A1StoryTravel1 min

Un día en Madrid

Lena’s first day in Madrid: a small hotel, a square in the sun and dinner with someone she has just met.

A short story in the present tense. Watch ser and estar: the hotel es small (what it is like), but it está near a square (where it is).

Lena es de Berlín. Tiene veinte años. Hoy está en Madrid por primera vez.

Su hotel es pequeño, pero bonito. Está en una calle estrecha, cerca de una plaza grande.

Por la mañana, Lena va a un museo. Por la tarde, bebe un café en la plaza. Hace sol y mucho calor.

Por la noche, cena con una chica del hotel. Se llama Marta y es de Valencia. Comen pescado y pan. Marta habla despacio, y Lena entiende casi todo.

More sentences on this in “Language in use”: Spanish for travelling

Words: 80
Sentences: 12
Words per sentence: 6.7
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.

es pequeño · es de Valencia
ser says who or what someone or something is like: su hotel es pequeño, es de Valencia. ser — what something is →
está en Madrid · Está en una calle
estar says where something is: está en Madrid, está en una calle estrecha. estar — where and how something is →
bebe · cena · Comen
Regular verbs in the present: cena (-ar), bebe, comen (-er). Present tense: regular verbs →

The words from A1 up in this text

Not the hard words in general, but those at your level: 30 of the 33 of the 51 words in this text are at A1 or above. You will know everything else by the time you get here.

beber
to drink
A1
bonito
pretty, nice
A1
cerca
near
A1
comer
to eat
A1
despacio
slowly
A1
el año
the year
A1
el café
coffee
A1
el calor
the heat
A1
el hotel
the hotel
A1
el museo
the museum
A1
el pan
bread
A1
el pescado
fish (as food)
A1
el sol
the sun
A1
entender
to understand
A1
estrecho
narrow
A1
grande
big
A1
hablar
to speak
A1
hacer
to do, to make
A1
hoy
today
A1
ir
to go
A1
la calle
the street
A1
la cena
dinner, supper
A1
la chica
the girl, young woman
A1
la noche
the night, the evening
A1
la plaza
the square
A1
la vez
the time (occasion)
A1
llamar
to call
A1
mañana
tomorrow; the morning
A1
pequeño
small
A1
primero
first
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 7 The most important verbs 5 The town and finding your way 5 Food and drink 4 Person and family 3 Irregular verbs 3 Colours and qualities 2 Everyday words A1 1 Qualities and relations 1 Words for facts and things 1 Weather and seasons 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. ¿Cómo es el hotel de Lena?

2. ¿Qué hace Lena por la tarde?

3. ¿De dónde es Marta?