Él nada en el mar y nada le puede impedir.
“He swims in the sea and nothing can stop him.” The trick in this sentence is understanding the double meaning of the word “nada”: the first one means “he swims” (él nada) and the second “nada” means nothing. You can check more words with double meaning in Spanish here.
Estudio Español hace dos años y hago crucigramas en Español.
“I have been studying Spanish for two years and I make crosswords in Spanish”. Impressive! If you can already solve crosswords in Spanish, you’re definitely on the right track.
Rápido corren los carros detrás del ferrocarril.
If you’ve mastered this sentence, you’ve officially mastered the Spanish rolled rr. Congrats! Now, check out other sounds that you’ll need to master to ace at Spanish like a native.
Sé la diferencia entre vosotros, vos y ustedes.
“I know the difference between vosotros, vos and ustedes.” You’ve hit gold! When to use vosotros, vos and ustedes is one of the main differences between Spain and Latin American Spanish and, if you can already adapt your speech, you’ll amaze us.
Si fueras presidenta, ¿qué harías?
“If you were president, what would you do?” It may sound like a simple question, but it’s not. Once you can ask “if” questions correctly in Spanish, it’s probably because you’ve mastered the Subjunctive mood and a few past tenses in the Indicative mood. You get extra points for using “presidenta” in the feminine and if you didn’t forget the inversed ‘¿’.
Él compró el libro para dárselo a su hermana.
“He bought the book to give it to his sister.” Hard to understand? Not really. Hard to conjugate? Oh yes! “Dárselo” is the verb “dar” (to give) with both a direct and indirect complement (in the forms of “lo” and “se”). This structure is pretty unique, since it doesn’t exist in closely-related languages or in English.
Sólo en Antón Martín/ Hay más bares que en toda Noruega.
“Just in Antón Martín/ There are more bars than in all of Norway”. These verses are taken straight out Joaquin Sabina’s songbook, a Spanish songwriter. If you can understand them, you not only understand the language: you’re also beginning to get our culture. “Bares” are an essential part of Spanish daily life and, for future reference, Antón Martín is a popular spot in Madrid.