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Adjectives with Pablo Neruda Posted by on Jun 6, 2011 in Spanish Culture, Spanish Vocabulary

Pablo Neruda (07/12/1904 – 09/23/1973) was born in Parral, Chile and died in Santiago de Chile. His real name was Ricardo Neftalí Reyes Basoalto. Besides being a poet, he was also a translator and a diplomat. He won the Literature Nobel Prize in 1971 and his writings greatly influenced Latin American literature.

Today we’re going to learn some adjectives using Neruda’s text Autorretrato (Self-portrait). The adjectives are translated in parentheses and you need to have a fairly good command of Spanish to grasp the beautiful meaning of this piece of writing. Enjoy!

Autorretrato – Pablo Neruda

Por mi parte, soy o creo ser duro (hard) de nariz, mínimo (minimum) de ojos, escaso (scarce) de pelos en la cabeza, creciente (protruding) de abdomen, largo (long) de piernas, ancho (wide) de suelas, amarillo (yellow) de tez, generoso (generous) de amores, imposible (impossible) de cálculos, confuso (confused) de palabras, tierno (soft) de manos, lento (slow) de andar, inoxidable (stainless) de corazón, aficionado (fan) a las estrellas, mareas, maremotos, administrador (manager) de escarabajos, caminante (walker) de arenas, torpe (stupid) de instituciones, chileno (Chilean) a perpetuidad, amigo (friendly) de mis amigos, mudo (mute) de enemigos, entrometido (intruder) entre pájaros, mal educado (impolite) en casa, tímido (shy) en los salones, arrepentido (regretful) sin objeto, horrendo (hideous) administrador, navegante (traveler) de boca, y yerbatero (medicine man) de la tinta, discreto (discreet) entre los animales, afortunado (fortunate) de nubarrones, investigador (investigator) en mercados, oscuro (dark) en las bibliotecas, melancólico (gloomy) en las cordilleras, incansable (tireless) en los bosques, lentísimo (really slow) de contestaciones, ocurrente (witty) años después, vulgar (vulgar) durante todo el año, resplandeciente (gleaming) con mi cuaderno, monumental (monumental) de apetito, tigre (tiger-like) para dormir, sosegado (calm) en la alegría, inspector (inspector) del cielo nocturno, trabajador (worker) invisible, desordenado (untidy), persistente (persistent), valiente (brave) por necesidad, cobarde (coward) sin pecado, soñoliento (sleepy) de vocación, amable (likeable) de mujeres, activo (active) por padecimiento, poeta (poet) por maldición y tonto (silly) de capirote.

(NERUDA, Pablo. Antología fundamental. 5. ed., Chile, Pehuén, 1996, p. 27-28)

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About the Author: Adir

English / Spanish teacher and translator for over 20 years. I have been blogging since 2007 and I am also a professional singer in my spare time.


Comments:

  1. Andreas:

    ¡Hola, Adir!
    ¡Qué método placentero e interesante de enriquecer el vocabulario!
    Andreas

  2. Adir Ferreira:

    Gracias, Andres. Me encanta ese texto para trabajar con los adjetivos. Qué bueno que visitaste nuestro sitio!