Choosing a Movie Together | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Tú quieres una película de suspense, pero yo esperaba algo más ligero.

   You want a thriller, but I was hoping for something lighter.

   Tú

   you

   quieres

   want

   película

   film; movie

   suspense

   thriller; suspense

   pero

   but

   yo

   I

   esperaba

   was hoping for; expected

   algo

   something

   más ligero

   lighter

   More detail

   Tú is the explicit subject pronoun “you,” singular and familiar. Spanish often omits subject pronouns because the verb identifies the subject, but tú is useful here because it sets up a contrast with yo later. Do not confuse it with formal singular usted or plural ustedes. quieres means “want” here. It is the second-person singular present form of querer: yo quiero, tú quieres, él/ella quiere. The stem changes from quer- to quier- in several present-tense forms. For example, ¿Quieres café? means “Do you want coffee?” película means “film” or “movie.” It is a feminine noun: una película; its plural is películas. In this sentence, una introduces the movie as an unspecified item, not as a separately emphasized numerical count. de suspense identifies the movie’s type: “of the thriller/suspense kind.” Suspense is used as a noun in this genre expression; it is not the same grammatical element as película. A reusable pattern is una película de [tipo], such as the example una película de comedia, “a comedy film.” pero means “but” and links two contrasting parts. It presents the speaker’s preference as different from the preference expressed in the first part; it does not replace or cancel the first part. yo is the explicit first-person singular subject pronoun, “I.” It makes the contrast between tú and yo clear. Spanish can often omit yo, but including it is natural when contrasting speakers. esperaba is the first-person singular imperfect indicative of esperar, “to hope” or “to expect.” In this sentence, esperaba algo means “I was hoping for something,” not simply “I expected something.” The imperfect presents the hoping as ongoing or viewed in progress at that past time. For example, Esperaba una respuesta means “I was hoping for an answer.” algo is an indefinite pronoun meaning “something.” It can stand on its own rather than naming a particular noun. With an adjective, it is followed by the adjective’s masculine singular form: algo ligero. This is the conventional form used with the neuter pronoun algo; it does not identify a human participant’s gender. más ligero means “lighter.” Ligero is the adjective, and más marks its comparative form: ligero “light,” más ligero “lighter,” el más ligero “the lightest.” Here ligero has masculine singular form after algo. The phrase refers to something lighter in tone or content, without specifying exactly how or stating an explicit comparison standard. Together, Tú quieres una película de suspense says “You want a thriller.” Pero yo esperaba algo más ligero contrasts that with the speaker’s past hope for something lighter. The complete utterance is therefore: “You want a thriller, but I was hoping for something lighter.”

2. Quizá podamos encontrar una película que los dos tengamos ganas de ver.

   Maybe we can find a film we both feel like watching.

   Quizá

   Maybe

   podamos

   we can

   encontrar

   find

   película

   film

   los dos

   both of us

   tengamos ganas de ver

   feel like watching

   More detail

   Quizá means “maybe” and presents the proposition as uncertain. It can be followed by the present subjunctive when the speaker presents something as possible; here it is followed by podamos. podamos is the first-person plural present subjunctive of poder (“to be able to, can”): poder → podemos (present indicative) / podamos (present subjunctive). The form refers to “we.” With an infinitive, poder expresses ability or possibility: Podemos salir means “We can leave.” encontrar is the infinitive of encontrar, “to find.” After a conjugated form of poder, the following verb stays in the infinitive: podamos encontrar means “we may be able to find.” película is a feminine noun meaning “film” or “movie.” In una película, the feminine singular article agrees with the noun; una means “a” here and does not by itself assert a numerical count beyond the noun’s singular form. los dos means “both of us” in this sentence. The phrase identifies the two people included in “we.” Dos is the numeral “two” and does not change for gender. Los is the masculine plural article used in the observed phrase; the supplied sentence does not identify the genders of the two people. tengamos ganas de ver uses the expression tener ganas de + infinitive, meaning “to feel like + -ing” or “to want to.” Tengamos is the first-person plural present subjunctive of tener (“to have”): tener → tenemos (present indicative) / tengamos (present subjunctive). Ganas is plural in this expression, and ver is the infinitive “to see” or “to watch.” For example, Tengo ganas de descansar means “I feel like resting.” The relative clause que los dos tengamos ganas de ver describes the film being sought: it is a film that both people feel like watching. The subjunctive tengamos is natural here because the film is introduced as an unidentified, non-specific film with the desired property; it is not necessary to attribute that choice only to quizá. Together, una película que los dos tengamos ganas de ver means “a film that both of us feel like watching.” Thus the whole utterance means “Maybe we can find a film we both feel like watching.”

3. ¿Qué tal esta comedia de misterio? Las reseñas dicen que no es demasiado intensa.

   What about this mystery comedy? The reviews say it isn't too intense.

   ¿Qué tal

   How about…?

   esta

   this

   comedia

   comedy

   misterio

   mystery

   reseñas

   reviews

   dicen

   say

   no

   not

   es

   is

   demasiado

   too

   intensa

   intense

   More detail

   ¿Qué tal is a reusable way to ask about an option or request an assessment: “How about…?” or “What do you think of…?” Example: ¿Qué tal la película? — “How about the film?” esta means “this” and is a feminine singular demonstrative determiner. It agrees with the feminine singular noun comedia. The related forms are este, estos, and estas. Example: estas películas — “these films.” comedia is a feminine noun meaning “comedy.” Its plural is comedias. Here it names the type of film being considered. Example: La comedia es divertida. — “The comedy is funny.” misterio means “mystery.” In comedia de misterio, the structure de + noun specifies a type: “mystery comedy.” Example: una película de acción — “an action film.” reseñas is the plural of the feminine noun reseña, “review.” Example: Leí una reseña. — “I read a review.” dicen is the third-person plural present form of decir, “to say.” It matches the plural subject las reseñas: “the reviews say.” A useful present-tense chain is digo, dices, dice, decimos, decís, dicen. Example: Mis amigos dicen que es buena. — “My friends say that it is good.” no marks ordinary negation and appears before the verb or expression being negated. Here it combines with es demasiado intensa to produce “is not too intense.” es is the third-person singular present form of ser, “to be.” Its understood subject here is the feminine singular comedy named earlier, and it links that subject to demasiado intensa. Example: La película es larga. — “The film is long.” demasiado means “too” before an adjective, indicating an excessive degree. In this use it is an invariable adverb, so it does not change to agree with intensa. Example: Es demasiado larga. — “It is too long.” intensa is the feminine singular form of the adjective intenso, “intense.” It agrees with the feminine singular subject understood here as la comedia. The masculine singular is intenso, and the plural forms are intensos and intensas. Example: La historia es intensa. — “The story is intense.” Together, ¿Qué tal esta comedia de misterio? asks about this mystery comedy as a possible choice. Las reseñas dicen que no es demasiado intensa says that the reviews report that the comedy is not excessively intense. The full utterance means: “What about this mystery comedy? The reviews say it isn't too intense.”

4. Podría funcionar. ¿Tiene subtítulos?

   That could work. Does it have subtitles?

   Podría

   could

   funcionar

   work; function

   Tiene

   has

   subtítulos

   subtitles

   More detail

   Podría expresses a possible result: “could.” It is the conditional form of poder for a third-person singular subject. Here, the subject is understood from the thing being considered, and the form presents the result as possible rather than certain. Compare puede “can/may” for present ability or possibility and podría “could” for a more tentative possibility. Example: Podría ser útil. — “It could be useful.” funcionar is the infinitive “to work” or “to function.” After podría, Spanish uses the infinitive: podría funcionar = “could work.” In this sentence, funcionar means “turn out successfully,” not specifically “operate” as a machine. Example: La idea podría funcionar. — “The idea could work.” Tiene means “has” here. It is the present form of tener; in this use, it refers to the thing under discussion and asks whether that thing has subtitles. Tiene can represent third-person singular “has” or formal second-person singular “you have,” but the fixed translation establishes the third-person reading here. The related first-person form is tengo, and the informal second-person form is tienes. Example: El programa tiene subtítulos. — “The program has subtitles.” subtítulos is the plural noun “subtitles.” Its singular form is subtítulo; the written accent remains in both forms. The plural ending shows that more than one subtitle is meant grammatically, while the sentence does not state a particular numeric count. Example: La película tiene subtítulos. — “The film has subtitles.” Together, Podría funcionar means “That could work,” expressing tentative approval of the option. ¿Tiene subtítulos? asks whether the item being considered has subtitles. The two sentences therefore mean: “That could work. Does it have subtitles?”

5. Sí, los tiene y no es demasiado larga.

   It does, and it isn't too long.

   Sí

   yes

   los tiene

   has them

   demasiado

   too

   larga

   long

   More detail

   Sí is an affirmative answer: “yes.” It confirms the preceding question rather than adding a new participant or object. los tiene combines the third-person singular present form tiene of tener (“to have”) with the direct-object pronoun los (“them”). Tiene has the base form tener; the subject is understood from context rather than stated. Here, los refers to the masculine plural item identified in the preceding exchange: subtitles. Because los is a direct-object pronoun, it agrees with that object in masculine plural; compare la tiene for one feminine object and las tiene for feminine plural objects. The reusable pattern is [subject] tiene [object] or [subject] los tiene when the object is already known. demasiado means “too” before the adjective larga, indicating an excessive degree: “too long.” It is different from muy (“very”): muy larga means “very long,” while demasiado larga means “longer than appropriate or wanted.” larga is the feminine singular form of the adjective largo (“long”). It agrees with the omitted singular feminine subject of es; the sentence does not state that subject as a noun, but the adjective’s form marks it as feminine singular. The adjective can change with the noun it describes: largo (masculine singular), larga (feminine singular), largos (masculine plural), and largas (feminine plural). Example: La película es demasiado larga. — “The movie is too long.” Together, Sí, los tiene means “Yes, it has them,” referring to the subtitles. y no es demasiado larga adds that the understood feminine singular subject is not excessively long. Thus the whole utterance means: “It does, and it isn’t too long.”

6. Las películas más cortas son mejores cuando empezamos tarde.

   Shorter movies are better when we start late.

   películas

   movies

   más cortas

   shorter

   mejores

   better

   empezamos

   we start

   tarde

   late

   More detail

   películas means “movies” here. Its singular base form is película; the ending -as marks feminine plural. This noun is the subject of the sentence, so the forms that describe it are also plural and feminine. más cortas means “shorter.” Cortas is the feminine plural form of corto, agreeing with películas. Spanish commonly forms a comparative with más + adjective: más corto = “shorter” in the masculine singular, más corta = feminine singular, más cortos = masculine plural, and más cortas = feminine plural. The sentence does not state what the movies are shorter than; it simply presents them as the shorter ones in the relevant comparison. mejores means “better.” It is the plural form of the irregular comparative adjective mejor, related to bueno: bueno = “good,” mejor = “better,” mejores = “better” for a plural noun. It agrees with películas in number here. The comparison is between the movies described as shorter and other relevant movies or options; the sentence does not specify the comparison group. empezamos means “we start” here. It is the first-person plural present form of empezar, so the subject is nosotros/nosotras (“we”). Spanish present forms can describe a recurring situation as well as a current or scheduled one; the English translation selects “start” in this sentence. In cuando empezamos tarde, it introduces the situation in which the comparison applies. tarde means “late.” Here it is an adverb modifying empezamos, describing the timing of the starting. Unlike an adjective, it does not agree with nosotros or with películas. Together, Las películas más cortas is “the shorter movies,” and son mejores says that they are better. cuando empezamos tarde adds the condition or time setting “when we start late.” Thus the whole utterance means: “Shorter movies are better when we start late.”

7. El tráiler tiene algo de suspense, pero sigue pareciendo divertido.

   The trailer has some suspense, but it still looks funny.

   tráiler

   trailer

   tiene

   has

   algo de

   some

   suspense

   suspense

   sigue

   still / continues

   pareciendo

   looking / seeming

   divertido

   funny

   More detail

   tráiler means “trailer” here, the film preview. It is a masculine singular noun; the accent marks the stressed syllable. Spanish commonly uses el tráiler for this meaning. tiene is the present-tense third-person singular form of tener (“to have”): tener → tiene. The subject here is the trailer, so this form says that it has or contains something. Example: La película tiene suspense. — “The movie has suspense.” algo de is a reusable expression meaning “some” or “a certain amount of.” It does not state a precise quantity. In algo de suspense, algo de introduces an amount of the following uncountable or mass-like idea. suspense is the suspense or tension created by uncertain events. In Spanish it is generally used as a masculine noun: el suspense. The phrase algo de suspense therefore means “some suspense,” not necessarily a large amount. sigue is the present-tense third-person singular form of seguir (“to continue”): seguir → sigue. With a gerund, seguir + gerundio expresses that an action or state continues. Example: El niño sigue leyendo. — “The child is still reading.” pareciendo is the gerund of parecer (“to seem” or “to look”): parecer → pareciendo. After seguir, it means “continuing to seem/look.” The adjective that follows describes how the subject appears. divertido means “funny” or “entertaining” in this sentence. It is the masculine singular form of the adjective divertido, agreeing with the masculine singular subject tráiler. The adjective can also describe something enjoyable, depending on context; here the fixed translation supports the sense “funny.” Together, El tráiler tiene algo de suspense says “The trailer has some suspense.” pero introduces a contrast, and sigue pareciendo divertido says that it continues to look funny or entertaining despite that suspense. The complete utterance is therefore: “The trailer has some suspense, but it still looks funny.”

8. Entonces nos va mejor que un thriller sin comedia.

   Then it fits us better than a straight thriller.

   Entonces

   Then

   nos va mejor

   suits us better

   thriller

   thriller

   comedia

   comedy

   More detail

   Entonces means “then” here, linking this conclusion to the preceding idea. It can also introduce a consequence: Está lloviendo; entonces, iremos en taxi means “It is raining; then, we will go by taxi.” nos va mejor is a reusable way to say that something suits us or works better for us. nos identifies the people for whom it works better, while va is the third-person singular form of ir in the expression irle bien/mal or ir bien/mal; mejor is the comparative form related to bien. Compare nos va bien (“it works well for us”), nos va mejor (“it works better for us”), and nos va peor (“it works worse for us”). Example: A Marta le va mejor el tren means “The train works better for Marta.” thriller is a noun for a thriller. Spanish commonly uses this borrowed noun, and its form does not change here for number; plural thrillers is also used. In this sentence, un thriller refers to one thriller as a type of option, while the indefinite article does not by itself assert a numerical count beyond that noun phrase’s singular form. comedia means “comedy.” It is a feminine noun; its plural is comedias. The pattern sin + noun means “without + noun,” so sin comedia describes a thriller without comedy elements. This is different from no comedia, which is not the normal way to form this noun phrase. Together, Entonces nos va mejor que un thriller sin comedia says that this option suits the speakers better than a thriller with no comedy—more naturally, “Then it fits us better than a straight thriller.” The comparison is introduced by mejor que: the speakers prefer or find this option a better fit, without stating that they reject the other option entirely.

9. Reservaré asientos en la fila del medio.

   I'll book seats in the middle row.

   Reservaré

   I’ll book / reserve

   asientos

   seats

   fila

   row

   medio

   middle

   More detail

   Reservaré is the first-person singular simple future of reservar (“to reserve/book”): reservar → reservaré (“I will reserve”). The accent marks the stressed final syllable. Here it presents the speaker’s booking as a future action. Example: Reservaré una mesa. — “I’ll reserve a table.” asientos is the plural of the masculine noun asiento (“seat”). It is the direct object of reservaré, so it identifies what will be booked. Example: Necesitamos dos asientos. — “We need two seats.” fila is a feminine noun meaning “row.” la fila therefore means “the row.” Example: Estamos en la primera fila. — “We are in the first row.” medio means “middle” here. In del medio, del is the contraction of de + el, meaning “of the” in this noun phrase, and el medio means “the middle.” Thus la fila del medio means “the middle row.” medio can also mean “half” in other contexts; the surrounding noun phrase gives it the meaning “middle” here. Together, Reservaré asientos means “I’ll book seats,” while en la fila del medio specifies their location: “in the middle row.” The complete utterance is: “I’ll book seats in the middle row.”

10. Creo que a los dos nos gustará esa película.

    I think we'll both enjoy that one.

    Creo

    I think

    a los dos

    both of us

    nos gustará

    will please us

    esa

    that

    película

    film

    More detail

    Creo is the first-person singular present form of creer, “to think/believe”: creo, crees, cree. Here it introduces the speaker’s belief, followed by que. a los dos explicitly means “both of us.” dos is the number word “two.” los dos is a masculine-form plural expression; the fixed sentence and translation do not identify the individual genders, so this form alone does not establish them. The phrase adds emphasis to nos, the indirect-object pronoun used with the following gustará. nos gustará uses the pattern gustar + indirect-object pronoun + thing that is pleasing. nos means “to us,” while gustará is the third-person singular future form of gustar (gustar → gustará). The singular form is chosen because esa película is the thing expected to please them. Spanish therefore presents the idea literally as “that film will please us,” naturally translated here as “we’ll enjoy that film.” Example: Nos gustará la idea. — “We’ll like the idea.” The thing liked, la idea, is singular, so gustará remains third-person singular. esa is the feminine singular demonstrative “that.” It agrees with the feminine singular noun película; its form is not determined by the people referred to by nos. A useful contrast is esa película (“that film”) versus esas películas (“those films”), where both the demonstrative and noun are plural in the second phrase. película means “film” or “movie.” It is a feminine noun, as shown by la in other contexts and by the agreeing demonstrative esa here. Its plural is películas. Together, Creo que introduces the speaker’s belief, a los dos emphasizes that the experience applies to both people, and nos gustará esa película says that the film will please them. The complete meaning is: “I think we’ll both enjoy that movie.”