Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

Spanish (Spain)

### What is it about?

To ask what a movie, a book or a program is about, Spanish uses **{{item:1252692}} de**: *¿De qué trata?* The answer keeps the same verb and puts the topic after **de**.

{{item:1252693}}

{{item:1252695}}

In conversation in Spain you will also hear *¿De qué va?* (*Va de una familia rica*).

You already know **tratar de** + an infinitive, *to try to* (*Trato de dormir*). The word after **de** usually tells them apart: an infinitive means *try*, a noun means *be about*.

### Words you know, new meanings

| word | you know | new here |
|---|---|---|
| **{{item:1252696}}** | the paper | the role, the part |
| **{{item:1252699}}** | the play | the work (of art, of a writer) |
| **{{item:1252711}}** | the sky | heaven |
| **{{item:1252707}}** | — | the clue, the hint |
| **{{item:1252704}}** | — | the action |

### Roles and works

In a play or a movie, **el papel** is the part an actor has, and **hacer el papel de** is to play someone:

{{item:1252700}}

Here **la obra** is still the play. With a painter, a writer or a composer, it is usually one of their works:

{{item:1252702}}

**Una obra de arte** is a work of art, and people say it about a good cake too.

### Clues and heaven

**La pista** is what helps you find an answer, in a crime story or in a quiz:

{{item:1252708}}

**El cielo** is the sky above you, and heaven in a belief or a story. With *ir al cielo* or *estar en el cielo* about a person, it usually means heaven:

{{item:1252714}}

Plots, roles and works of art (tratar, el papel, la obra)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular subjects and 'ser' (yo soy, esto es)

Plural nouns and definite articles (los, las)

Plural pronouns and 'ser' (somos, sois, son)

Adjective agreement (-o, -a, -os, -as)

Indefinite articles (un, una, unos, unas)

Simple negation (no)

Yes/no questions

Regular '-ar' verbs (-o, -as, -a...)

Regular '-er' verbs (-o, -es, -e...)

Regular '-ir' verbs (-o, -es, -e...)

Locative adverbs (aquí, allí)

Question words (quién, cómo)

The verb estar (estoy, estás)

The preposition en (en)

Ser vs. estar

The verb tener (tengo, tienes)

Possessive determiners (mi, tu, su)

Origin and possession (de, del)

The verb ir (voy, vas)

Destination (a, al)

The personal 'a' (a)

Stem-changing verbs: e to ie

Stem-changing verbs: o to ue

Irregular first-person verbs

Reflexive verbs (me, te, se)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, dos, tres)

Numbers 11 to 20 (once, doce, trece)

Counting by tens to 100 (treinta, cuarenta, cien)

Compound numbers up to 99 (veintiuno, treinta y uno)

Days of the week (el lunes, el martes)

The family and the personal 'a' (a mi tío, a mi prima)

Months of the year

Telling time (es la, son las)

Verbs of liking (me gusta)

Plural agreement with verbs of liking (gustan)

Degree modifiers (muy, mucho)

Formal address (usted, ustedes)

Direct object pronouns (lo, la, los, las)

The near future (ir a)

Obligation (tener que)

Present continuous (-ando, -iendo)

Affirmative commands (tú, vosotros)

Basic Food and Drink

The Human Body: Head and Arms

The Human Body: Legs and Health

Wardrobe Essentials

Fresh Produce

Meals and Proteins

Public Transport

Hello and goodbye (hola, ¿qué tal?)

Thank you, sorry, OK (gracias, vale)

There is, there are (hay)

My building (la escalera, el ascensor)

Describing people (moreno, rubio, tímido)

Land and sea (el mar, el río, el norte)

Sightseeing (la plaza, la catedral)

Asking the way (cerca, a la derecha, todo recto)

In class (¿puedes repetir?)

Verb + infinitive (quiero comer, sé leer)

What's your name? (me llamo, encantado)

Phone, computer and email

Hundreds and thousands (doscientos, mil)

What do you do? (¿a qué te dedicas?)

Personal details (la edad, la fecha de nacimiento)

Me neither (también, tampoco, ni)

How much is it? (el precio, la vuelta)

What's the weather like? (hace sol, nieva)

Free time (el concierto, el tenis)

At the bar (¿qué vas a tomar?)

The Natural World

Demonstratives (este, ese, aquel)

Prepositions of place (encima de, debajo de)

Prepositional pronouns (para mí, contigo)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primero to décimo)

Adverbs of frequency (a veces, nunca)

Exclamations (¡qué...!)

Indefinite pronouns (algo, alguien)

Indefinite determiners (algún, ningún)

Indirect object pronouns (le, les)

Double object pronouns (me lo, te la)

Double object pronouns (se lo, se la)

Verbs of preference (encantar, interesar)

Impersonal obligation (hay que)

Starting and finishing actions (empezar a, terminar de)

Adjective comparatives (más que, menos que)

Comparatives of equality (tan como)

Noun comparatives (tanto como)

Question	Answer
to be about, to deal with (a book, a film)	tratar
What is the movie about?	¿De qué trata la película?
The novel is about a very rich family.	La novela trata de una familia muy rica.
The book is about the war.	El libro trata de la guerra.
the role, the part (in a film, in society)	el papel
The actress plays the role of the queen.	La actriz hace el papel de la reina.
Grandparents have an important role in the family.	Los abuelos tienen un papel importante en la familia.
the work (of art, literature, music)	la obra
My brother has a small part in the play.	Mi hermano tiene un papel pequeño en la obra.
This painting is the most famous work in the museum.	Este cuadro es la obra más famosa del museo.
I have read all the works of that author.	He leído todas las obras de ese autor.
This cake is a work of art!	¡Esta tarta es una obra de arte!
the action	la acción
I love action movies.	Me encantan las películas de acción.
This novel has a lot of action and little love.	Esta novela tiene mucha acción y poco amor.
the clue, the hint	la pista
The police have found a clue.	La policía ha encontrado una pista.
I don't know the answer. Will you give me a hint?	No sé la respuesta. ¿Me das una pista?
Each chapter of the novel has a clue.	Cada capítulo de la novela tiene una pista.
heaven	el cielo
In the movie, the father dies and goes to heaven.	En la película, el padre muere y va al cielo.
My grandmother believes that Grandpa is in heaven.	Mi abuela cree que el abuelo está en el cielo.
Do you believe in heaven?	¿Crees en el cielo?

Contributors