Los electrodomésticos
Un electrodoméstico is any household appliance: la lavadora, el frigorífico, el lavavajillas, la plancha, el ventilador. El lavavajillas is the same in the plural (los lavavajillas), and in Spain it also names the dishwashing liquid.
When a machine breaks down
Estropear is to ruin something. Estropearse is what a machine does when it stops working, and afterwards it está estropeado.
Tender la ropa
Tender is to hang out the laundry. Many people in Spain dry their clothes on a line — on the balcony or in an inner courtyard — rather than in a dryer. It changes e → ie like querer: tiendo, subjunctive tienda, but tendamos, tendáis.
La plancha and el techo
La plancha is the iron; on a menu, a la plancha means cooked on a hot metal plate. Inside, el techo is the ceiling; the tiled roof is el tejado. La chimenea is both the fireplace and the chimney.
Pedir que, recomendar que
When you ask or advise someone else to do something, the second verb is in the subjunctive: the present subjunctive when the asking verb is in the present (me pide que guarde), the imperfect subjunctive after a past one (me pidió que guardara):
| request | infinitive → subjunctive |
|---|
| Mi padre me pide que guarde la plancha. | guardar → guarde |
| Te recomiendo que limpies la chimenea. | limpiar → limpies |
| Mi abuela pide que apaguemos el ventilador. | apagar → apaguemos |
