About This Lesson
Use Adjusting a Chair's Height to practice Spanish conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.
Dialogue
A
Esta silla está demasiado baja.
ES-tah SEE-yah es-TAH deh-mah-SYAH-doh BAH-hah. This chair is too low.
B
Puedes cambiar la altura.
PWEH-dess kahm-BYAR lah al-TOO-rah. You can change the height.
A
¿Cómo hago eso?
KOH-moh AH-goh EH-soh? How do I do that?
B
Presiona el botón debajo del asiento.
preh-SYOH-nah el boh-TOHN deh-BAH-hoh del ah-SYEN-toh. Press the button under the seat.
A
Eso está mejor. Gracias.
EH-soh es-TAH meh-HOR. GRAH-syahs. That is better. Thank you.
B
Dime si todavía no está bien.
DEE-meh see toh-dah-VEE-ah noh es-TAH byen. Tell me if it is still not right.Word by Word
Esta
In “Esta silla”, Esta means “this” and identifies the chair being discussed. It is a useful form before a noun when pointing out a particular thing.
silla
In “Esta silla”, silla means “chair”, the object described as too low. It commonly follows an article or demonstrative when naming a chair.
está
In “está demasiado baja”, está says that the chair is in the described state. It comes from estar and is usefully followed by an adjective to describe a present condition.
demasiado
In “demasiado baja”, demasiado adds the meaning “too”, showing that the chair is lower than is suitable. A useful pattern is demasiado followed by an adjective when describing an excessive degree.
baja
In “demasiado baja”, baja means “low” and describes the chair’s height. The citation form is bajo; baja is the form used with silla, and demasiado baja is a reusable description of excessive low height.
Puedes
In “Puedes cambiar la altura”, Puedes means that the person addressed can change the height. It comes from poder and is used with an infinitive; a useful pattern is Puedes followed by an action when telling someone what they are able to do.
cambiar
In “Puedes cambiar la altura”, cambiar means “to change”, referring to making the chair’s height different. It stays in its infinitive form after Puedes and can be followed by the thing being changed.
la
In “la altura”, la means “the” and introduces the specific height being discussed. It comes directly before altura and is used with a feminine singular noun.
altura
In “la altura”, altura means “height”, the feature of the chair that can be changed. It is the object of cambiar in the useful pattern cambiar la altura.
Cómo
In “¿Cómo hago eso?”, Cómo asks how an action is done. Its accent marks it as a question word, and Cómo followed by a verb is useful when asking how to carry out something.
hago
In “¿Cómo hago eso?”, hago means “I do” or “I carry out”, referring to the action the speaker wants to perform. It is the first-person form of hacer; a useful pattern is Cómo hago followed by the thing or action being asked about.
eso
In “¿Cómo hago eso?”, eso means “that” and refers back to changing the chair’s height. It is used as the object of hacer, and can refer to an action or thing already understood.
Presiona
In “Presiona el botón”, Presiona tells one person to press the button. It comes from presionar and is used as a direct instruction, followed by the object to press.
el
In “el botón”, el means “the” and introduces the specific button being mentioned. It comes before botón and is used with a masculine singular noun.
botón
In “el botón”, botón means “button”, the object that should be pressed. It can be used after an instruction verb when identifying the control someone needs to use.
debajo
In “debajo del asiento”, debajo means “under” and gives the button’s position. It commonly appears with de plus a noun to express what something is under.
del
In “debajo del asiento”, del means “of the” within the location phrase. It is the contraction of de and el, linking debajo to the seat used as the reference point.
asiento
In “debajo del asiento”, asiento means “seat”, the reference point for the button’s location. The pattern debajo del asiento identifies something located under the seat.
mejor
In “Eso está mejor”, mejor means “better” and signals that the chair’s condition has improved. It is used after está to describe a better result, such as after an adjustment helps.
Gracias
Gracias means “thank you” and is used here to express thanks after receiving help. It is a common polite expression after someone gives assistance.
Dime
In “Dime si todavía no está bien”, Dime means “tell me” and asks the other person to provide information. It comes from decir and is useful before a clause when asking someone to report whether something is true.
si
In “Dime si todavía no está bien”, si means “if” and introduces the condition the other person should report. A useful pattern is si followed by a clause, as in Dime si todavía no está bien.
todavía
In “todavía no está bien”, todavía means “still”, showing that the problem may continue after the adjustment. It appears before the negative statement when describing a situation that remains unchanged.
no
In “todavía no está bien”, no makes the statement negative: the chair is still not okay. It is placed before the verb phrase being negated, as in no está bien.
bien
In “no está bien”, bien means “okay” or “right” and describes whether the chair’s condition is acceptable. It follows está in this expression, and estar bien is a common pattern for saying that something is okay.
Grammar Points
poder + infinitivo
¿Puedes cambiar?
PWEH-dess kahm-BYAR?Can you change?
Use a conjugated form of poder followed by an infinitive to express ability or possibility.
concordancia de género del adjetivo
La silla baja.
lah SEE-yah BAH-hah.The low chair.
The adjective baja agrees with the feminine noun silla; adjectives change form to match the noun.
Spanish Vocabulary
altura
noun
ahl-TOO-rah
height
la altura
bajo
adj
BAH-hoh
low
baja
está demasiado baja
botón
noun
boh-TOHN
button
el botón
cambiar
verb
kahm-BYAR
to change
cambiar la altura
cómo
adv
KOH-moh
how
¿Cómo hago eso?
debajo
prep
deh-BAH-hoh
under; below
debajo del asiento
demasiado
adv
deh-mah-SYAH-doh
too; excessively
demasiado baja
eso
pron
EH-soh
that
hago eso
hacer
verb
ah-SEHR
to do; to make
hago
¿Cómo hago eso?
poder
verb
poh-DEHR
can; to be able to
puedes
Puedes cambiar
presionar
verb
preh-syoh-NAR
to press
presiona
Presiona el botón
silla
noun
SEE-yah
chair
Esta silla
Quiz
Word Order
Arrange the words in the correct order.
This chair is too low.
Show Answer
Esta silla está demasiado baja.You can change the height.
Show Answer
Puedes cambiar la altura.How do I do that?
Show Answer
¿Cómo hago eso?Spelling
Tap the letters to spell the word.
too; excessively
Show Answer
demasiadochair
Show Answer
sillalow
Show Answer
bajato change