Checking travel documents | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. ¿Podrías ayudarme a revisar los documentos de viaje antes de salir?

   Could you help me check the travel documents before we leave?

   Podrías

   Could you

   ayudarme

   help me

   revisar

   check; review

   documentos

   documents

   viaje

   travel; trip

   antes de

   before

   salir

   leave; go out

   More detail

   Podrías is the second-person singular conditional form of poder (“to be able to”). Here it makes a courteous request: “Could you…?” The conditional is not an imperative; compare the reusable pattern ¿Podrías + infinitive...?. ayudarme combines the infinitive ayudar (“to help”) with the attached object pronoun me (“me”). The pronoun identifies the person receiving the help. In ayudarme a revisar, a + infinitive introduces the action that the help concerns. revisar is an infinitive meaning “to check” or “to review.” It is unchanged for person and number here because it follows a; the finite verb podrías carries the second-person form. Example: Necesito revisar el formulario. — “I need to check the form.” documentos is the plural of documento, “document.” The plural is marked by -s; los agrees with this masculine plural noun. The phrase los documentos therefore means “the documents,” without specifying a number beyond plural. viaje is the singular noun “trip” or “travel.” In documentos de viaje, de viaje specifies the type or purpose of the documents, producing “travel documents.” Here viaje is not the noun being counted as plural. antes de means “before.” Before an action, it is followed by an infinitive: antes de + infinitive. This is the reusable pattern in antes de salir. salir is the infinitive “to leave” or “to go out.” Infinitives do not show person or number in this form. In this sentence, the fixed translation identifies the intended meaning as “before we leave”; the Spanish infinitive itself does not separately mark “we.” Together, ¿Podrías ayudarme a revisar los documentos de viaje asks whether the listener could help the speaker check the travel documents. antes de salir adds the time condition “before we leave.” The complete utterance is: “Could you help me check the travel documents before we leave?”

2. Empecemos con tu pasaporte y tu tarjeta de embarque.

   Let's start with your passport and boarding pass.

   Empecemos

   Let's start

   pasaporte

   passport

   tarjeta de embarque

   boarding pass

   More detail

   Empecemos means “let’s start” here. It is the first-person plural form of empezar used to propose or invite an action shared by the speaker and others. The form addresses a group including the speaker; it is not a command addressed only to one listener. Empezar means “to start/begin.” Example: Empecemos ahora. — “Let’s start now.” pasaporte is the noun “passport.” Its base form is also pasaporte; the plural is pasaportes. Example: Necesito mi pasaporte. — “I need my passport.” tarjeta de embarque is the compound noun phrase “boarding pass.” Tarjeta means “card,” while de embarque specifies that it is for boarding. The noun tarjeta is feminine, so an adjective modifying it would normally use feminine singular agreement: una tarjeta válida — “a valid card.” Example: Guarda tu tarjeta de embarque. — “Keep your boarding pass.” The pattern empezar con + noun means “to start with + noun.” Here, con introduces the two things chosen as the starting point: tu pasaporte and tu tarjeta de embarque. Tu means “your” and agrees in number with the noun it modifies; it does not change for grammatical gender. The whole utterance therefore means, “Let’s start with your passport and boarding pass.”

3. Mi pasaporte está en el bolsillo interior.

   My passport is in the inside pocket.

   Mi

   my

   pasaporte

   passport

   está

   is located

   en

   in

   bolsillo

   pocket

   interior

   inside

   More detail

   Mi is a possessive determiner meaning “my.” It agrees with the possessed noun in number, not with the possessor: mi pasaporte is singular, while mis pasaportes is plural. Example: Mi tarjeta está aquí. — “My card is here.” pasaporte is a masculine singular noun meaning “passport.” Its plural is pasaportes; its grammatical gender is reflected in combinations such as el pasaporte, although the noun itself does not change form for gender. está is the third-person singular present form of estar, “to be.” Here estar expresses the location or position of the passport, rather than identifying what it is. The subject is mi pasaporte, so the singular form está is used. Example: El documento está en la mesa. — “The document is on the table.” en is a preposition meaning “in” here. It introduces the place where the passport is located. Its English equivalent can vary with the setting, as in en la mesa — “on the table.” bolsillo is a masculine singular noun meaning “pocket.” Its plural is bolsillos. In the sentence, it appears in the noun phrase el bolsillo interior, with the masculine singular article el. interior is a descriptive adjective meaning “inside” or “inner” here. It agrees with bolsillo in number, but its singular form does not mark masculine versus feminine: el bolsillo interior and la parte interior both use interior. Its plural is interiores. Together, está en el bolsillo interior says that the passport is located in the inside pocket. Thus the whole utterance means “My passport is in the inside pocket.”

4. ¿También confirmaste la reserva del hotel?

   Did you confirm the hotel reservation too?

   También

   also; too

   confirmaste

   you confirmed

   reserva

   reservation; booking

   hotel

   hotel

   More detail

   También means “also” or “too.” It adds this action to something already relevant; it does not replace or exclude the other information. Example: También necesito mi pasaporte. — “I also need my passport.” confirmaste is the form of confirmar used here for “you confirmed.” Its ending -aste marks the completed past action of the informal singular subject tú in the Spanish preterite. The subject pronoun is usually omitted because the verb form identifies it. Compare confirmé — “I confirmed” and confirmaste — “you confirmed.” reserva is the feminine noun “reservation” or “booking.” It comes from the base noun reserva; the same form can also refer to a reserve in other contexts, but here the following phrase identifies a booking. Example: Tengo una reserva. — “I have a reservation.” hotel is the noun “hotel.” In Spanish it is commonly used with the masculine article: el hotel. Example: El hotel está cerca. — “The hotel is nearby.” The noun phrase la reserva del hotel means “the hotel reservation.” Del is the contraction of de + el; here de links the reservation with the hotel. The question word order remains natural in Spanish: ¿También confirmaste ...? places también before the completed verb and asks whether this additional action happened. Together, ¿También confirmaste la reserva del hotel? means “Did you confirm the hotel reservation too?”

5. El correo de confirmación está guardado en mi teléfono.

   The confirmation email is saved on my phone.

   correo

   email

   confirmación

   confirmation

   está guardado

   is saved

   teléfono

   phone

   More detail

   correo means “email” here. In this use, it refers to an electronic message, not the postal service. Its plural is correos. Example: Recibí un correo. — “I received an email.” confirmación means “confirmation.” It is a feminine noun; the article or adjective referring to it would be feminine singular, as in la confirmación. It is related to the verb confirmar, “to confirm,” but the observed form is the noun. Example: Necesito la confirmación. — “I need the confirmation.” está guardado describes the current stored state. está is the third-person singular present form of estar; guardado is the masculine singular past participle of guardar, “to save” or “to store,” and it agrees with correo, the masculine singular noun. With a feminine singular noun, the form would be está guardada: La copia está guardada. — “The copy is saved.” The construction estar + participle presents a resulting state, while guardar alone can describe the action: Guardo el correo. — “I save the email.” teléfono means “phone.” The accent mark belongs to the singular form; the plural is teléfonos. In mi teléfono, mi means “my” and agrees in number, not grammatical gender: mi teléfono and mi copia. Example: Mi teléfono está cargado. — “My phone is charged.” The structure El correo de confirmación means “the confirmation email”: de links the type or purpose of the email to confirmación. está guardado then says that this email is in a saved state. Finally, en mi teléfono identifies where it is saved, giving the complete meaning: “The confirmation email is saved on my phone.”

6. ¿Tienes una copia impresa por si se apaga tu teléfono?

   Do you have a printed copy in case your phone dies?

   Tienes

   do you have

   copia

   copy

   impresa

   printed

   por si

   in case

   se apaga

   goes off

   teléfono

   phone

   More detail

   Tienes is the present-tense tú form of tener, “to have”: yo tengo, tú tienes, él/ella/usted tiene. Here it is the verb in a yes-or-no question, so ¿Tienes...? asks whether one person has something. The form itself identifies the addressee as singular and informal; the question does not use the usted form ¿Tiene...?. copia is a feminine singular noun meaning “copy.” Its plural is copias. The feminine gender is relevant because the word modifying it is impresa, and the article in the full phrase is feminine singular: una copia. impresa describes the copy as printed. It is the feminine singular form related to the participle impreso from imprimir: un documento impreso, but una copia impresa. The ending agrees with copia, not with the person who printed it. Example: Necesito una versión impresa. — “I need a printed version.” por si introduces a possible circumstance that the speaker wants to be prepared for: “in case.” It keeps the possibility open; it does not mean “instead of” or exclude the main situation. A reusable pattern is Lleva agua por si hace calor. — “Take water in case it is hot.” se apaga comes from apagar, “to turn off” or “to go out.” In this sentence, se apaga describes the phone shutting down or losing power, with teléfono as the singular subject. The form apaga is third-person singular present; se is part of this intransitive use, rather than a separate word meaning “phone.” Compare Apago el teléfono — “I turn off the phone” — with El teléfono se apaga — “The phone turns off.” teléfono means “phone.” The accent on the second é is part of the spelling. tu before it means “your” for one person addressed with tú: tu teléfono, “your phone.” Together, ¿Tienes una copia impresa...? asks whether the addressee has a printed copy. por si se apaga tu teléfono adds the contingency “in case your phone dies/turns off.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Do you have a printed copy in case your phone dies?”

7. Imprimí una y la puse en la carpeta.

   I printed one and put it in the folder.

   Imprimí

   I printed

   una

   one

   la puse

   I put it

   carpeta

   folder

   More detail

   Imprimí means “I printed” here. It is the first-person singular preterite of imprimir, used for a completed past action. The subject “I” is included in the verb ending, so Spanish does not need a separate subject pronoun. Compare imprimo (“I print / I am printing”) with imprimí (“I printed”). una means “one” and stands alone as a feminine singular pronoun: it refers to one printed copy understood from the preceding context. It agrees with the omitted noun copia, which is feminine: una copia. As an article, una would come before a noun, as in una carpeta (“a folder”); here the noun is omitted because it is recoverable. la puse means “I put it.” la is a feminine singular direct-object pronoun, referring here to that copy. Its feminine form agrees with copia; it is not determined by the nearby noun carpeta. puse is the first-person singular preterite of poner (“to put”), an irregular past form. A reusable pattern is poner + object + en + place: Puse la copia en la carpeta means “I put the copy in the folder.” carpeta means “folder.” With en, en la carpeta means “in the folder”; la here is the feminine singular article modifying carpeta, not the object pronoun in la puse. Together, Imprimí una y la puse en la carpeta means “I printed one and put it in the folder.” The first clause introduces one printed copy, and the second clause refers back to that copy with feminine singular la. The two first-person preterite verbs present the printing and placing as completed actions.

8. Entonces tenemos todo lo que necesitamos.

   Then we have everything we need.

   Entonces

   then

   tenemos

   we have

   todo lo que

   everything that

   necesitamos

   we need

   More detail

   Entonces means “then” here and commonly links a result or conclusion to what came before. It can also mean “in that case” in other contexts, but here it marks the conclusion: “Then …”. Tenemos is the first-person plural present form of tener (“to have”): tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, tenéis, tienen. The ending -emos identifies “we” in this present-tense form. In this sentence, tener expresses possession or availability: “we have.” Example: Tenemos tiempo. — “We have time.” Todo lo que is a reusable pattern meaning “everything that” or “all that.” Todo means “everything” here, while lo que introduces the information that defines it. The form lo is neuter and refers to an unspecified thing or set of things, not to a particular masculine noun. Example: Entiendo todo lo que dices. — “I understand everything you say.” Necesitamos is the first-person plural present form of necesitar (“to need”): necesito (“I need”) and necesitamos (“we need”). It agrees with the understood subject “we.” In todo lo que necesitamos, it appears in the relative clause and describes what is needed. Example: Necesitamos más tiempo. — “We need more time.” Together, tenemos todo lo que necesitamos means “we have everything we need.” Entonces connects that statement to the preceding context, giving the complete meaning: “Then we have everything we need.”