Finding a Wallet and Keys | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. No encuentro mi cartera.

   I can't find my wallet.

   No

   not

   encuentro

   find

   mi

   my

   cartera

   wallet

   More detail

   No comes first to negate the following verb: it makes the statement mean that the speaker does not find something. In Spanish, this ordinary negation is placed directly before the conjugated verb. encuentro is the first-person singular present form of encontrar (“to find”). The ending -o identifies “I” here, and the stem changes from encontr- to encuentr- in this form: encontrar → encuentro. Example: No encuentro mis llaves. — “I can’t find my keys.” mi is the singular possessive determiner meaning “my.” It agrees in number with the possessed noun, not with the owner, and it does not change for masculine or feminine gender: mi cartera, mi libro; its plural form is mis, as in mis llaves. cartera is a feminine singular noun meaning “wallet” in this sentence. The article is omitted because the possessive determiner already occupies that determiner position: mi cartera, not normally la mi cartera in standard modern Spanish. Together, No encuentro mi cartera means “I can’t find my wallet.” The subject “I” is included in the verb form encuentro, no negates the finding, and mi cartera identifies the wallet as belonging to the speaker.

2. ¿Revisaste dentro de tu mochila?

   Did you check inside your backpack?

   Revisaste

   you checked

   dentro de

   inside

   mochila

   backpack

   More detail

   Revisaste is the preterite form of revisar for tú (second-person singular): revisar → revisaste. Here it asks whether the listener checked something. Example: ¿Revisaste el cajón? — “Did you check the drawer?” dentro de means “inside” and introduces the place being checked. It is a useful pattern before a noun: dentro de + lugar. Example: Está dentro de la caja. — “It is inside the box.” mochila is a feminine noun meaning “backpack.” Its usual article is la: la mochila; with the possessive in this sentence, tu mochila means “your backpack.” Tu identifies a singular second-person possessor and does not vary for the gender of the possessed noun. Its singular form is used with a singular possessed noun: tu libro, tu mochila; the plural form is tus: tus libros. Together, ¿Revisaste + dentro de tu mochila? asks whether the listener checked inside their backpack. The complete meaning is “Did you check inside your backpack?”

3. Ya revisé el bolsillo delantero.

   I checked the front pocket already.

   Ya

   already

   revisé

   checked

   bolsillo

   pocket

   delantero

   front

   More detail

   Ya means “already” here: it presents the checking as completed before the relevant moment. It commonly appears with a completed action, as in Ya comí. — “I already ate.” revisé is the first-person singular preterite of revisar, “to check” or “to inspect.” The ending -é identifies a completed past action by “I”; compare revisaste for “you checked,” as in the preceding question. Revisar is a regular -ar verb: revisé, revisaste, and revisó mean “I checked,” “you checked,” and “he/she/you formal checked” in this past form. bolsillo is a masculine singular noun meaning “pocket.” Its plural is bolsillos. Here, el bolsillo is the masculine singular noun phrase; el agrees with bolsillo in gender and number. delantero is an adjective meaning “front” here. It is masculine singular because it describes bolsillo, which is masculine singular. Its feminine form is delantera, as in la parte delantera — “the front part.” Together, el bolsillo delantero means “the front pocket.” The verb phrase ya revisé says that the speaker has already completed the checking, and the object identifies what was checked. The whole utterance therefore means: “I checked the front pocket already.”

4. Prueba el bolsillo pequeño cerca de la cremallera.

   Try the small pocket near the zipper.

   Prueba

   try

   bolsillo

   pocket

   pequeño

   small

   cerca de

   near

   cremallera

   zipper

   More detail

   Prueba is the affirmative command form of probar for tú singular: “try.” The command addresses one person informally. Compare pruebe for a singular usted command and prueben for a plural ustedes command. The vowel change from o to ue appears in forms such as prueba; the infinitive remains probar. bolsillo is a masculine singular noun meaning “pocket.” Its plural is bolsillos. In this sentence, it is the thing being tried or checked. pequeño means “small” here and describes bolsillo. It is masculine singular to agree with that noun: el bolsillo pequeño. The feminine singular form is pequeña, as in la bolsa pequeña; the plural masculine form is pequeños. cerca de is a reusable prepositional construction meaning “near” or “close to.” It introduces the location of something: La llave está cerca de la puerta. — “The key is near the door.” cremallera is a feminine singular noun meaning “zipper.” Its plural is cremalleras; the feminine article is la, as in la cremallera. Together, Prueba gives the command “try,” while el bolsillo pequeño identifies the small pocket and cerca de la cremallera locates it as near the zipper. The complete utterance therefore means: “Try the small pocket near the zipper.”

5. Lo encontré allí.

   I found it there.

   Lo

   it

   encontré

   found

   allí

   there

   More detail

   Lo is a direct-object pronoun. Here it translates as “it,” but the supplied sentence and translation do not identify the referent or establish its gender. In its ordinary object use, lo represents a singular masculine direct object; Spanish also uses neuter lo for certain ideas or situations. Contrast la for a singular feminine direct object and los/las for plural direct objects. Example: Lo vi. — “I saw it.” encontré is the first-person singular preterite of encontrar (“to find”): encontrar → encontré. Its form identifies the speaker as the subject, and the preterite presents the finding as a completed event. The written accent is part of this form. Example: Encontré la llave. — “I found the key.” allí is a location adverb meaning “there,” pointing to a place understood from the situation. It does not identify the place by itself. A useful contrast is aquí (“here”) versus allí (“there”). Example: Está allí. — “It is there.” Together, Lo encontré allí means “I found it there”: the speaker completed the finding, lo expresses the direct object as “it,” and allí specifies the location where it was found.

6. Cierra la cremallera antes de irte.

   Close the zipper before you go.

   Cierra

   close

   cremallera

   zipper

   antes de

   before

   irte

   go

   More detail

   Cierra is the affirmative command form of cerrar for tú (one person addressed informally): “close.” The subject is understood rather than written. Compare cierra “close!” with cierre for an usted command; do not treat the two forms as interchangeable. cremallera means “zipper.” It is a feminine noun, which is why the sentence uses la cremallera (“the zipper”). The useful pattern is cerrar + la/el + noun: Cierra la puerta means “Close the door.” antes de means “before.” Before another action, it is followed by an infinitive: antes de + infinitive. For example, Lávate las manos antes de comer means “Wash your hands before eating.” irte is the infinitive ir combined with the attached pronoun te: ir + te. In this sentence it means “go” in the phrase “before you go,” with the understood second-person singular participant matching the English translation. The form te is attached to the infinitive here; compare Te vas (“You leave/go”) with irte (“to go/leave” in a construction such as antes de irte). Together, Cierra la cremallera gives the command “Close the zipper,” and antes de irte specifies when: “before you go.” The complete utterance is therefore “Close the zipper before you go.”

7. Todavía necesito mis llaves.

   I still need my keys.

   Todavía

   still

   necesito

   I need

   mis

   my

   llaves

   keys

   More detail

   Todavía means “still” here: the need continues at the relevant time. It commonly appears with a present-tense statement to show that a situation remains true. Example: Todavía trabajo aquí. — “I still work here.” necesito is the first-person singular present form of necesitar, “to need.” The ending -o identifies “I” in this verb form; the subject pronoun yo is normally omitted because the verb already shows it. Example: Necesito ayuda. — “I need help.” mis is the plural possessive determiner meaning “my.” It agrees in number with the possessed noun, not with the person who possesses something: mi llave means “my key,” while mis llaves means “my keys.” Spanish possessive forms mi and mis do not distinguish masculine from feminine gender. llaves is the plural of llave, “key.” The plural ending -s indicates more than one key. Example: Busco mis llaves. — “I’m looking for my keys.” Together, Todavía necesito mis llaves. means “I still need my keys.” Todavía marks the continuing situation, necesito says that the speaker is the person who has the need, and mis llaves identifies the keys as belonging to the speaker. The sentence is a straightforward present-tense statement.

8. Están en el bolsillo lateral.

   They're in the side pocket.

   Están

   They are

   en el

   in the

   bolsillo

   pocket

   lateral

   side

   More detail

   Están is the present-tense form of estar for a third-person plural subject. Here it means “are” as part of a location statement; Spanish does not need to state a separate subject pronoun. The form marks plurality, but it does not by itself identify the gender or exact referent of “they.” Compare Está aquí (“It is here” / “He or she is here”) with Están aquí (“They are here”). The accent in están is part of the correct spelling. en el combines the location preposition en (“in”/“at”) with the masculine singular definite article el (“the”). En introduces the place where something is located. El marks a specific masculine singular noun phrase; it does not itself state a numerical count. bolsillo is a masculine noun meaning “pocket.” Its plural is bolsillos. In this sentence, el bolsillo means “the pocket,” and the article agrees with this noun: el bolsillo, not la bolsillo. lateral describes the pocket as a side/lateral one. It follows the noun here and agrees with the masculine singular phrase el bolsillo lateral. This adjective has the same form for masculine and feminine singular nouns: el bolsillo lateral, but la abertura lateral (“the side opening”). Together, Están en el bolsillo lateral says that the plural things referred to by están are located in the specific side pocket. The reusable pattern is Está/Están en + place: El teléfono está en la mochila means “The phone is in the backpack,” while Los documentos están en el bolsillo means “The documents are in the pocket.”