{"id":4215,"date":"2012-02-03T13:52:09","date_gmt":"2012-02-03T18:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/?p=4215"},"modified":"2014-07-15T11:32:04","modified_gmt":"2014-07-15T15:32:04","slug":"car-problems-en-espanol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/car-problems-en-espanol\/","title":{"rendered":"Car problems, en espa\u00f1ol"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a1Hola! \u00bfC\u00f3mo les va todo?<\/em><\/p>\n

We’re having great and warm weather here in Bebedouro (Brazil) and, as it’s summetime, it rains a lot. I was driving around town on Sunday evening when it started to rain and I saw this car in the middle of the street. It had surely broken down and its owner was kind of desperate trying to fix it (who wouldn’t be, right?). I offered help but he told me his brother was coming to rescue him.<\/p>\n

That motivated me to write this post with a little dialog about a guy, Pedro, whose car won’t start. The mechanic, Juan, arrives and takes a look at it. Check it out!<\/p>\n

Pedro<\/strong>: \u00bfCu\u00e1l es el problema?<\/em> [What’s the matter?]
\nMart\u00edn<\/strong>: No tengo la m\u00e1s m\u00ednima idea. No arranca.<\/em> [I have no idea. It won’t start.]
\nPedro<\/strong>: \u00bfQuieres que le eche un vistazo?<\/em> [Do you want me to take a look at it?]
\nJuan<\/strong>: S\u00ed, por favor.<\/em> [Yes, please.]
\nMart\u00edn<\/strong>: Me parece que es un fallo en la inyecci\u00f3n. \u00bfNo hab\u00edas tenido problemas antes?<\/em> [It looks like a flaw in the fuel injection. Did you have any problems before?]
\nJuan<\/strong>: Que yo sepa, no. Todo funcion\u00f3 bien hasta ahora.<\/em> [Not that I’m aware of. Everything was working fine so far.]
\nMart\u00edn<\/strong>: Bueno, vamos a llevarlo al taller.<\/em> [Well, let’s take it to the shop.]<\/p>\n

OK, let’s take a look at some vocabulary points here.<\/p>\n

Arrancar<\/strong>
\nArrancar<\/em> means to tear, pull, rip something out. Here it’s used when the car starts (or doesn’t). Here are some more examples with arrancar<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Hubo un forcejeo y le arranc\u00f3 la pistola.<\/em> [There was a struggle and he wrenched the pistol away from her.]
\nLe arranc\u00f3 el bolso.<\/em> [He snatched her bag.]
\nNo hay quien le arranque una palabra.<\/em> [No one can get a word out of him.]
\nConsigui\u00f3 arrancarle una sonrisa<\/em>. [She managed to get a smile out of him.]
\nEsta tradici\u00f3n arranca en el siglo XIV.<\/em> [This tradition dates from the 14th century.]
\nDe all\u00ed arrancan todas sus desgracias.<\/em> [That’s where all his misfortunes stem from.]<\/p>\n

Echar un vistazo<\/strong>
\nEchar un vistazo<\/em> means to take a look. Echar<\/em> is a very common Spanish verb and has many expressions like echar de menos<\/em> (to miss), echar a perder<\/em> (to ruin), echar la culpa<\/em> (to blame), echar la bronca a uno<\/em> (to tell someone off), echarse un trago<\/em> (to have a drink) among others. In the dialog, it’s used in the subjunctive form, eche<\/em>, because it follows the conjunction\u00a0que <\/em>after a verb of desire.<\/p>\n

Here are some other useful sentences when your car breaks down!<\/p>\n

Se me pinch\u00f3 un neum\u00e1tico.<\/em> [I’ve had a flat tire.]
\nTr\u00e1eme el gato, as\u00ed levantamos el auto.<\/em> [Bring the jack so we can lift the car.]
\nTr\u00e1eme el neum\u00e1tico de repuesto \/ la goma de auxilio.<\/em> [Bring me the spare tire.]
\nEl coche se rompi\u00f3 \/ se ha roto.<\/em> [The car broke down.]
\nLlama un remolque.<\/em> [Call a tow truck.]
\nHay que remolcar el auto.<\/em> [The car needs to be towed away.]
\nEl motor se para.<\/em> [The engine’s dying.]
\nEl auto se calienta.<\/em> [The car’s heating up.]
\nHay que recargar la bater\u00eda.<\/em> [The battery needs to be recharged.]
\nEst\u00e1 perdiendo aceite.<\/em> [It’s leaking oil.]<\/p>\n

Well, I hope you don’t have any car problems soon. Nos vemos prontito.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

\u00a1Hola! \u00bfC\u00f3mo les va todo? We’re having great and warm weather here in Bebedouro (Brazil) and, as it’s summetime, it rains a lot. I was driving around town on Sunday evening when it started to rain and I saw this car in the middle of the street. It had surely broken down and its owner…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":4223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[358369,8349],"class_list":["post-4215","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vocabulary","tag-vocabulary","tag-transport"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t