📖LearnModule 6 · Lesson 4 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1, first halfUnit 1 · Contar — telling the past
Primero, luego, al final — the storyteller's markers
Module 6 of the free Spanish course (CEFR B1, first half), lesson 4 of 30: Real stories are held together by time markers: primero (first), luego (then), entonces (then. 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
primero
first
pree-MEH-roh
luego
then
LWEH-goh
entonces
so / then
ehn-TOHN-sehs
mientras
while
MYEHN-trahs
al final
in the end
ahl fee-NAHL
en ese momento
at that moment
ehn EH-seh moh-MEHN-toh
ella llegó tarde
she arrived late
EH-yah yeh-GOH TAR-deh
empezó a llover
it started to rain
ehm-peh-SOH ah yoh-BEHR
empezar
to start
ehm-peh-SAR
el principio
the beginning
ehl preen-SEE-pyoh
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
Real stories are held together by time markers: primero (first), luego (then), entonces (then, at that point), mientras (while), al final (in the end), en ese momento (at that moment).
Y también · And also
Mientras yo leía, mi gato dormía. En ese momento, empezó a llover. Markers plus the two pasts: that is narration. Notice that mientras takes a full clause — mientras yo leía — and durante takes a noun: durante la noche.
Ojo · Watch out
mientras (while) takes a full clause: mientras yo leía. durante takes a noun: durante la noche. And luego is then-as-next; entonces is then-as-at-that-point — the storyteller needs both.
llegar, pretérito — the table
yo llegué · tú llegaste · él/ella/usted llegó · nosotros llegamos · ustedes llegaron · ellos/ellas llegaron
empezar, pretérito — the table
yo empecé · tú empezaste · él/ella/usted empezó · nosotros empezamos · ustedes empezaron · ellos/ellas empezaron
Do it now — on paper
Say all 10 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with primero.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out llegar, pretérito and empezar, pretérito 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.