellos/ellas cortan
Do it now — on paper
Say all 10 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with a los dos tercios.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out cortar, 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.