Spanish story with translation · A1 · 11 lines
Cómo ir a mi casa How to get to my place
Comic · 8 panels
Hola, Lucía. ¿Vienes hoy a mi casa?
Hi, Lucía. Are you coming to my place today?
Mi casa está en el centro de la ciudad, cerca de la plaza.
My place is in the city center, near the square.
Si vienes al centro, sigue recto por la calle Mayor.
If you come downtown, go straight along Calle Mayor.
En el primer semáforo gira a la derecha, y en el segundo, a la izquierda.
At the first traffic light, turn right, and at the second, left.
Cruza el parque y encuentras la plaza con la iglesia.
Cross the park and you'll find the square with the church.
Mi casa está en la esquina, al lado del banco.
My place is on the corner, next to the bank.
Si no encuentras la calle, puedes buscar el lugar en el mapa del móvil.
If you can't find the street, you can look for the place on the map on your phone.
O llama a Pablo: él ya conoce bien el barrio.
Or call Pablo: he already knows the neighborhood well.
Después vamos al museo y también a un restaurante.
Then we're going to the museum and also to a restaurant.
Pablo sabe que el museo está cerca. Tenemos que estar allí a las cinco.
Pablo knows the museum is close. We have to be there at five.
¡Hasta luego, Lucía!
See you later, Lucía!
Grammar for this text
Directions to a friend (tú). To give a friend directions, use the tú command: sigue recto, gira a la derecha, llama a Pablo (go straight, turn right, call Pablo). The tú command looks just like the "he/she" form of the present: seguir → sigue, girar → gira, llamar → llama. More on this at A2 (unit 6). In Cruza el parque y encuentras la plaza you can see the difference: cruza asks the listener to do something ("cross"), while encuentras (with -s) is the normal present: "you find", "you come to the square".
Al centro, al museo: where to. Si vienes al centro, vamos al museo: a + el = al. Vamos means "we're going", a form of the irregular verb ir. Después vamos al museo talks about a plan in the present tense, just like English "Then we're going to the museum".
¿Vienes…? ¿Vienes hoy a mi casa? — "Are you coming to my place today?": vienes is a form of venir, "to come" (to where the speaker is).
El primer semáforo, en el segundo. Before a masculine noun, primero drops the -o: primer. In y en el segundo, a la izquierda, words that were already said are left out: "and at the second (traffic light, turn) left". English does the same.
Puedes buscar, tenemos que estar. Puedes + infinitive means "you can": "you can look". In puedes (poder) and encuentras (encontrar) the stem changes o → ue. Tener que + infinitive means "to have to": Tenemos que estar allí a las cinco (We have to be there at five).
Conoce and sabe. Él ya conoce bien el barrio — to know a place, to be familiar with it, is conocer. Pablo sabe que el museo está cerca — to know a fact ("knows that…") is saber.
Words and grammar of the unit: Ask for directions in the city.
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