A1StoryEveryday life1 min

La nueva vecina

A new neighbour rings the bell because she is missing something — and stays for coffee.

An everyday story. Watch the questions in direct speech: a Spanish question starts with ¿ and ends with ?.

Son las cinco de la tarde. Alguien llama a la puerta de Carlos.

Es una mujer joven. «Hola, soy Inés. Vivo en el piso de al lado. ¿Tienes un poco de azúcar?»

Carlos tiene azúcar. También tiene café. «¿Quieres un café?», pregunta. Inés dice que sí.

Hablan una hora. Inés trabaja en una farmacia. Carlos trabaja en un banco. Los dos viven solos.

A las seis, Inés vuelve a su piso con el azúcar. Ahora Carlos tiene una vecina simpática.

Words: 80
Sentences: 17
Words per sentence: 4.7
in the vocabulary: 100 %
measured level: A1
Reading time: 1 min

Grammar in this text

These forms appear in the text in real use. Switch on “Show grammar” above the text to highlight them.

¿Tienes un poco de azúcar? · ¿Quieres un café?
A yes/no question has the same word order as a statement; only the marks ¿ … ? and the voice show it is a question: ¿Tienes un poco de azúcar? Yes-no questions →
tienes · tiene azúcar
tener is irregular: tienes, tiene. The irregular verbs →

The words from A1 up in this text

Not the hard words in general, but those at your level: all 27 of the 50 words in this text are at A1 or above. You will know everything else by the time you get here.

cinco
five
A1
decir
to say, to tell
A1
dos
two
A1
el azúcar
sugar
A1
el banco
the bank
A1
el café
coffee
A1
el lado
the side
A1
el piso
the flat; the floor
A1
el vecino
the neighbour
A1
hablar
to speak
A1
hola
hello
A1
joven
young
A1
la farmacia
the chemist's
A1
la hora
the hour, the time
A1
la mujer
the woman; the wife
A1
la pregunta
the question
A1
la puerta
the door
A1
llamar
to call
A1
querer
to want; to love
A1
seis
six
A1
simpático
nice, likeable
A1
solo
only; alone
A1
tarde
late; the afternoon
A1
tener
to have
A1
trabajar
to work
A1
vivir
to live
A1
volver
to come back, to go back
A1

The word lists for this text

The words in this text appear in 11 lists on this site; the number after each says how many come from that list. Having read the text, you have just needed these very words — and can practise exactly them.

Numbers and time 5 The most important verbs 4 Person and family 4 Irregular verbs 4 Food and drink 2 The town and finding your way 2 Living and the household 2 Everyday words A1 1 Greetings and politeness 1 The body and health 1 School and learning 1

Comprehension questions

3 questions on the text. With each answer the sentence it comes from appears — a question whose answer you cannot find in the text tests nothing.

1. ¿Qué necesita Inés?

2. ¿Dónde trabaja Inés?

3. ¿Cuánto tiempo hablan?