Module 4 of the free Spanish course (CEFR A2, completed), lesson 15 of 30: The unit's exit: one small true story in the two pasts. On this page: 7 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
| Spanish | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| contar | to tell (a story) | kohn-TAR |
| hacía frío | it was cold | ah-SEE-ah FREE-oh |
| estábamos en casa | we were at home | ehs-TAH-bah-mohs ehn KAH-sah |
| mi hermana hizo un pastel | my sister made a cake | mee ehr-MAH-nah EE-soh oon pahs-TEHL |
| del mundo | in the world (after a superlative) | dehl MOON-doh |
| el mejor pastel del mundo | the best cake in the world | ehl meh-HOHR pahs-TEHL dehl MOON-doh |
| el mundo | the world | ehl MOON-doh |
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.
The unit's exit: one small true story in the two pasts. Era domingo. Hacía frío. Estábamos en casa. Mi hermana hizo un pastel. ¡Era el mejor pastel del mundo!
Scene (imperfecto), event (pretérito), opinion (era + adjective). That is how Spanish stories breathe. Contar is to tell a story — and also to count.
el mejor pastel del mundo: the superlative takes de, not en — el mejor del mundo, la mejor del año. And de + el fuses to del.
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.
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.
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