📖LearnModule 7 · Lesson 18 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1, completedUnit 4 · Contar lo que dicen
The reporting verbs
Module 7 of the free Spanish course (CEFR B1, completed), lesson 18 of 30: Decir is the plain one. On this page: 8 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
contestar
to answer
kohn-tehs-TAR
añadir
to add
ah-nyah-DEER
anunciar
to announce
ah-noon-SYAR
admitir
to admit
ahd-mee-TEER
él contestó que sí
he answered yes
ehl kohn-tehs-TOH keh see
el comentario
the remark
ehl koh-mehn-TAH-ryoh
aclarar
to clarify
ah-klah-RAR
el punto de vista
the point of view
ehl POON-toh deh BEES-tah
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
Decir is the plain one, and using it five times in a paragraph is what marks a text as beginner's Spanish. Reach for the others: explicar (explain), contestar (answer), añadir (add), repetir, anunciar (announce), admitir (admit), aclarar (clarify).
Y también · And also
Each one carries a judgment about the speaker, which is exactly what makes a reported paragraph readable: él contestó que sí tells the reader the speaker was answering, not starting. Escribir works the same way in writing: ella escribió que vendría.
Ojo · Watch out
decir five times in one paragraph marks a text as beginner's Spanish. contestar, añadir, anunciar and admitir each say HOW the speaker spoke. And añadir keeps its ñ: ah-nyah-DEER.
escribir, pretérito — the table
yo escribí · tú escribiste · él/ella/usted escribió · nosotros escribimos · ustedes escribieron · ellos/ellas escribieron
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with contestar.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out escribir, 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.