Borrowing a phone charger | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. ¿Puedo tomar prestado tu cargador de teléfono?

   Can I borrow your phone charger?

   Puedo

   I can / I am able to

   tomar prestado

   borrow

   tu

   your

   cargador

   charger

   teléfono

   phone

   More detail

   Puedo is the first-person singular present form of poder (“to be able to,” “can”). In this question, ¿Puedo ...? asks for permission: “May/Can I ...?” The infinitive after it stays unchanged because poder is the conjugated verb. Example: ¿Puedo entrar? — “May I come in?” tomar prestado is a reusable Spanish way to say “borrow” in this meaning. Tomar is the infinitive “to take,” and prestado is an adjective that agrees with the thing taken. Here it is masculine singular because it describes cargador. With a feminine singular object, use tomar prestada: Quiero tomar prestada tu llave. — “I want to borrow your key.” tu is the possessive determiner “your.” It has no accent when it comes before a noun: tu cargador. Do not confuse it with tú, the pronoun “you.” cargador is a masculine noun meaning “charger.” Its form is singular here. Example: Necesito un cargador. — “I need a charger.” teléfono means “phone” or “telephone.” In cargador de teléfono, the prepositional phrase specifies what kind of charger it is: “phone charger.” The accent mark in teléfono is part of its spelling. Example: Mi teléfono no tiene batería. — “My phone has no battery.” Together, ¿Puedo + tomar prestado forms a permission question, and tu cargador de teléfono identifies the item as the other person’s phone charger. The complete utterance therefore means “Can I borrow your phone charger?”

2. Está en el bolsillo interior de mi bolso.

   It's in the inside pocket of my bag.

   Está

   is located

   bolsillo

   pocket

   interior

   inner; inside

   bolso

   bag

   More detail

   Está is a form of estar, used here for the location of something. The form is third-person singular present: “it is.” Spanish uses estar for a current location, whereas ser is not the usual choice for saying where an object is. Example: El cable está aquí. — “The cable is here.” bolsillo means “pocket.” It is a masculine singular noun; its plural is bolsillos. In the utterance, bolsillo is the thing being located, while the following words specify which pocket. interior describes the pocket as the inner or inside one. Here it follows the noun: bolsillo interior. Interior has the same form for masculine and feminine singular nouns; with a plural noun, it is interiores. Example: la puerta interior — “the inner door.” bolso means “bag” or “handbag.” It is a masculine singular noun; its plural is bolsos. In de mi bolso, de links the pocket to the bag, and mi means “my.” The possessive mi is singular because it modifies bolso; its plural form is mis before a plural noun. Together, Está en gives “it is in,” el bolsillo interior gives “the inside pocket,” and de mi bolso gives “of my bag.” The complete utterance therefore means “It’s in the inside pocket of my bag.” The subject is understood from the context as the borrowed phone charger; the sentence states its location.

3. ¿El cable está con el cargador?

   Is the cable with it?

   cable

   cable

   está con

   is with

   cargador

   charger

   More detail

   cable is a masculine noun meaning “cable.” Its plural is cables; the noun itself does not change for gender in this sentence, so the article shows the masculine form: el cable. está con combines the present-tense form está of estar with con, meaning “with.” Está is third-person singular, matching the singular subject el cable. The same form of estar is also used for temporary location or situation: El cable está aquí. — “The cable is here.” cargador is a masculine noun meaning “charger.” Its plural is cargadores. In el cargador, el marks this singular masculine noun. Here, the fixed translation expresses this charger as “it.” The whole question is ¿El cable está con el cargador? — “Is the cable with it?” The subject is el cable, and está con el cargador asks whether that cable is together with the charger. Spanish keeps the ordinary subject–verb order here and marks the question with ¿...?.

4. El cable está en el estuche pequeño.

   The cable is in the small case.

   cable

   cable

   está

   is; is located

   en

   in

   estuche

   case

   pequeño

   small

   More detail

   cable means “cable” here. It is a masculine noun, so the article is el: el cable. The plural is los cables. está is the third-person singular present form of estar, used here to state location. The useful pattern is estar en + place: El libro está en la mochila. — “The book is in the backpack.” en expresses location inside or at a place. In this sentence it connects está with the container: está en el estuche — “is in the case.” estuche means “case” or “container.” It is masculine singular here, as shown by el estuche. Its plural is los estuches. pequeño means “small.” It is an adjective describing estuche, so it matches that noun in gender and number: masculine singular pequeño. For a feminine singular noun, the form is pequeña; for plural nouns, pequeños or pequeñas. Together, El cable identifies the item, está states its location, and en el estuche pequeño gives that location and describes the case as small. The complete meaning is: “The cable is in the small case.”

5. Encontré los dos.

   I found both.

   Encontré

   I found

   los dos

   both of them

   More detail

   Encontré is the first-person singular preterite of encontrar (“to find”). The ending and accent mark show a completed past action by “I”: encontré = “I found.” Compare the present encuentro (“I find / I am finding”) and the infinitive encontrar. Example: Encontré la llave. — “I found the key.” los dos means “both of them,” referring to two understood masculine or mixed-gender items. los is the masculine plural definite article, and dos is the number word “two”; together they form a noun phrase with the noun omitted because it is understood from context. With two feminine items, Spanish uses las dos instead. The phrase asserts a total of two items and includes both. Together, Encontré los dos means “I found both of them.” Encontré supplies the completed first-person action, while los dos identifies the two objects found without repeating their noun. The specific pair is not identified in the supplied utterance itself.

6. Por favor, pon el cable otra vez en el estuche.

   Please put the cable back in the case.

   Por favor

   please

   pon

   put

   cable

   cable

   otra vez

   again

   en

   in

   estuche

   case

   More detail

   Por favor is a polite request marker meaning “please.” It softens the command without changing who is being addressed. pon is the affirmative command form of poner for tú singular: “put.” The infinitive is poner; its command forms include pon (tú), ponga (usted), and pongan (ustedes). Example: Pon la llave aquí. — “Put the key here.” cable is a masculine noun meaning “cable.” In this sentence, el cable is the direct object: the item being put. The article el marks this noun as masculine singular; it does not mean that there is only one cable in every possible context. otra vez means “again” or “back.” Here it indicates returning the cable to a previous location. Example: Ponlo otra vez en la caja. — “Put it back in the box.” en is the preposition used here for location: “in.” The pattern poner algo en un lugar means “to put something in a place.” estuche is a masculine noun meaning “case” or “container,” especially a case intended to hold an item. In el estuche, el marks it as masculine singular. Example: El lápiz está en el estuche. — “The pencil is in the case.” Together, pon el cable gives the command “put the cable,” otra vez adds the idea of putting it back, and en el estuche specifies the destination. The complete utterance means: “Please put the cable back in the case.”

7. Devolveré todo antes de irme.

   I'll return everything before I leave.

   Devolveré

   I will return

   todo

   everything

   antes de

   before

   irme

   leave

   More detail

   Devolveré means “I will return” here. It is the first-person singular future form of devolver (“to return”): devolveré, devolverás, devolverá. The ending -é identifies “I” in this future form. Example: Devolveré el libro mañana. — “I will return the book tomorrow.” Todo means “everything” here. It is a pronoun referring to the complete set of relevant things, rather than naming those things individually. Its form is masculine singular, but in this use it expresses totality; it does not assert that there is only one thing. Example: Lo entiendo todo. — “I understand everything.” Antes de introduces an event that happens earlier than the reference point: antes de + an infinitive means “before doing something.” The infinitive after it normally has the same understood subject as the surrounding clause when the context supports that reading. Example: Cierro la puerta antes de salir. — “I close the door before leaving.” Irme is ir (“to go”) with the first-person singular clitic me attached to the infinitive. In this sentence, irse means “to leave” or “to go away,” and irme means “to leave” with “I” as the person leaving. The me is part of the pronominal form irse, not a separate object meaning “me” in this translation. Example: Tengo que irme. — “I have to leave.” Together, Devolveré todo states that the speaker will return everything. Antes de irme places that action before the speaker leaves. The complete meaning is: “I’ll return everything before I leave.”

8. Me parece bien.

   That works for me.

   Me parece bien

   That works for me.

   More detail

   Me means “to me” here. It is an unstressed indirect-object pronoun: the speaker gives their assessment, rather than “me” being the thing that seems good. Other forms include te (“to you”), le (“to him/her/you formal”), and nos (“to us”). parece is the third-person singular present form of parecer, “to seem” or “to appear.” Spanish commonly uses the pattern me parece + evaluation to express an opinion or reaction. The singular form fits the understood situation or proposal being evaluated. With an explicitly plural subject, use parecen: Me parecen bien las propuestas. — “The proposals work for me.” bien means “well” here and, in the expression parecer bien, conveys that something is acceptable or satisfactory. It does not mean that the speaker is physically well. For example, ¿Te parece bien mañana? means “Does tomorrow work for you?” Together, Me parece bien. literally presents the situation as seeming good to the speaker, and naturally means “That works for me” or “That’s fine with me.” It is a concise, neutral way to show agreement with a plan or suggestion.