Using Paper in Class | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Olvidé traer mi cuaderno.

   I forgot to bring my notebook.

   Olvidé

   I forgot

   traer

   to bring

   mi

   my

   cuaderno

   notebook

   More detail

   Olvidé means “I forgot” here. It is the first-person singular preterite of olvidar (“to forget”): olvidar → olvidé for a completed past event with an implicit yo subject. The written accent marks the stressed final syllable. Example: Olvidé la llave. — “I forgot the key.” traer is the infinitive “to bring.” After olvidar, Spanish commonly uses olvidar + infinitive when the forgotten action is expressed: olvidé traer... — “I forgot to bring...”. The subject of the infinitive is understood to be the same person as the subject of olvidé here. Example: Olvidé llamar. — “I forgot to call.” mi means “my” before a singular noun. It is a possessive adjective and does not change according to the possessor; with a plural noun, it becomes mis: mi cuaderno, mis cuadernos. The possessive form agrees in number with the noun it modifies, not in gender: mi cuaderno and mi carpeta both use mi. cuaderno means “notebook.” It is a masculine noun; its common plural is cuadernos. The phrase mi cuaderno therefore means “my notebook”: mi marks the possessed noun as singular, and cuaderno names the possessed item. Together, Olvidé + traer expresses a completed past forgetting, and mi cuaderno identifies what was supposed to be brought. The whole utterance means: “I forgot to bring my notebook.”

2. Puedes usar este papel.

   You can use this paper.

   Puedes

   can; are able to

   usar

   use

   este

   this

   papel

   paper

   More detail

   Puedes is the second-person singular present form of poder (“to be able to” or “can”). It addresses one person with tú: puedes usar means “you can use.” The following infinitive supplies the action. Example: Puedes leer. — “You can read.” usar is the infinitive “to use.” After forms of poder, Spanish uses an infinitive: puedo usar, puedes usar, pueden usar. The infinitive does not show the subject’s person here; puedes does. Example: Quiero usar el lápiz. — “I want to use the pencil.” este is the masculine singular demonstrative “this.” It agrees with the noun it modifies, papel, which is masculine singular. Its form contrasts with esta for a feminine singular noun and estos/estas for plural nouns. Example: Esta hoja es nueva. — “This sheet is new.” papel is the noun “paper.” Here, the surrounding context supports understanding it as writing material. Example: Necesito papel. — “I need paper.” Together, Puedes usar expresses “you can use,” and este papel identifies the material as “this paper.” The complete utterance is: “You can use this paper.”

3. Gracias. Quiero escribir las palabras nuevas.

   Thank you. I want to write the new words.

   Gracias

   Thank you

   Quiero

   I want

   escribir

   to write

   palabras

   words

   nuevas

   new

   More detail

   Gracias is a standard way to say “thank you.” It is commonly used on its own, as here, and does not change for the speaker’s gender or number. Quiero is the first-person singular present form of querer (“to want”): yo quiero. In this sentence, querer + infinitive expresses the speaker’s desire to do something. Example: Quiero aprender. — “I want to learn.” Escribir is the infinitive “to write.” After quiero, the second verb remains in the infinitive rather than taking a personal ending. The same form can be used with other subjects after a conjugated verb, for example: Ella quiere escribir. — “She wants to write.” Palabras means “words.” Its singular base form is palabra; palabras is the plural. The noun is feminine, so a modifying adjective normally agrees with it in feminine plural form. Nuevas means “new” here and describes palabras. It is the feminine plural form of nuevo, matching the noun in gender and number. Compare un libro nuevo (“a new book”) with unas palabras nuevas (“some new words”). Together, Quiero escribir means “I want to write,” and las palabras nuevas means “the new words.” The article las and adjective nuevas agree with the feminine plural noun palabras. Thus the complete utterance means: “Thank you. I want to write the new words.”

4. Buena idea. Yo también las escribiré.

   Good idea. I will write them too.

   Buena

   good

   idea

   idea

   Yo

   I

   también

   too; also

   las

   them

   escribiré

   will write

   More detail

   Buena describes idea here. It is the feminine singular form of bueno, agreeing with the feminine singular noun idea; the adjective is not the noun’s base form. Compare buen before a masculine singular noun, as in buen plan. Example: Buena respuesta. — “Good answer.” idea means “idea.” It is a feminine noun, which is why the adjective appears as buena. The short utterance Buena idea. is a natural elliptical evaluation meaning “Good idea,” even though it does not contain a full verb. Yo is the first-person singular pronoun “I.” Spanish verb endings often identify the subject, so the explicit pronoun can be omitted; here Yo makes the speaker explicit. Example: Escribiré la lista. — “I will write the list.” también means “too” or “also.” It adds the speaker to the action or agreement already established in the context: the speaker will write the words as well. It is different from tampoco, which expresses “neither/not either.” Example: Yo también estudiaré. — “I will study too.” las is a feminine plural direct-object pronoun meaning “them” here. The supplied context identifies its referent as las palabras nuevas (“the new words”), and the next utterance uses the same plural object in revisarlas. Its feminine plural form agrees with that noun phrase: la is singular feminine, while los and las are plural masculine and feminine forms respectively. In las escribiré, the pronoun comes before the conjugated verb. escribiré is the first-person singular future form of escribir, “to write.” The ending -é marks “I will ...” in this form: escribiré = “I will write.” The future stem retains the infinitive escribir; compare escribirás (“you will write”) and escribirá (“he, she, or you formal will write”). Example: Escribiré una nota. — “I will write a note.” Together, Yo también establishes that the speaker joins the previously stated intention, las identifies the new words as the direct object, and escribiré expresses the speaker’s future action. Thus Yo también las escribiré. means “I will write them too.” The complete exchange begins with Buena idea. (“Good idea.”) and then states that the speaker will also write the new words.

5. ¿Podemos revisarlas después de clase?

   Can we check them after class?

   Podemos

   we can

   revisarlas

   check them

   después de

   after

   clase

   class

   More detail

   Podemos is the first-person plural present form of poder, meaning “we can” here. The subject is nosotros/nosotras, whether or not the pronoun is stated. Poder is commonly followed by an infinitive: Podemos revisar = “We can check.” Revisarlas combines the infinitive revisar (“to check/review”) with the direct-object pronoun las. The pronoun is attached to the end of the infinitive: revisar + las → revisarlas. Las is feminine plural, and in this conversation it refers to the plural items previously mentioned as las; the exact noun is not stated in this sentence. Compare the placement in a finite-verb form: Las revisamos = “We check them.” Después de introduces a later time: “after.” It is followed by the event or time reference that comes afterward in the sentence. Después de clase means “after class”; de links después to clase. Clase is a noun meaning “class.” In después de clase, it refers to the class as the time marker, without needing an article. For a specific class, Spanish can also say después de la clase (“after the class”). Together, Podemos + revisarlas forms “we can check them,” and después de clase specifies when. The complete question, ¿Podemos revisarlas después de clase?, means “Can we check them after class?”

6. Podemos leerlas juntos.

   We can read them together.

   Podemos

   we can

   leerlas

   read them

   juntos

   together

   More detail

   Podemos is the first-person plural present form of poder (“to be able to; can”). Here it means “we can” and expresses ability or possibility. The useful pattern is podemos + infinitive: Podemos estudiar hoy. — “We can study today.” leerlas combines the infinitive leer (“to read”) with the direct-object clitic las, meaning “them” here. Las is feminine plural; its exact referent is not identified by the supplied sentence, but the form shows that the object is treated as feminine plural. With an infinitive, this clitic is attached to the end: leer + las → leerlas. In this construction, the same object can also appear before the conjugated verb: Las podemos leer — “We can read them.” Juntos is the masculine plural form of the adjective junto (“together”). It describes the group represented by “we” and agrees with that plural subject. Spanish uses masculine plural agreement for an all-male group or a mixed-gender group; the sentence does not specify which applies. Compare the feminine plural form juntas: Leemos juntas. — “We read together,” said by an all-female group. Together, podemos leerlas means “we can read them”: poder supplies the possibility or ability, leer names the action, and las identifies its direct object. Juntos adds that the participants do the reading together. The complete utterance is therefore “We can read them together.”