Reporting a Lost Wallet | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Creo que dejé mi cartera.

   I think I left my wallet behind.

   Creo que

   I think that

   dejé

   left behind

   cartera

   wallet

   More detail

   Creo que means “I think that.” Creo is the first-person singular present form of creer (“to think/believe”); que introduces the proposition being considered. The subject yo is included in the verb form, so Spanish does not need an explicit yo here. Example: Creo que es tarde. — “I think it is late.” dejé means “I left behind” in this utterance. It is the first-person singular preterite of dejar, so it presents the leaving as a completed past event. The ending -é identifies the yo form in this tense for this verb. Example: Dejé las llaves en casa. — “I left the keys at home.” cartera is a feminine noun meaning “wallet” in this context. Its useful base form is cartera; the possessive mi before it means “my” and does not state a number by itself. The noun is feminine, but mi does not show a gender distinction here. Example: Mi cartera está aquí. — “My wallet is here.” Together, Creo que introduces the speaker’s belief, and dejé mi cartera states the completed past event being considered: “I think I left my wallet behind.”

2. Volvamos al mostrador y reportémoslo.

   Let's go back to the front desk and report it.

   Volvamos

   let’s go back

   mostrador

   front desk; counter

   reportémoslo

   let’s report it

   More detail

   Volvamos comes from volver (“to go back/return”). Its -amos form is first-person plural and, here, the present subjunctive used for a shared suggestion or command: “let’s go back.” Compare volvemos (“we go back / we are going back”) as a statement. Example: Volvamos mañana. — “Let’s come back tomorrow.” mostrador is a masculine singular noun meaning a counter or service desk. A referring article or adjective is therefore masculine singular: el mostrador, un mostrador. Example: El mostrador está allí. — “The desk is over there.” reportémoslo combines reportar (“to report”) with the first-person-plural subjunctive form reportemos and the attached direct-object clitic lo (“it”). With an attached clitic, the written accent in reportémoslo preserves the intended stress. lo is masculine singular or neuter; it does not match the feminine noun cartera (“wallet”). The preceding context identifies the thing left behind as a cartera, so standard direct-object agreement for explicitly reporting that wallet would be reportémosla. The fixed source nevertheless contains reportémoslo; this explanation preserves that observed form rather than silently correcting it. Example: Reportémoslo ahora. — “Let’s report it now.” Together, Volvamos al mostrador means “Let’s go back to the front desk,” with al combining a (“to”) and el. y reportémoslo adds the coordinated suggestion “and let’s report it.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Let’s go back to the front desk and report it.”

3. Es marrón y tiene un pequeño botón plateado.

   It's brown with a small silver button.

   Es

   is

   marrón

   brown

   tiene

   has

   pequeño

   small

   botón

   button

   plateado

   silver

   More detail

   Es is the third-person singular present form of ser, used here to identify or describe an item: “it is.” The subject is understood from the surrounding context rather than stated in this sentence. Compare es (“is”) with son (“are”) for a plural subject. Example: El bolso es negro. — “The bag is black.” marrón is the color adjective “brown.” It normally has the same form for masculine and feminine singular nouns; in the plural, marrones is used. Example: La cartera es marrón. — “The wallet is brown.” Tiene is the third-person singular present form of tener, “to have.” The form agrees with the understood singular subject; tienen is the corresponding present form for a plural subject. Here, tener introduces a feature the item possesses. Example: La caja tiene una etiqueta. — “The box has a label.” pequeño is the masculine singular form of the adjective “small.” It agrees with botón, which is masculine singular. The feminine singular form is pequeña, and the plural forms are pequeños and pequeñas, chosen according to the noun’s gender and number. Example: una llave pequeña — “a small key.” botón means “button.” The written accent marks the stressed syllable; its plural is botones. In this sentence, it is the thing possessed by the item described at the start. Example: El botón está suelto. — “The button is loose.” plateado is the masculine singular form of “silver-colored” or “silver.” It agrees with masculine singular botón; the feminine singular form is plateada, as in una hebilla plateada — “a silver-colored buckle.” Together, Es marrón identifies the item’s color, and tiene un pequeño botón plateado adds a feature it possesses: “it has a small silver button.” The whole utterance therefore means “It’s brown with a small silver button.”

4. Ese detalle les ayudará a revisar los objetos perdidos.

   That detail will help them check lost property.

   Ese

   that

   detalle

   detail

   les

   to them

   ayudará

   will help

   revisar

   to check

   objetos

   objects

   perdidos

   lost

   More detail

   Ese is the masculine singular demonstrative meaning “that.” It agrees with detalle, which is masculine singular. Demonstratives such as ese, esa, esos, and esas vary for gender and number; here the form identifies the detail as a single masculine-noun referent. detalle means “detail.” Its plural is detalles. In this sentence, the fixed translation identifies the referent as one detail: “that detail.” les is an indirect-object pronoun meaning “to them” here. The translation specifies a plural group of recipients. It does not identify their gender; Spanish les is used for both masculine and feminine plural recipients. Compare le for one recipient and les for more than one. ayudará is the third-person singular future form of ayudar, “to help”: ayudar → ayudará. The singular subject is ese detalle, so the verb is singular. With ayudar a followed by an infinitive, Spanish expresses helping someone do something. revisar is the infinitive “to check” or “to review.” In les ayudará a revisar, it names the action that the recipients will be helped to perform. The infinitive does not show a separate person or number here; the future verb carries the tense and agrees with ese detalle. objetos means “objects” or “items.” It is the plural of objeto. The phrase objetos perdidos refers here to lost items or lost property. perdidos is the masculine plural form of perdido, “lost,” and agrees with objetos: both are masculine plural. The feminine singular and plural forms are perdida and perdidas, used with a feminine noun. Together, Ese detalle is the singular subject, les marks the people helped, and ayudará a revisar says that the detail will help them check something. The complete object phrase los objetos perdidos means “the lost items.” Thus the whole utterance means: “That detail will help them check lost property.”

5. ¿Qué debo decir si me piden detalles?

   What should I say if they ask for details?

   Qué

   what

   debo

   should

   decir

   say

   si

   if

   me piden

   ask me

   detalles

   details

   More detail

   Qué is the accented interrogative form used to ask for information about a thing, action, or content. In this question, qué asks for the content of what the speaker should say. Compare qué in a direct question with unaccented que, which commonly introduces a clause: ¿Qué necesitas? = “What do you need?” debo is the first-person singular present form of deber. Here it expresses what the speaker ought to or should do. The subject is the speaker, and the following infinitive supplies the action: debo + infinitive. For example, Debo salir means “I should leave” or “I have to leave,” depending on context. Deber can also express obligation more strongly than English “should” in some contexts. decir is the infinitive “to say” or “to tell.” After a form such as debo, Spanish uses the infinitive: debo decir = “I should say.” Its present-tense forms include digo for “I say” and dice for “he/she/you formal says,” but the infinitive remains unchanged after debo. si introduces a condition: “if.” It is unaccented here because it is not the pronoun sí meaning “yes.” The clause after si states the condition under which the main question becomes relevant. For example, Si llegan, avísame means “If they arrive, let me know.” me piden comes from pedir, “to ask for” or “to request.” Piden is the third-person plural present form, so the asking subjects are understood as “they”; the fixed translation confirms that reading. Me is the indirect-object pronoun referring to the person being asked: me piden means “they ask me.” Spanish commonly uses the pattern pedir algo a alguien: Me piden información = “They ask me for information.” The verb pedir has an e-to-i stem change in several present-tense forms, including pido and piden; the first-person present form is pido, not *pedo*. detalles is the plural noun “details.” The plural ending -s is used here because the singular detalle ends in an unstressed vowel: detalle is singular and detalles is plural. In me piden detalles, it is the thing requested, while me identifies the person from whom they request it. Together, ¿Qué debo decir asks what the speaker ought to say. si me piden detalles adds the condition “if they ask me for details.” The complete utterance therefore means: “What should I say if they ask for details?”

6. Describe la cartera, pero mantén la información personal en privado.

   Describe the wallet, but keep personal information private.

   Describe

   describe

   cartera

   wallet

   mantén

   keep

   información

   information

   personal

   personal

   en privado

   in private

   More detail

   Describe is the affirmative command form of describir for tú (singular informal “you”): “describe.” The verb is regular in this command form: describir → describe. For a formal singular command, Spanish uses describa, while describan addresses several people. cartera means “wallet” here, as established by the fixed translation. It is a feminine singular noun, so the article la agrees with it. Example: Mi cartera está aquí. — “My wallet is here.” mantén is the affirmative command form of mantener for tú: “keep” or “maintain.” This form is irregular; the infinitive is mantener, not mantén. A formal singular command is mantenga, and a plural command for ustedes is mantengan. información means “information.” It is a feminine singular noun. personal means “personal” and has the same written form with masculine and feminine singular nouns; here it modifies feminine singular información. Example: No compartas información personal. — “Do not share personal information.” en privado is a phrase meaning “in private.” With mantén, it completes the instruction to keep the personal information private. Together, Describe la cartera means “Describe the wallet.” The conjunction pero introduces a contrast between that instruction and the next one. mantén la información personal en privado means “keep the personal information private.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Describe the wallet, but keep personal information private.”

7. Puedo escribirles una nota breve.

   I can write a short note for them.

   Puedo

   I can

   escribirles

   write for them

   nota

   note

   breve

   short

   More detail

   Puedo is the first-person singular present form of poder (“to be able to”): puedo, “I can”; puedes, “you can”; puede, “he/she/you formal can.” Here it expresses present ability or possibility. Poder is followed by an infinitive: Puedo escribir = “I can write.” escribirles combines the infinitive escribir (“to write”) with the attached indirect-object pronoun les. Here les refers to plural recipients and gives the intended meaning “for them”; it does not identify who those people are. With an infinitive, this pronoun can be attached: escribir → escribirles. The same pattern works in puedo ayudarles (“I can help them”) and quiero enviarles un mensaje (“I want to send them a message”). Nota is a feminine singular noun meaning “note.” Its plural is notas; a useful article contrast is una nota (“a note”) and la nota (“the note”). Breve means “short” or “brief” here, describing the note’s length. Its base form is breve; the comparative is más breve (“shorter” or “briefer”). Unlike many Spanish adjectives, breve has the same form with masculine and feminine singular nouns: un mensaje breve and una nota breve. In the plural, it becomes breves. Together, Puedo supplies “I can,” escribirles supplies “write for them,” and una nota breve means “a short note.” The complete utterance is therefore “I can write a short note for them.”

8. Eso hará que el informe sea claro.

   That will make the report clear.

   Eso

   that

   hará que

   will make ...

   informe

   report

   sea

   be

   claro

   clear

   More detail

   Eso means “that” here and refers to an already identifiable situation or action without naming the referent in this sentence. It is a demonstrative pronoun: unlike a demonstrative determiner, it stands on its own. hará que contains hará, the third-person singular future of hacer (“to make/do”): hacer → hará. In this pattern, hacer que + clause means “to cause something to be or happen.” The clause after que normally uses the subjunctive because it expresses the result caused by the subject. Example: La noticia hará que todos estén tranquilos. — “The news will make everyone feel calm.” informe is a masculine singular noun meaning “report.” In the full noun phrase el informe, the article el marks it as a definite masculine singular noun phrase. Here that phrase is the subject of the result clause after que. sea is the third-person singular present subjunctive of ser (“to be”): ser → sea. Here it introduces the report’s resulting state after hacer que; it is not an imperative. Compare the indicative es (“is”) with the subjunctive sea in this causative pattern. claro is a masculine singular adjective meaning “clear.” It agrees with informe, which is masculine singular. The feminine singular form is clara, as in una explicación clara; plural forms include claros and claras. Together, Eso hará que presents a future cause, and el informe sea claro presents the resulting state: “That will make the report clear.” The reusable pattern is X hará que Y sea + adjective — “X will make Y be/become + adjective.”