📖LearnModule 7 · Lesson 29 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1, completedUnit 6 · Leer y escribir en B1
Contar un problema — the complaint
Module 7 of the free Spanish course (CEFR B1, completed), lesson 29 of 30: The complaint is the most useful letter in any language, and Spanish has a firm. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
la queja
the complaint
lah KEH-hah
la lavadora
the washing machine
lah lah-bah-DOH-rah
ya no funciona
it no longer works
yah noh foon-SYOH-nah
el reembolso
the refund
ehl rreh-ehm-BOHL-soh
quisiera un reembolso
I would like a refund
kee-SYEH-rah oon rreh-ehm-BOHL-soh
la garantía
the warranty
lah gah-rahn-TEE-ah
el servicio al cliente
customer service
ehl sehr-BEE-syoh ahl KLYEHN-teh
la factura
the invoice
lah fahk-TOO-rah
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 complaint is the most useful letter in any language, and Spanish has a firm, polite register for it. State the facts in the pretérito, the circumstances in the imperfecto, and the request in the condicional.
Y también · And also
Compré una lavadora el 3 de marzo. Ya no funciona desde hace una semana. Quisiera un reembolso. Facts, problem, request — no anger required, and none helps. La garantía (the warranty) and la factura (the invoice) are the two words that win the argument.
Ojo · Watch out
quisiera is the formal I would like, one register up from me gustaría. funcionar is to work for a machine; trabajar is to work for a person: la lavadora ya no funciona, mi hermano trabaja.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with la queja.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 29 in Module 7 are the written half of this page.
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.