About This Lesson
Use Fixing a weak internet connection to practice Spanish conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.
Dialogue
A
La conexión a internet es débil en esta habitación.
lah koh-nek-see-OWN ah een-tehr-NET es DEH-beel en EHS-tah ah-bee-tah-see-OWN. The internet connection is weak in this room.
B
Puede que el router necesite un reinicio rápido.
PWEH-deh keh el ROO-tehr neh-seh-SEE-teh oon reh-ee-NEE-see-oh RAH-pee-doh. The router may need a quick restart.
A
¿Lo apago y lo vuelvo a encender?
loh ah-PAH-goh ee loh BWEHL-boh ah en-sen-DEHR? Should I turn it off and on again?
B
Hazlo y luego espera hasta que la luz de estado vuelva a encenderse.
AH-sloh ee LWEH-goh es-PEH-rah AHS-tah keh lah loohs deh es-TAH-doh BWEHL-bah ah en-sen-DEHR-seh. Do that, then wait until the status light comes back on.
A
La página se está cargando mejor ahora.
lah PAH-hee-nah seh es-TAH kar-GAN-doh meh-HOR ah-OR-ah. The page is loading better now.
B
Ponerlo en un estante abierto podría ayudar aún más.
poh-NEHR-loh en oon es-TAHN-teh ah-BYEHR-toh poh-DREE-ah ah-yoo-DAR ah-OON mahs. Putting it on an open shelf might help even more.
A
¿Deberíamos moverlo cerca de la puerta?
deh-beh-REE-ah-mohs moh-BEHR-loh SEHR-kah deh lah PWEHR-tah? Should we move it near the doorway?
B
Eso podría ayudar a que la señal llegue a esta habitación.
EH-soh poh-DREE-ah ah-yoo-DAR ah keh lah seh-NYAL YEH-gheh ah EHS-tah ah-bee-tah-see-OWN. That could help the signal reach this room.Word by Word
La
In La conexión and la habitación, La means “the” and points to a specific thing. It comes before the noun it describes, as in La conexión.
conexión
Conexión means “connection”; here it is the internet connection. The reusable expression is conexión a internet, meaning a connection to the internet.
a
In conexión a internet, a links the connection with the service it connects to. This same word also appears before infinitives in volver a encender and ayudar a que.
internet
Internet means “internet” in La conexión a internet. It names the service that the conexión is connected to.
es
Es means “is” and describes the connection as débil in La conexión a internet es débil. It is useful for stating what something is like with noun + es + description.
débil
Débil means “weak”; here it describes the internet connection in this room. It can be reused after es to describe a weak signal, connection, or similar thing.
en
En means “in” in en esta habitación and locates the weak connection in this room. A common pattern is estar or ser + description + en + place.
esta
Esta means “this” and points to the room being referred to in esta habitación. It comes directly before the noun it identifies.
habitación
Habitación means “room”; esta habitación means “this room.” It is a useful word for identifying the place where something is happening.
Puede
In Puede que el router necesite..., Puede expresses possibility: the router may need something. Puede que is a reusable way to introduce a possible situation.
que
In Puede que el router necesite..., que introduces the possible situation that follows Puede. It also appears in ayudar a que, where it introduces the result involving the signal.
el
El means “the” before router in el router. It identifies a specific masculine noun and is placed directly before that noun.
router
Router means “router,” the device being restarted and moved in the dialogue. It is used after el to refer to the specific device at home.
necesite
Necesite means “needs” in the uncertain statement Puede que el router necesite un reinicio rápido. After Puede que, this form presents the router’s need as a possibility.
un
Un means “a” in un reinicio rápido and introduces one non-specific restart. It comes before the noun, followed here by its description rápido.
reinicio
Reinicio means “restart”; un reinicio rápido refers to a quick restart of the router. It is a useful noun for describing a short restart of a device.
rápido
Rápido means “quick” and describes the restart in un reinicio rápido. It comes after the noun it describes in this expression.
Lo
In ¿Lo apago...? and lo vuelvo a encender, Lo means “it” and refers to the router. It is placed before the conjugated verb in this question.
apago
Apago means “I turn off” in ¿Lo apago y lo vuelvo a encender? The speaker asks whether to turn off the router, with Lo identifying what is turned off.
y
Y means “and” and joins the two actions in Lo apago y lo vuelvo a encender. It is useful for linking actions that happen together or in sequence.
vuelvo
In lo vuelvo a encender, vuelvo contributes the meaning “again”: I turn it on again. The reusable pattern is volver a + infinitive for doing something again.
encender
Encender means “to turn on” in vuelvo a encender. With lo before it, lo vuelvo a encender means “I turn it on again.”
Hazlo
Hazlo means “do that” and gives a direct instruction to carry out the previously mentioned action. The lo refers to that action, namely turning the router off and on again.
luego
Luego means “then” and orders the next action after Hazlo. It is useful for connecting one instruction to the action that follows it.
espera
Espera means “wait” in the instruction luego espera. It tells one person to pause until the condition introduced by hasta is met.
hasta
Hasta means “until” and introduces the point up to which the person should wait. Here it is followed by the event la luz de estado vuelva a encenderse.
luz
Luz means “light”; in la luz de estado, it refers to the router’s status light. The expression luz de estado identifies a light that shows the device’s status.
de
In luz de estado, de links luz with the function or type expressed by estado. It is also used in cerca de la puerta to link cerca with its reference point.
estado
Estado means “status” in luz de estado. Together, luz de estado means the light that indicates the device’s status.
vuelva
In vuelva a encenderse, vuelva contributes the idea of coming back or happening again. The pattern volver a + infinitive is used here for the light coming on again.
encenderse
Encenderse means “to turn on” or “to come on” when the light itself is the thing that becomes lit. In vuelva a encenderse, it means that the status light comes back on.
se
Se is attached to encenderse and shows that the light is the thing that comes on. In vuelva a encenderse, the action is described as the light becoming lit rather than someone turning it on.
está
Está means “is” in La página se está cargando and helps describe an action in progress. It is followed here by cargando.
cargando
Cargando means “loading” in se está cargando. Together with está, se está cargando describes the page as loading at that moment.
mejor
Mejor means “better” and shows that the page is loading more successfully than before. It comes after se está cargando to compare the current result.
ahora
Ahora means “now” and places the improved loading in the present moment. It can be added to a sentence to say when something is happening.
Ponerlo
Ponerlo means “putting it” in Ponerlo en un estante abierto podría ayudar. The lo refers to the router, and the infinitive phrase names the action being considered.
estante
Estante means “shelf” in un estante abierto. It names the place where the router might be put.
abierto
Abierto means “open” and describes the shelf in un estante abierto. It comes after the noun and specifies what kind of shelf is meant.
podría
Podría means “might” or “could” and presents the proposed placement as a possible way to improve the connection. It is useful for making a cautious suggestion about what may help.
ayudar
Ayudar means “to help” in podría ayudar and ayudar a que la señal llegue. The pattern ayudar a + result or clause is useful for describing what an action may improve.
aún
In aún más, aún means “even” and strengthens the comparison. The full expression aún más means “even more,” as in helping more than the current improvement.
más
Más means “more” in aún más. Together, aún más intensifies the amount of help that the new router position might provide.
Deberíamos
Deberíamos means “should we” in Deberíamos moverlo cerca de la puerta? It proposes a shared action as a possible next step.
moverlo
Moverlo means “move it,” with lo referring to the router. The pattern moverlo cerca de + place describes moving an object near a location.
cerca
Cerca means “near” in cerca de la puerta and expresses close location. It is commonly followed by de and the place used as the reference point.
puerta
Puerta means “door” or “doorway”; here it is the location near which the router might be moved. It follows la in la puerta.
Eso
Eso means “that” and refers to the suggested move near the doorway. It lets the speaker refer back to the previous idea as a whole.
señal
Señal means “signal”; here it is the signal that may reach this room. The reusable pattern is la señal llegue a + place for describing where the signal reaches.
llegue
Llegue means “reaches” in ayudar a que la señal llegue a esta habitación. It describes the intended result: the signal reaching the room.
Grammar Points
Imperativo afirmativo + pronombre de objeto: hazlo
Hazlo ahora.
AH-sloh ah-OR-ah.Do it now.
In an affirmative tú command, the object pronoun attaches to the verb: haz + lo.
volver a + infinitivo
La luz vuelve a encenderse.
lah loohs BWEHL-beh ah en-sen-DEHR-seh.The light comes back on.
Use volver a + infinitive to express that an action happens again or something returns to a state.
Spanish Vocabulary
apagar
verb
ah-pah-GAR
to turn off
apago
Should I turn it off?
conexión
noun
koh-nek-see-OWN
connection
The internet connection is weak.
débil
adj
DEH-beel
weak
The connection is weak.
esperar
verb
es-peh-RAR
to wait
espera
Wait until the status light comes back on.
estado
noun
es-TAH-doh
status
The status light.
habitación
noun
ah-bee-tah-see-OWN
room
In this room.
hacerlo
phrase
ah-SER-loh
to do it
Hazlo
Do that.
luz
noun
loohs
light
The status light.
necesitar
verb
neh-seh-see-TAR
to need
necesite
The router may need a quick restart.
reinicio
noun
reh-ee-NEE-see-oh
restart
A quick restart.
router
noun
ROO-tehr
router
The router may need a restart.
volver a encender
phrase
bol-BEHR ah en-sen-DEHR
to turn on again
vuelvo a encender
Should I turn it on again?
Quiz
Word Order
Arrange the words in the correct order.
Should we move it near the doorway?
Show Answer
¿Deberíamos moverlo cerca de la puerta?Spelling
Tap the letters to spell the word.
to need
Show Answer
necesiteto do it
Show Answer
Hazloconnection
Show Answer
conexiónweak