B2 · Unit 19 · 42 words, 3 texts with translation
Report an insurance claim
Call the insurance company after a water leak at home: explain what happened, say when it happened and describe the damage.
Texts in this unit
Grammar in this unit
Conditional as a guess about the past: serían las tres, debió de reventar
You already know from unit 2 that the future tense can make a guess about the present: serán las diez — it's probably about ten. You learned the conditional forms (sería, tendría) in B1, unit 4. Now it's the same kind of guess, but about the past.
Why you need it. The insurance company, a doctor or the police ask: "What time was it?", "How old was this person?" You don't know exactly, but you can estimate. For this kind of guess Spanish uses the conditional, and you don't need a word for "probably": the verb form already carries it. In English you add probably, about or I wonder.
| I know for sure | I'm guessing | |
|---|---|---|
| now | Son las tres. (It's three.) | Serán las tres. — It's probably about three. |
| then | Eran las tres. (It was three.) | Serían las tres. — It was probably about three. |
- Serían las tres cuando oí el ruido. — It was probably about three when I heard the noise.
- El chico tendría unos treinta años. — The guy was probably about thirty.
- No me contestó: estaría dormido. — He didn't answer me: he was probably asleep.
- ¿Quién llamaría anoche a esas horas? — Who could have been calling at that hour last night?
Don't read it as "would". It's the same form as in yo que tú iría (if I were you, I'd go). Look at the context: if it's a story about the past (cuando oí, anoche) and there's no condition, it's a guess, not "would".
Debió de + infinitive — "must have done": a conclusion from clues you can see. It's the past of deber de (unit 2). It's always followed by an infinitive, and deber shows the person: debí de, debiste de, debió de, debieron de. English works the same way: "must have" + a verb that doesn't change.
- La tubería debió de reventar de madrugada. — The pipe must have burst in the early hours of the morning.
- Debiste de pasar mucho miedo. — You must have been really scared.
The difference is small: the conditional is a rough estimate (the time, someone's age, what someone was doing); debió de is a conclusion about what happened, based on what you can see.
A common mistake is to read serían las tres as "it would be three o'clock", or to put a past tense after debió de: not ✗ debió de reventó, but debió de reventar.
Telling what happened: a eso de, en ese momento, al cabo de, resulta que, al parecer
The insurance company, the police or your boss all ask for the same thing: tell us what happened, in order. You already know primero, luego, al final (B1, unit 8). Here are five expressions that place an event in time and separate what you saw yourself from what you're judging by the clues.
| Expression | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
a eso de + time | "around": a rough time | A eso de las tres me despertó un ruido. — Around three, a noise woke me up. |
en ese momento | "at that moment": the main thing happens | En ese momento se fue la luz. — At that moment the power went out. |
al cabo de + period of time | "... later", "after" | Al cabo de una hora llegó el fontanero. — An hour later, the plumber arrived. |
resulta que | "it turns out (that)", "the thing is" | Resulta que la tubería era muy vieja. — It turns out the pipe was very old. |
al parecer | "apparently": you didn't see it yourself | Al parecer, el agua llegó al segundo piso. — Apparently, the water reached the second floor. |
Which verb form comes after them. All five introduce things that really happened, so the verb is in the normal form (indicative), not the subjunctive: resulta que era, al parecer llegó.
Al cabo de or dentro de. In English one of them is "in an hour" and the other is "an hour later". Dentro de looks from now into the future, like "in an hour". Al cabo de lives inside a story about the past, like "an hour later".
- Vuelvo dentro de una hora — I'll be back in an hour.
- Volvió al cabo de una hora — He came back an hour later.
A common mistake: ✗ volvió dentro de una hora.
Al parecer takes the responsibility off you. In an official conversation it's an honest way to say "that's what I understood, but I can't promise it's true". Compare:
- You saw it yourself: El agua llegó a la lámpara — The water reached the light fixture.
- The neighbor told you: Al parecer, el agua llegó a la lámpara — Apparently, the water reached the light fixture.
Words in this unit
seguro de hogar — home insurance
Tengo un seguro de hogar desde hace tres años. — I've had home insurance for three years.
la póliza — insurance policy
Tengo la póliza en el cajón. — I have the policy in the drawer.
la aseguradora — insurance company, insurer
Voy a llamar a la aseguradora. — I'm going to call the insurance company.
el siniestro — insured loss, claim
El siniestro fue el lunes por la noche. — The loss occurred on Monday night.
dar parte — to report (to the insurance company, the police)
Hay que dar parte al seguro hoy mismo. — It has to be reported to the insurance company today.
cubrir — to cover
El seguro cubre los daños por agua. — The insurance covers water damage.
la indemnización — compensation, insurance payout
La indemnización llega en un mes. — The compensation arrives in a month.
la tubería — pipe, plumbing
La tubería del baño está vieja. — The bathroom pipe is old.
reventar — to burst
Ha reventado una tubería en el baño. — A pipe has burst in the bathroom.
inundar — to flood
El agua inundó el baño y la cocina. — The water flooded the bathroom and the kitchen.
la inundación — flood, flooding
Tuvimos una inundación en casa. — We had a flood at home.
llave de paso — shutoff valve
Cierra la llave de paso, rápido. — Close the shutoff valve, quick.
el chorro — stream, jet (of water)
Salía un chorro de agua del techo. — A stream of water was coming out of the ceiling.
la fregona — mop
Pasa la fregona por el pasillo. — Run the mop over the hallway.
secar — to dry, to dry off
Seca el suelo con la fregona. — Dry the floor with the mop.
el/la perito — insurance adjuster, assessor
El perito viene mañana a las diez. — The adjuster is coming tomorrow at ten.
la franquicia — deductible
Mi póliza tiene una franquicia de cien euros. — My policy has a deductible of one hundred euros.
describir — to describe
¿Puede describir lo que pasó, por favor? — Can you describe what happened, please? (formal)
el relato — account, story (of events)
Escribe el relato de lo que pasó. — Write the account of what happened.
la referencia — reference number, reference
Apunte la referencia del siniestro. — Write down the reference number for the claim (formal).
al parecer — apparently
Al parecer, se rompió una tubería. — Apparently, a pipe broke.
a eso de — around, at about (a time)
Llegué a eso de las diez. — I arrived around ten.
al cabo de — after, ... later
Al cabo de una hora llegó el fontanero. — An hour later, the plumber arrived.
aproximadamente — approximately
El arreglo cuesta aproximadamente mil euros. — The repair costs approximately a thousand euros.
reaccionar — to react
Reaccioné rápido y cerré la llave. — I reacted quickly and closed the valve.
el pánico — panic
Me entró pánico al ver el agua. — I panicked when I saw the water.
leve — minor, slight
Fue un golpe leve. — It was a minor bump.
el hueso — bone
Me duele el hueso del tobillo. — My ankle bone hurts.
torcer — to twist, to turn
Me torcí el tobillo en la escalera mojada. — I twisted my ankle on the wet stairs.
el moratón — bruise
Tengo un moratón enorme en la pierna. — I have a huge bruise on my leg.
la escayola — cast (on a broken arm or leg)
Llevo una escayola en la pierna. — I have a cast on my leg.
la fractura — fracture
Tiene una fractura en la muñeca. — She has a fracture in her wrist.
desmayarse — to faint
Mi vecina se desmayó al ver el agua. — My neighbor fainted when she saw the water.
inconsciente — unconscious
Encontraron a un hombre inconsciente en la calle. — They found a man unconscious in the street.
desnudo — naked, bare
Estaba medio desnudo cuando llamaron a la puerta. — He was half-naked when someone knocked on the door.
el parqué — parquet, wood floor
El agua estropeó el parqué. — The water ruined the parquet floor.
el cortocircuito — short circuit
El agua provocó un cortocircuito. — The water caused a short circuit.
la filtración — leak, seepage
Tenemos una filtración en el techo. — We have a leak in the ceiling.
la valoración — assessment (of damage)
La valoración de los daños llega mañana. — The damage assessment arrives tomorrow.
el incidente — incident
Fue solo un incidente sin importancia. — It was just a minor incident.
el socorro — help (in an emergency)
¡Socorro! ¡Hay agua por todas partes! — Help! There's water everywhere!
el don — don, doña (title before a first name)
Don Manuel vive en el piso de arriba. — Don Manuel lives in the apartment upstairs.
Learn these words with flashcards
In the app, the unit’s words come to your flashcards a few at a time and repeat until they stick, and the texts show them in use. 15 minutes a day.
Start for freeEverything is open for free. No card needed to sign up.