Let’s read through a Spanish article about coronavirus and pick up some new vocabulary
I hope everybody is safe and well and not struggling too much with the coronavirus situation. I thought I would take a topic you’re probably all sick of by now and turn it into something we can use to learn a bit more Spanish.
I’ve found a Spanish article on the BBC News Mundo website written by Laura Plitt entitled “Coronavirus: ¿qué le hace el covid-19 a tu cuerpo?”
It’s a very long article, so we’ll just go through the first few paragraphs and see what useful vocabulary or grammar points we can extract from it.
Firstly, here’s a link to the article so you can see it in full: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-51858185
We’re going to look at the first few paragraphs, and I find that if you’re a beginner in a language, it’s always best to read the article in English first, so that you know what it’s about. Secondly, you can read it all in Spanish and see how much you understand without overthinking it. Then, thirdly, go back and analyse it and pick out new words and phrases that you didn’t know before.
So, here’s the article in English:
Coronavirus: what does COVID-19 do to your body?
According to the WHO, 80% of those infected will develop mild symptoms, 14% severe symptoms and about 6% will suffer grave symptoms.With tens of thousands of people infected and thousands of deaths, COVID-19 has spread throughout the whole world.
Although there are still many doubts about this new virus that appeared for the first time in the central province of Hubei in China towards the end of 2019, it is estimated that the contagion happens when we inhale small droplets expelled through an infected person’s cough or sneeze.
Also, when we come into contact with an area contaminated with the virus.
We also know its symptoms: tiredness, fever and a dry cough are the main ones, but some patients may also have pain, nasal congestion, a sore throat and diarrhoea, according to the information page of the World Health Organisation.
But what does the coronavirus actually do to our body? How does it infect it? And what is our body like after overcoming the disease?
“The coronavirus is mainly a respiratory virus,” William Schaffner, professor of Preventative Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University in the United States, explains to BBC Mundo.
For this reason, it begins by infecting the throat.
When the virus enters our body — whether it be through the eyes, the mouth or the nose — it attaches itself to the cells of the mucosa at the bottom of the nose and throat,” says the expert.
Thanks to its lance-shaped proteins that stick out from the surface, the coronavirus can penetrate the membrane of these cells.
“And once inside the cell, like other viruses, it starts giving the order to produce more viruses.”
Here’s the original Spanish version of the same article:
Coronavirus: ¿qué le hace el covid-19 a tu cuerpo?
PARAGRAPH 1
Según la OMS, el 80% de los infectados desarrollará síntomas leves, el 14% síntomas severos y un 6% sufrirá síntomas graves.PARAGRAPH 2
Con decenas de miles de infectados y miles de muertos, el covid-19 se ha expandido por todo el mundo.PARAGRAPH 3
Aunque aún quedan muchas dudas sobre este nuevo virus que apareció por primera vez en la provincia central de Hubei en China hacia finales de 2019, se estima que el contagio se produce cuando aspiramos pequeñas gotas expulsadas a través de la tos o el estornudo de una persona infectada.PARAGRAPH 4
También cuando entramos en contacto con una superficie contaminada por el virus.PARAGRAPH 5
Conocemos también sus síntomas: cansancio, fiebre y tos seca son los principales, pero también algunos pacientes pueden tener dolores, congestión nasal, dolor de garganta y diarrea, según la página informativa de la Organización Mundial de la Salud.PARAGRAPH 6
¿Pero qué le hace exactamente el coronavirus a nuestro cuerpo? ¿Cómo lo infecta? ¿Y cómo queda nuestro organismo después de superar la enfermedad?PARAGRAPH 7
“El coronavirus es principalmente un virus respiratorio”, le explica a BBC Mundo William Schaffner, profesor de Medicina Preventiva y Enfermedades Infecciosas del Centro Médico de la Universidad Vanderbilt, en Estados Unidos.PARAGRAPH 8
Por esta razón, comienza infectando la garganta.PARAGRAPH 9
Cuando el virus entra en nuestro cuerpo -ya sea por los ojos, la boca o la nariz- “se sujeta a las células de la mucosa del fondo de la nariz y la garganta”, dice el experto.PARAGRAPH 10
Gracias a sus proteínas en forma de lanza que sobresalen de la superficie, el coronavirus puede penetrar la membrana de estas células.PARAGRAPH 11
“Y una vez dentro de la célula, al igual que los demás virus, comienza a darle la orden de producir más virus”.
Coronavirus: ¿qué le hace el covid-19 a tu cuerpo?
So, the title means “Coronavirus: what does COVID-19 do to your body?”
If we look at a literal translation, we can see how the Spanish word order in this sentence is different to the English.
Coronavirus: ¿qué le hace el covid-19 a tu cuerpo?
Coronavirus: what to it does the covid-19 to your body?
This is quite a tricky question for new learners to understand, because it’s all back-to-front and there is a little word “le” in there that is messing everything up.
If an English speaker were to write the sentence using English word order, it would probably look a little more like this:
Coronavirus: ¿qué el covid-19 hace a tu cuerpo?
Coronavirus: what does covid-19 do to your body?
The main difference is that the words “hace” and “el covid-19” have switched places. In Spanish, in a question, you’ll usually see the verb used before the subject. In English, most of the time, we put the subject in front of the verb, but we use the little word “does” to show it’s a question:
What does Carlos eat?
¿Qué come Carlos?
See how in Spanish, the word “does” doesn’t appear, but the subject comes after the verb.
Where does María live?
¿Dónde vive María?
Whom is Teresa calling?
¿A quién llama Teresa?
How much does the wine cost?
¿Cuánto cuesta el vino?
So, the question: “Qué hace el covid-19 a tu cuerpo?” means “What does COVID-19 do to your body?”
But what about the “le”?
The word “le” is an indirect object pronoun, and it can mean “to him”, “to her” and “to it”. In Spanish, it goes in front of a conjugated verb. In English, we would never have a sentence containing a noun and the object pronoun together.
For example, we would never say “I’m writing a letter to him to Pedro”; either you would say, “I’m writing a letter to him” or “I’m writing a letter to Pedro”. In Spanish, however, you can use the noun and the object pronoun together.
Le escribo una carta
I’m writing a letter to him
Escribo una carta a Pedro
I’m writing a letter to Pedro
Le escribo una carta a Pedro
I’m writing a letter to him to Pedro
In English, only the first two sentences are correct; in Spanish, all three sentences are fine. In fact, the third sentence is more commonly heard than the second sentence.
Here’s another example:
Luís ha mandado un regalo a María
Luís sent a present to María
Luís le ha mandado un regalo
Luís sent her a present
Luís le ha mandado un reglalo a María
Luís sent a present to her to María
So, once again, only the first two sentences are correct in English, whereas all three are perfectly fine in Spanish.
Let’s get back to the question in the title, then. I’ll split it up into the three versions like I did before:
Coronavirus: ¿qué hace el covid-19 a tu cuerpo?
Coronavirus: what does COVID-19 do to your body?Coronavirus: ¿qué le hace el covid-19?
Coronavirus: what does COVID-19 do to it?Coronavirus: ¿qué le hace el covid-19 a tu cuerpo?
Coronavirus: what does COVID-19 do to it to your body?
So, basically, the author could have easily left the “le” out of this question and it would have still made sense, but just note that you will see this “double object” phenomenon quite a lot in Spanish.
Phew! Let’s move on…
PARAGRAPH 1
Según la OMS, el 80% de los infectados desarrollará síntomas leves, el 14% síntomas severos y un 6% sufrirá síntomas graves.
This is quite a simple sentence to understand once you know the vocabulary. There are no tricky grammatical points like in the last sentence, so here’s a word-for-word translation:
Según la OMS, el 80% de los infectados desarrollará síntomas leves, el 14% síntomas severos y un 6% sufrirá síntomas graves.
According to the WHO, 80% of those infected will develop mild symptoms, 14% severe symptoms and 6% will suffer grave symptoms.
One thing to point out is how the Spanish use percentages. In Spanish, you always have to use the word “el” in front of a percentage. I learnt this the hard way when I wrote a Spanish essay at university that contained lots of percentages. I missed off the “el” on every single one of them and got marked down because of it! ☹ Not that I’m still bitter about it.
In this sentence, the last percentage actually has an “un” in front of it instead. If you put “un” in front of a percentage, it means “about ___%”
el 6% de la población — 6% of the population
un 6% de la población — about 6% of the population
The second thing to point out is simply the usage of the future tense. It’s useful to read a lot in Spanish, because it helps to reinforce the tenses and helps you to recognise them. The present tense verbs end in “rá” in Spanish:
desarrollará — will develop
sufrirá — will suffer
Here is some useful vocabulary from this sentence
según — according to
la OMS (la organización mundial de la salud) — the WHO (the world health organisation)
desarrollar — to develop
The word “desarrollar” is one word that I just could not remember when I was learning Spanish. I think I had to see and hear it on ten different occasions before it finally sank in. One thing that does help now, though, if I get a word that I just can’t remember, is either to break it down or to look at related words.
desarrollar — to develop
un desarrollo — a development
PARAGRAPH 2
The next sentence goes like this:
Con decenas de miles de infectados y miles de muertos, el covid-19 se ha expandido por todo el mundo.
Again, this isn’t too difficult of a sentence to understand once you know the vocabulary.
It means “With tens of thousands of people infected and thousands of deaths, COVID-19 has spread throughout the whole world”.
I can’t really think of anything to say about this sentence, so let’s move onto the next paragraph.
PARAGRAPH 3
This paragraph is one enormously long sentence, so let’s have a look:
Aunque aún quedan muchas dudas sobre este nuevo virus que apareció por primera vez en la provincia central de Hubei en China hacia finales de 2019, se estima que el contagio se produce cuando aspiramos pequeñas gotas expulsadas a través de la tos o el estornudo de una persona infectada.
Although there are still many doubts about this new virus that appeared for the first time in the central province of Hubei in China towards the end of 2019, it is estimated that the contagion happens when we inhale small droplets expelled through an infected person’s cough or sneeze.
The first thing we should look at is the use of the word “quedan”
If you look in a dictionary for the verb “quedar”, you’ll find a plethora of meanings, but one of them is “to remain” or “to be left”.
So, in the phrase “quedan muchas dudas”, it literally means “many doubts remain”. However, it might be better just to translate it as “there are many doubts”. The word “aún”, which means “still” makes it “there are still many doubts”.
You might be familiar with the word “hay” meaning “there is” or “there are”, but did you know that you can use “quedan” instead of “hay” if you mean “there are… left”?
hay tres galletas aquí — there are three biscuits here
quedan tres galletas aquí — there are three biscuits left here
hay muchas sillas — there are lots of chairs
quedan muchas sillas — there are lots of chairs left
There’s just one thing to point out. If the thing that is left is singular, then you should say “queda” instead of “quedan”.
hay una tarta — there’s one cake
queda una tarta — there’s one cake left
Let’s look at some of the useful vocabulary we can take from this paragraph:
aunque — although
aún — still
una duda — a doubt
por primera vez — for the first time
hacia — towards
a través de — through / via / across
A good way to learn new vocabulary is to write some practice sentences. Let’s have a look at some practice sentences with the phrase “a través de”:
vamos a volver a través de Francia — we’re going to come back through France
el río fluye a través de la ciudad — the river flows through the city
la sangre circula a través de las venas — the blood circulates through the veins
PARAGRAPH 4
The next sentence is:
También cuando entramos en contacto con una superficie contaminada por el virus.
Also, when we come into contact with a surface contaminated by the virus.
This sentence contains a useful phrase “entrar en contacto con…”, which means “to come into contact with”. The verb “entrar” literally means “to enter”, so the literal translation of the phrase in Spanish is “to enter in contact with”. You can use “en contacto con” with other verbs too.
estoy en contacto con él — I’m in contact with him
debo ponerme en contacto con Sofía — I must get in contact (get in touch) with Sofía
PARAGRAPHS 5, 6 & 7
The next couple of paragraphs are pretty straightforward; they simply have lots of health related vocabulary:
Conocemos también sus síntomas: cansancio, fiebre y tos seca son los principales, pero también algunos pacientes pueden tener dolores, congestión nasal, dolor de garganta y diarrea, según la página informativa de la Organización Mundial de la Salud.
We also know its symptoms: tiredness, fever and a dry cough are the main ones, but some patients may also have pain, nasal congestion, a sore throat and diarrhoea, according to the information page of the World Health Organisation.¿Pero qué le hace exactamente el coronavirus a nuestro cuerpo? ¿Cómo lo infecta? ¿Y cómo queda nuestro organismo después de superar la enfermedad?
But what does the coronavirus actually do to our body? How does it infect it? And what is our body like after overcoming the disease?
We can see that little “le” used again in the first question of this paragraph; we know what that means now.
In the next question, however, we have a different object pronoun, “lo”.
The word “lo” means “it”, so the question “¿Cómo lo infecta?” means “How does it infect it?” and the “it” or “lo” is referring to “nuestro cuerpo”, meaning “our body”, which was mentioned in the previous question.
“El coronavirus es principalmente un virus respiratorio”, le explica a BBC Mundo William Schaffner, profesor de Medicina Preventiva y Enfermedades Infecciosas del Centro Médico de la Universidad Vanderbilt, en Estados Unidos.
“The coronavirus is mainly a respiratory virus,” William Schaffner, professor of Preventative Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University in the United States, explains to BBC Mundo.
PARAGRAPH 8
The final few paragraphs
Por esta razón, comienza infectando la garganta.
For this reason, it begins by infecting the throat.
This sentence has a useful structure: “comenzar + gerund”. The gerund is the form of the verb that ends in “ando” or “iendo”. It’s sort of like the equivalent to English verbs that end in “ing”.
You can use the gerund after “comenzar” to means “start by -ing”
Pablo comienza haciendo lo más importante — Pablo is starting by doing the most important things
voy a comenzar llamando a María — I’m going to start by calling María
comenzamos lavando las verduras — we’re starting by washing the vegetables
PARAGRAPH 9
Cuando el virus entra en nuestro cuerpo -ya sea por los ojos, la boca o la nariz- “se sujeta a las células de la mucosa del fondo de la nariz y la garganta”, dice el experto.
When the virus enters our body — whether it be through the eyes, the mouth or the nose — it attaches itself to the cells of the mucosa at the bottom of the nose and throat,” says the expert.
The phrase “ya sea” is a useful one meaning “whether it be” or “either”.
a Carlos, no le gusta ningún perro, ya sea pequeño o grande — Carlos doesn’t like any dog, whether it be big or small
sé que es ya sea Tom o María — I know it’s either Tom or María
están ahora ya sea en Kyoto o en Osaka — they’re now either in Kyoto or in Osaka
ya sea de noche o de día, siempre estoy pensando en este problema — whether it be night or day, I’m always thinking about this problem
PARAGRAPH 10 & 11
Gracias a sus proteínas en forma de lanza que sobresalen de la superficie, el coronavirus puede penetrar la membrana de estas células.
Thanks to its lance-shaped proteins that stick out from the surface, the coronavirus can penetrate the membrane of these cells.“Y una vez dentro de la célula, al igual que los demás virus, comienza a darle la orden de producir más virus”.
“And once inside the cell, just like other viruses, it starts to give the order to produce more viruses.”
There are two nice phrases in this sentence. The first is “al igual que”, which means “just like” or “the same as”.
hoy hace bueno, al igual que hará mañana — today it’s nice weather, just like it will be tomorrow
él no es alto, al igual que yo — he isn’t tall, the same as me
yo, al igual que ella, no estoy convencido — I, just like she, am not convinced
And finally, the last nice phrase to look at is “los demás”
The word “demás” means “rest” or “others”.
alcancé a los demás — I caught up with the others
los demás estudiantes rieron — the rest of the students laughed
¿Dónde están los demás? — Where are the others?
Phew! That took a long time, but hopefully you’ve learnt some useful new phrases and structures.
If you need any further clarification on anything, or if you read the rest of the article and don’t quite understand it, let me know in the comments and I’ll reply as soon as I can.
Happy learning,
Gracias 😊
Kieran
Психолог онлайн. Консультация Психолога
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