Borrowing a bicycle pump | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Mi neumático trasero está casi desinflado.

   My back tire is almost flat.

   neumático

   tire

   trasero

   back; rear

   está

   is

   casi

   almost

   desinflado

   flat; deflated

   More detail

   neumático means “tire” here. It is a masculine noun, so the related adjectives in this sentence use masculine singular forms. Example: El neumático necesita aire. — “The tire needs air.” trasero means “rear/back” and describes neumático. Its masculine singular form agrees with that noun: neumático trasero. The feminine form is trasera when it describes a feminine noun, as in la rueda trasera — “the rear wheel.” está is the third-person singular present form of estar (“to be”). Estar presents the tire’s current condition: El neumático está... — “The tire is...” It is different from es, a form of ser, which is used for identity or more inherent descriptions. casi means “almost” and modifies the following condition. It makes the condition approximate: the tire is close to being flat, not necessarily completely flat. Example: La batería está casi vacía. — “The battery is almost empty.” desinflado means “deflated” or, in this context, “flat.” It is the masculine singular form of the adjective related to desinflar (“to deflate”), agreeing with neumático. The feminine singular form is desinflada, as in La rueda está desinflada. — “The wheel is flat.” Together, Mi neumático trasero means “my rear tire”; está introduces its present condition; and casi desinflado means “almost flat.” The complete utterance is therefore: “My back tire is almost flat.”

2. Tengo una bomba que puedes pedir prestada.

   I have a pump you can borrow.

   Tengo

   I have

   bomba

   pump

   puedes

   you can

   pedir prestada

   borrow

   More detail

   Tengo is the first-person singular present form of tener: tengo = “I have.” The subject is the speaker, and Spanish expresses that subject in the verb form, so a separate subject pronoun is not needed. For example: Tengo tiempo. — “I have time.” bomba means “pump” here. It is a feminine singular noun, as shown by una bomba. The article and any agreeing adjective use the noun’s grammatical gender and number: una bomba pequeña — “a small pump.” puedes is the second-person singular present form of poder, used here for “you can.” It expresses the other person’s ability or permission to do the following action. The matching subject is tú, though Spanish commonly omits it: Puedes venir. — “You can come.” pedir prestada is the reusable expression for “borrow,” literally using pedir (“ask for”) with prestada (“loaned/borrowed” in this construction). Pedir remains in the infinitive after puedes. Prestada is feminine singular because it agrees with the thing being borrowed, bomba; it is not agreeing with the person who borrows it. With a masculine noun, the form is pedir prestado, as in pedir prestado el libro — “to borrow the book.” Together, Tengo una bomba gives “I have a pump,” and que puedes pedir prestada adds “that you can borrow.” The relative word que links the pump to the action, so the complete utterance means: “I have a pump you can borrow.”

3. ¿Debo revisar si hay una fuga primero?

   Should I check for a leak first?

   Debo

   I should / I must

   revisar

   check

   si hay

   whether there is

   fuga

   leak

   primero

   first

   More detail

   Debo is the first-person singular present form of deber. In this question, deber + infinitive asks whether the speaker ought to do something: “Should I...?” The subject is the speaker, and the form is not a command to the listener. Example: Debo llamar ahora. — “I should call now.” revisar is an infinitive meaning “to check” or “to inspect.” After deber, the infinitive names the action that may be necessary or advisable. The same form can follow other verbs that take an infinitive, for example: Quiero revisar la bomba. — “I want to check the pump.” si hay introduces the thing being checked for. Here si means “whether,” not a condition such as “if you do something,” and hay is the present form of the impersonal verb haber, used to say that something exists or is present. Hay una fuga. means “There is a leak.” This form does not change according to the number of the thing that exists: Hay una fuga and Hay dos fugas both use hay. fuga is a feminine noun meaning “leak.” With the indefinite article in the sentence, it appears as una fuga; the noun itself is fuga. In this sense, a useful contrast is fuga “leak” versus escape “escape”: they are different nouns, even though fuga can have other meanings in other contexts. Example: Hay una fuga de aire. — “There is an air leak.” primero is an adverb meaning “first,” marking the order of the proposed action. It modifies the checking action and places that check first in the sequence. As an adjective, the related form can agree with a noun, as in el primer paso — “the first step,” but the observed primero here is functioning as an adverb. Together, Debo revisar asks whether the speaker should perform the action, si hay una fuga specifies what the check is meant to determine, and primero places that check first in the sequence. The whole utterance means: “Should I check for a leak first?”

4. Mira el costado del neumático antes de poner aire.

   Look along the sidewall before adding air.

   Mira

   Look

   costado

   side

   neumático

   tire

   antes de

   before

   poner

   put or add

   aire

   air

   More detail

   Mira is the affirmative command form of mirar for one familiar or informal listener: “look.” The subject is understood as tú. For a formal singular command, Spanish uses mire; for a plural familiar command, mirad, and for a plural formal command, miren. Example: Mira aquí. — “Look here.” costado means “side.” Here, together with del neumático, it identifies the tire’s sidewall. It is a masculine singular noun: el costado. Example: El costado está dañado. — “The side is damaged.” neumático means “tire.” It is a masculine singular noun in this use: el neumático. The phrase del neumático is de + el, meaning “of the tire” or “the tire’s.” Example: El neumático pierde aire. — “The tire is losing air.” antes de means “before.” When the following action is expressed with an infinitive, the reusable pattern is antes de + infinitive: antes de salir — “before leaving.” Here it places adding air later than the looking action. poner is the infinitive “to put.” In this sentence, poner aire means “to add air” to the tire; the broader verb can mean “put” in other contexts. Its present-tense forms include pongo (“I put”), pones (“you put”), and pone (“he, she, or you formal puts”). Example: Voy a poner aire. — “I am going to add air.” aire means “air.” It is a masculine singular noun: el aire. In poner aire, it is the material being added, and no article is needed when referring to air in this general material sense. Example: Hay que añadir aire. — “One must add air.” Together, Mira el costado del neumático means “Look along the sidewall of the tire.” Then antes de poner aire adds “before adding air.” The complete utterance is: “Look along the sidewall before adding air.”

5. ¿Puedes mostrarme cómo conectarla?

   Can you show me how to attach it?

   Puedes

   can; are you able to

   mostrarme

   show me

   cómo

   how

   conectarla

   attach it

   More detail

   Puedes is the present-tense form of poder for tú: puedes. Here it asks about the listener’s ability or willingness to do something, rather than stating that the listener is doing it. The useful pattern is ¿Puedes + infinitive...? — “Can you ...?” For example: ¿Puedes esperar? — “Can you wait?” mostrarme combines the infinitive mostrar (“to show”) with the attached pronoun me (“to me”). The infinitive keeps its form after puedes, while me identifies the person who will receive the showing. The pattern mostrarme + something means “show me something.” For example: ¿Puedes mostrarme el camino? — “Can you show me the way?” cómo introduces the method or procedure: “how.” In mostrarme cómo + infinitive, it introduces an explanation or demonstration of how to perform an action. The accent mark distinguishes this question word from the conjunction como in other uses. For example: Enséñame cómo funciona. — “Teach me how it works.” conectarla combines the infinitive conectar (“to connect” or “to attach”) with the direct-object pronoun la, “it” for a singular feminine referent. The pronoun is attached to the infinitive. The exact referent of la is not identified by the supplied sentence, but its feminine singular grammatical form is clear. The pattern conectar + lo/la/los/las changes according to the object: conectarlo refers to a masculine singular object, while conectarla refers to a feminine singular object. For example: Voy a conectarla. — “I’m going to connect it.” Together, ¿Puedes mostrarme cómo conectarla? asks the listener to show the speaker the procedure for attaching or connecting the feminine singular object referred to by la. The question’s structure is ¿Puedes + mostrarme + cómo + infinitive with object pronoun? The surrounding context concerns examining a tire and then pressing a part onto a valve, but it does not uniquely identify what la refers to.

6. Presiona esta parte sobre la válvula y bombea despacio.

   Press this part onto the valve and pump slowly.

   Presiona

   press

   esta

   this

   parte

   part

   sobre la válvula

   onto the valve

   bombea

   pump

   despacio

   slowly

   More detail

   Presiona is the affirmative command form of presionar for tú singular: “press.” The command addresses one person informally. Compare presione for a singular usted command. Example: Presiona el botón. — “Press the button.” esta means “this” and is the feminine singular demonstrative. It agrees with parte, which is feminine singular: esta parte, “this part.” Demonstratives also vary by distance and number; for example, estas partes means “these parts.” parte means “part” or “section.” Its base noun form is parte; the plural is partes. In this sentence it identifies the object being pressed, without specifying a more precise type of part. sobre la válvula expresses the destination or position “onto the valve” here. la is the feminine singular definite article, and válvula is a feminine singular noun; its plural is válvulas. Example: Pon la pieza sobre la válvula. — “Put the piece onto the valve.” bombea is the affirmative tú singular command of bombear: “pump.” It gives a second instruction to the same listener. Example: Bombea dos veces. — “Pump twice.” despacio is an adverb meaning “slowly.” It describes how the pumping should be done and does not change for gender or number. Example: Bombea despacio. — “Pump slowly.” Together, Presiona esta parte sobre la válvula gives the first instruction, “Press this part onto the valve,” and bombea despacio adds the second, “and pump slowly.” The full utterance is therefore: “Press this part onto the valve and pump slowly.”

7. El neumático se siente bastante firme ahora.

   The tire feels firm enough now.

   neumático

   tire

   se siente

   feels

   bastante

   quite; sufficiently

   firme

   firm

   ahora

   now

   More detail

   neumático means “tire” here. It is a masculine singular noun: el neumático. The adjective firme agrees with it in the singular masculine form, although firme itself has the same spelling for masculine and feminine singular nouns. Example: El neumático está firme. — “The tire is firm.” se siente comes from sentirse, “to feel” or “to feel a certain way.” In this sentence, siente is the present-tense third-person singular form, matching el neumático; se is part of the pronominal verb. Compare se siente firme — “it feels firm” — with siente la presión — “he/she feels the pressure,” where sentir is used without se and has a direct object. The form se siente describes the tire's apparent condition, not an action performed by a human participant. bastante modifies firme by indicating a sufficient or fairly high degree here: “firm enough” or “quite firm.” With an adjective, its meaning depends on context; it can express degree (“quite”) or sufficiency (“enough”). It does not change form for gender or number. Example: La rueda está bastante firme. — “The wheel is firm enough.” firme means “firm” in this utterance. Its useful opposite is blando for a masculine noun or blanda for a feminine noun, meaning “soft.” Unlike firme, blando changes its ending to agree with the noun: un neumático blando, una rueda blanda. Example: El neumático no está blando. — “The tire is not soft.” ahora is the time adverb “now.” It places the tire's described condition at the current time. It does not change form. Example: Ahora está firme. — “Now it is firm.” Together, El neumático se siente bastante firme ahora means “The tire feels firm enough now.” The subject is el neumático; se siente presents its current condition, bastante firme gives the degree of firmness, and ahora locates that condition in the present.

8. Devuelve la bomba cuando termines.

   Bring the pump back when you finish.

   Devuelve

   bring back; return

   bomba

   pump

   cuando

   when

   termines

   finish

   More detail

   Devuelve is the affirmative tú command of devolver (“to return” or “to bring back”). It addresses one person informally; the command tells that person to bring something back. Compare devuelve with devuelves: the first is a command, while the second is a present-tense statement or question form. Example: Devuelve el libro. — “Bring the book back.” bomba means “pump” here. It is a feminine noun, as shown by la bomba; the article agrees with the noun. Example: La bomba funciona. — “The pump works.” cuando introduces a time clause meaning “when.” It links the requested action to the time of another event. termines is the tú present subjunctive form of terminar, “to finish.” After cuando, Spanish uses the subjunctive when the time event is viewed as pending or future relative to the main action. Compare cuando terminas (“when you finish,” for a habitual or already established pattern) with cuando termines (“when you finish,” referring to the completion expected here). Example: Te llamo cuando termines. — “I’ll call you when you finish.” Together, Devuelve la bomba gives the command “Bring the pump back,” and cuando termines specifies when to do it: “when you finish.” The whole utterance is therefore: “Bring the pump back when you finish.”