In this lesson of our English Spanish Parallel Texts course and we are going to practice more with comparing in Spanish, but this time using irregular Spanish comparatives. Start by reading the text in Spanish below. The English translation is provided later but please try not to look at it until you have read the Spanish version various times and tried your best to understand it.

There may be some words and phrases in the text that you are unfamiliar with, but you should be aiming to capture the main essence of what is happening. There will always be words and phrases popping up in real-life situations that you have never heard before, so it is important never to get too distracted by details.

If you want to investigate some of the words you don’t know with a dictionary that would be great, please do, but do this after trying your best to understand with what you already have in your head.

Check out this video lesson with information relevant to this topic:

Comparing in Spanish

Image by M W from Pixabay

Spanish Text

José: Para mí es mucho mejor vivir en España que en Inglaterra. ¡¡Los españoles somos los mejores!!
Roger: ¡Qué dices!
José: Lo que oyes. ¡Somos la leche, los españoles!
Roger: No entiendo. ¿Por qué crees que sois tan maravillosos? Lo que yo veo es mucho paro, ideas pasadas de moda y un gobierno corrupto.
José: No es para tanto, tío. Todos los gobiernos son corruptos. El gobierno español no es peor que otros gobiernos del mundo.
Roger: Nuestro gobierno en Inglaterra no es perfecto, pero es considerablemente mejor que tu gobierno. España es un país mandado por hombres mayores con ideas antiguas.
José: Tu primer ministro es mayor que el nuestro.
Roger: Bueno, tal vez, pero la media de edad del gobierno debe ser más joven que la tuya.
José: Yo qué sé colega. Estas cosas no son tan importantes. Es que vivimos mucho mejor que en Inglaterra. Está claro. Estáis allí, enjaulados en vuestras casas, con vuestro clima tan horrible bebiendo té y comiendo cosas tan sosas.
Roger: Este tema de la comida es aburrido. Los españoles siempre creéis que vuestra comida es mejor que cualquier comida de cualquier otro país. Está bien, la comida española, pero no es nada del otro mundo. Es muy parecida a nuestra comida en Inglaterra.
José: Bueno, eso es suficiente. Yo voy a tomar una cervecita con mis amigos y picar algo en esa terraza de allí, al lado del mar, porque hace muy bueno. Puedes unirte a nosotros si quieres.
Roger: Vale. Suena bien, gracias. La cerveza española es malísima por cierto.

English Text

José: For me it is much better to live in Spain than in England. Spaniards are the best!!
Roger: What are you talking about!
José: What you heard. We Spaniards are awesome!
Roger: I don’t understand. Why do you think you are so wonderful? What I see is a lot of unemployment, old-fashioned ideas and a corrupt government.
José: It’s not that bad, mate. All governments are corrupt. The Spanish government is no worse than other governments in the world.
Roger: Our government in England is not perfect, but it is considerably better than your government. Spain is a country run by old men with old ideas.
José: Your prime minister is older than ours.
Roger: Well, maybe, but the average age of the government must be younger than yours.
José: I dunno mate. These things aren’t so important. We live much better than in England. It is clear. You are there, caged in your houses, with your horrible weather drinking tea and eating such bland things.
Roger: This topic of food is boring. Spaniards always believe that your food is better than any food from any other country. It’s okay, Spanish food, but it’s nothing special. It is very similar to our food in England.
José: Okay, that’s enough. I’m going to have a beer with my friends and something to eat on that terrace there, by the sea, because it’s great weather. You can join us if you want.
Roger: Okay. Sounds good, thanks. Spanish beer is very bad by the way.

So, how did you get on? How much did you understand of the original text before checking the translation? Please let me know in the comments section below…

Don’t worry if you didn’t understand that much, practice makes perfect! Be patient and keep reading, hearing, writing, and speaking Spanish. See you next time!