Spanish dialogue with translation · B1 · 14 lines
Tenemos piano y no hemos subido ni un peldaño We have a piano and we haven't climbed a single step
Comic · 14 panels
- Sergio
Buenas tardes, Ramón. He visto su cartel en el portal. ¿De verdad vende el piano por solo cien euros?
Good afternoon, Ramón. I saw your sign in the building entrance. Are you really selling the piano for only a hundred euros? (formal)
- Ramón
De verdad. Es un buen piano, pero lleva años en el garaje y mi mujer quiere guardar allí el coche.
Really. It's a good piano, but it's been in the garage for years, and my wife wants to keep the car there.
- Sergio
¡Es una ganga, Lucía! Siempre he querido aprender a tocar el piano.
It's a bargain, Lucía! I've always wanted to learn to play the piano.
- Lucía
Sergio, vivimos en un tercero sin ascensor. ¿Cómo lo subimos?
Sergio, we live on a third floor with no elevator. How do we get it up there?
- Ramón
Eso es cosa vuestra. El piano pesa doscientos kilos y yo tengo mala espalda.
That's your business. The piano weighs two hundred kilos, and I have a bad back (to several people).
- Sergio
Con cuatro amigos, seguro que podemos.
With four friends, I'm sure we can do it.
- Lucía
¿Cuatro amigos? A Pablo le dolió el dedo una semana por un colchón.
Four friends? Pablo's finger hurt for a week because of a mattress.
- Sergio
Entonces, ¿me lo dejaría en cincuenta, Ramón?
Then would you let me have it for fifty, Ramón? (formal)
- Lucía
Sergio, el problema no es el precio. El problema es la escalera.
Sergio, the problem isn't the price. The problem is the stairs.
- Ramón
Mirad, tengo una idea: quito el cartel y me quedo con el piano.
Look, I have an idea: I'll take down the sign and keep the piano (to several people).
- Ramón
Yo lo toco por las noches y vosotros me escucháis desde el tercero. Sin pagar un euro.
I play it at night, and you listen to me from the third floor. Without paying a single euro (to several people).
- Sergio
¡Hecho! Tenemos piano y no hemos subido ni un peldaño.
Deal! We have a piano and we haven't climbed a single step.
- Lucía
Bueno, pero hasta las diez, ¿vale?
OK, but until ten, all right?
- Ramón
Hasta las diez, lo prometo. Solo me faltaba público.
Until ten, I promise. All I was missing was an audience.
Grammar for this text
The joke: the haggling misses the point. Sergio asks for a discount (¿me lo dejaría en cincuenta, Ramón?), even though the price isn't the problem, and Lucía says so directly: el problema no es el precio. More about haggling in the unit grammar.
Tricky spots. Eso es cosa vuestra — That's your business (to several people). Word for word it's "that's your thing"; vuestra is "your" when you talk to both of you. A Pablo le dolió el dedo una semana por un colchón — doler works like gustar: the finger is the subject (it hurts), and the person it hurts gets le. Pablo's mattress and finger are from unit 12. Solo me faltaba público — faltar, "to be missing": the thing that's missing is the subject, and the person who's missing it gets me or le. That makes the joke: the piano player was only missing an audience.
A command to two people. Mirad, tengo una idea — mirad comes from mirar: the final -r becomes -d. That's how you speak to two friends (vosotros). Quito el cartel — I'll take down the sign (quitar).
Colloquial. Es una ganga — It's a bargain; ¡Hecho! — Deal!; Lleva años en el garaje — It's been in the garage for years (llevar + time: how long something has gone on).
Words and grammar of the unit: Buy and sell secondhand things.
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