Handling a frozen maintenance request app | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. La aplicación para solicitar mantenimiento se quedó bloqueada después de que pulsé enviar.

   The maintenance request app froze after I pressed send.

   La aplicación

   the app/application

   solicitar

   to request

   mantenimiento

   maintenance

   se quedó

   ended up / remained

   bloqueada

   blocked

   después de que

   after

   pulsé

   I pressed

   enviar

   to send

   More detail

   La aplicación is a feminine singular noun phrase meaning “the application/app.” Aplicación is feminine, so the article is la; its plural is las aplicaciones. In this sentence it is the thing that became blocked. solicitar is the infinitive “to request.” After para, an infinitive commonly expresses purpose: la aplicación para solicitar mantenimiento means “the app for requesting maintenance.” The infinitive does not show a person or tense here. Example: Un formulario para solicitar ayuda — “A form for requesting help.” mantenimiento is the noun “maintenance.” It is the object of solicitar: “to request maintenance.” The same noun can refer to maintenance work or upkeep in other contexts. se quedó combines the reflexive-looking pronoun se with quedó, the third-person singular preterite of quedar. With an adjective, quedarse can describe entering or remaining in a resulting state: se quedó bloqueada — “it became/remained blocked.” Here the subject is the feminine singular la aplicación, not an unstated person. The preterite presents this change or state as a completed event in the past. bloqueada is the feminine singular form of bloqueado, “blocked.” It agrees with aplicación in gender and number. The masculine singular form is bloqueado, and plural forms include bloqueadas for feminine plural and bloqueados for masculine plural or mixed groups. Example: La pantalla está bloqueada — “The screen is blocked.” después de que introduces a later-time relationship: “after.” It is followed here by a clause with its own subject and verb, pulsé enviar. Example: Salí después de que terminó la reunión — “I left after the meeting ended.” pulsé is the first-person singular preterite of pulsar, “to press.” The ending -é identifies “I” in this past-tense form. In this sentence, the speaker reports the completed action “I pressed.” Example: Pulsé el botón — “I pressed the button.” enviar is the infinitive “to send.” After pulsé, it names the action associated with what was pressed: pulsé enviar means “I pressed [the option] Send.” Spanish can use an infinitive in this kind of interface-action expression without repeating an explicit noun such as “the button.” Example: Pulsa guardar — “Press Save.” Together, La aplicación para solicitar mantenimiento identifies an app whose purpose is requesting maintenance. se quedó bloqueada says that the app entered or remained in a blocked, unusable state. después de que pulsé enviar places that event after the speaker’s completed action of pressing Send. The whole utterance therefore means: “The maintenance request app froze after I pressed Send.”

2. Comprueba si la solicitud aparece en tu historial antes de intentarlo de nuevo.

   Check whether the request appears in your history before you try again.

   Comprueba

   Check

   si

   whether

   solicitud

   request

   aparece

   appears

   historial

   history

   antes de

   before

   intentarlo

   try it

   de nuevo

   again

   More detail

   Comprueba is the affirmative command form of comprobar for tú singular: “check.” Spanish affirmative commands can differ by listener, so do not replace it with compruebe (usted) or comprueben (ustedes). Example: Comprueba la fecha. = “Check the date.” si introduces an indirect yes/no question here: “whether” or “if.” It does not mean the conditional “if” in this sentence. Example: Mira si funciona. = “See whether it works.” la solicitud means “the request.” Solicitud is a feminine singular noun, so it takes the article la; its plural is las solicitudes. In this context, it is the request whose presence is being checked. aparece is the third-person singular present form of aparecer, “to appear” or “to show up.” The form agrees with the singular subject la solicitud: la solicitud aparece. Example: El mensaje aparece en pantalla. = “The message appears on the screen.” en tu historial means “in your history.” Tu is the singular informal possessive “your,” and historial is a masculine singular noun. The preposition en marks the place or record where something appears. antes de means “before” and is followed here by an infinitive. The pattern antes de + infinitive expresses that one action should occur earlier than another. Example: Guarda el archivo antes de cerrar. = “Save the file before closing.” intentarlo combines the infinitive intentar, “to try,” with the direct-object pronoun lo attached to it: intentar + lo → intentarlo, “to try it.” The pronoun refers to the thing being attempted, without changing the fact that intentar remains an infinitive. Example: Voy a intentarlo. = “I am going to try it.” de nuevo means “again” or “once more.” It modifies the attempt expressed by intentarlo, indicating a repeated attempt. Together, Comprueba si la solicitud aparece en tu historial means “Check whether the request appears in your history.” antes de intentarlo de nuevo adds the timing: do that check before trying it again. The complete utterance is therefore: “Check whether the request appears in your history before you try again.”

3. Sigue cargando y no puedo saber si el mensaje se envió.

   It is still loading, and I cannot tell if the message went through.

   Sigue cargando

   It is still loading

   no puedo saber

   I cannot tell

   mensaje

   message

   se envió

   went through

   More detail

   Sigue cargando uses seguir in the present tense, third-person singular form sigue, followed by the gerund cargando from cargar. Together, this pattern expresses an action that is continuing: “it is still loading.” The subject is understood from the situation rather than stated in this clause. Example: La página sigue cargando. — “The page is still loading.” no puedo saber means that the speaker cannot determine something. puedo is the first-person singular present form of poder; saber remains an infinitive after it. The negation no applies to the whole ability expression. A reusable pattern is no puedo + infinitive: No puedo abrir el archivo. — “I cannot open the file.” mensaje is a masculine singular noun meaning “message.” Its useful plural is mensajes; the article or other agreeing words can show the noun’s number and grammatical gender, as in el mensaje and los mensajes. Here it is the item whose sending is being evaluated. se envió means that the message was sent or went through in the intended reading. envió is the third-person singular preterite of enviar, “to send,” and the accent marks the past-tense form. The se construction presents the message as the grammatical subject without naming the sender: La solicitud se envió. — “The request was sent.” This form does not by itself identify who sent it. The clause si el mensaje se envió is an indirect yes-or-no question after saber: “whether the message went through.” Here si means “whether,” not a condition such as “if you send it.” The first clause says that loading is continuing; y links it to the second clause, where the speaker says they cannot determine whether the message was sent. Together, the utterance means: “It is still loading, and I cannot tell if the message went through.”

4. Haz una captura de pantalla para que puedas explicar claramente el problema.

   Take a screenshot so you can explain the problem clearly.

   Haz

   Take

   captura de pantalla

   screenshot

   para que

   so that

   puedas

   can

   explicar

   explain

   claramente

   clearly

   problema

   problem

   More detail

   Haz is the affirmative command form of hacer for tú (one person addressed informally). It means “take” here. The command form is irregular: compare the infinitive hacer with haz; it is not formed by simply removing the ending. Example: Haz una copia. — “Make a copy.” captura de pantalla is a noun phrase meaning “screenshot.” The head noun is captura, while de pantalla specifies the type of capture. In the sentence, una introduces one unspecified instance; it does not by itself add a numerical emphasis. Example: Necesito una captura de pantalla. — “I need a screenshot.” para que introduces a purpose clause, meaning “so that.” Unlike para followed directly by an infinitive, para que is followed here by a conjugated verb because the clause has its own subject. Example: Escribe despacio para que pueda entender. — “Write slowly so that I can understand.” puedas is the present subjunctive, second-person singular form of poder, agreeing with the person addressed as tú. After para que, this form expresses the intended ability or possibility: “you can.” Its base form is poder; the indicative present form for tú is puedes, whereas puedas is the subjunctive form used in this purpose clause. explicar is the infinitive “to explain.” It follows puedas, giving the action that the listener will be able to carry out: puedas explicar, “you can explain.” The infinitive does not show a separate subject here; the understood subject is the same tú expressed by puedas. Example: Puedes explicar el proceso. — “You can explain the process.” claramente is the adverb “clearly.” It describes how the explaining is to be done. It is formed from the feminine singular adjective form clara plus -mente, not directly from the masculine form claro; claramente itself does not agree in gender or number with a noun. Example: Habla claramente. — “Speak clearly.” problema means “problem.” In the full sentence it appears with the masculine singular article el: el problema. The noun is masculine and singular, so this article matches it; the noun itself, not the article, carries the lexical meaning “problem.” Example: El problema continúa. — “The problem continues.” As a whole, Haz una captura de pantalla gives the requested action: “Take a screenshot.” para que puedas explicar claramente el problema gives its purpose: the screenshot is intended to enable the person addressed to explain the problem clearly. The complete meaning is therefore: “Take a screenshot so you can explain the problem clearly.”

5. No quiero enviar la misma solicitud otra vez.

   I do not want to send the same request again.

   No quiero

   I do not want

   enviar

   to send

   misma

   same

   solicitud

   request

   otra vez

   again

   More detail

   No quiero expresses the speaker’s present unwillingness or lack of desire. quiero is the first-person singular present form of querer (“to want”); no negates it. The pattern No quiero + infinitive is reusable: No quiero esperar. — “I don’t want to wait.” enviar is an infinitive meaning “to send.” After quiero, the second verb stays in the infinitive: Quiero enviar el formulario. — “I want to send the form.” The subject of enviar is understood to be the same speaker as quiero here. misma means “same” in this sentence. It is the feminine singular form of mismo, agreeing with solicitud in gender and number. Compare el mismo mensaje (“the same message”) and las mismas instrucciones (“the same instructions”). solicitud is a feminine noun meaning “request” here. The article la and adjective misma both show feminine singular agreement: la misma solicitud. In another context, solicitud can refer to an application or formal request, but the fixed translation supports “request” here. otra vez is a reusable expression meaning “again.” In it, otra is the feminine singular form of otro, agreeing with the feminine noun vez; the whole expression functions together as an adverbial phrase. Inténtalo otra vez. — “Try it again.” Together, No quiero enviar la misma solicitud otra vez means “I do not want to send the same request again.” The structure is No quiero + infinitive enviar + the object la misma solicitud + the repetition phrase otra vez. It states that the speaker does not want to repeat the sending of that request.

6. Espera un poco y luego comprueba la aplicación antes de iniciar una solicitud nueva.

   Wait a short time, then check the app before starting a new request.

   Espera

   wait

   un poco

   a little; briefly

   luego

   then

   comprueba

   check

   la aplicación

   the app

   antes de iniciar

   before starting

   una solicitud

   a request

   nueva

   new

   More detail

   Espera means “wait” here and is the affirmative command form of esperar addressed to one tú person. The subject is understood from the verb form, so it is not a formal usted command. For example: Espera aquí. — “Wait here.” un poco limits the amount of waiting: “a little” or “for a short time.” Poco contrasts with mucho (“a lot”), and un poco can describe a small amount or short duration without asserting an exact measurement. luego means “then” and places the next action after the waiting. A reusable sequence is X y luego Y: “X and then Y.” comprueba means “check” here and is the affirmative tú command of comprobar. The spelling includes the stem change o to ue found in some forms of this verb: compruebo, compruebas, but the infinitive is comprobar. Example: Comprueba la dirección. — “Check the address.” la aplicación means “the app/application.” Aplicación is a feminine singular noun, which is why it appears with la. In this sentence it is the thing being checked; the article does not by itself express a numerical count. antes de iniciar expresses “before starting.” Antes de is followed here by the infinitive iniciar, whose understood subject is the person carrying out the instruction. Compare antes de salir — “before leaving.” una solicitud means “a request.” Solicitud is a feminine singular noun, so it combines with una in this phrase. Its form is also used in the earlier context for the request that someone does not want to send again; here the sentence refers to a request being started, without claiming that it is the same request. nueva means “new” and describes solicitud. It is the feminine singular form of nuevo; compare un formulario nuevo (masculine singular) and unas solicitudes nuevas (feminine plural). The adjective follows the noun here and agrees with it in gender and number. Together, Espera un poco y luego comprueba la aplicación gives “Wait a short time, then check the app.” antes de iniciar una solicitud nueva adds the condition in time: do that checking before starting a new request. The complete utterance is therefore: “Wait a short time, then check the app before starting a new request.”

7. Si sigue bloqueándose, ¿debería contactar directamente con el equipo de mantenimiento del edificio?

   If it still freezes, should I contact building maintenance directly?

   sigue

   continues

   bloqueándose

   freezing / locking up

   debería

   should

   contactar

   contact

   directamente

   directly

   equipo

   team

   mantenimiento

   maintenance

   edificio

   building

   More detail

   sigue means “continues” here. It is the third-person singular present form of seguir (“to continue/follow”); with a following gerund, seguir + gerund expresses an action that is still continuing. The subject is understood from the situation, while sigue itself is singular. bloqueándose means “freezing/locking up.” It combines the gerund bloqueando of bloquear with the reflexive clitic se, written attached to the gerund. In this sentence, the application or system is the thing that continues to become unresponsive; the clitic is part of the verb’s reflexive presentation, not a separate English-style subject. Example: La pantalla sigue bloqueándose. — “The screen keeps freezing.” Together, sigue bloqueándose is a reusable pattern meaning “continues freezing” or “keeps locking up.” The gerund focuses on an ongoing or repeated process, rather than simply naming a completed freeze. debería means “should” in this question. It is the conditional form of deber and can correspond to “I should,” “he/she should,” or formal singular “you should”; here, the fixed translation identifies the speaker as the person asking whether they should make contact. In debería + infinitive, it expresses advice or a question about the appropriate action. Example: ¿Debería esperar? — “Should I wait?” contactar is the infinitive “to contact.” After debería, the infinitive names the action being considered: debería contactar means “should contact.” Spanish can use contactar con alguien for “to contact someone,” as in this sentence. directamente means “directly.” It is an adverb formed from the adjective directo and modifies the action contactar, indicating that the contact should be made without an intermediary. Example: Puedes hablar directamente con ella. — “You can speak with her directly.” equipo means “team.” It is a masculine singular noun, so the phrase uses el equipo. In this context it refers to the maintenance team as a service group, not to a physical piece of equipment. mantenimiento means “maintenance.” It is a masculine singular noun and identifies the team’s function or area of work. el equipo de mantenimiento is a reusable noun phrase meaning “the maintenance team”: de links the team with the activity or service it handles. edificio means “building.” It is a masculine singular noun, as shown by el edificio. In del edificio, del is the contraction of de + el; the phrase specifies which maintenance team is meant: the building’s maintenance team. The opening conditional clause, Si sigue bloqueándose, means “If it continues freezing.” Si introduces the condition, and sigue + gerund presents the freezing as continuing. The main question, ¿debería contactar directamente con el equipo de mantenimiento del edificio?, asks whether the speaker should contact the building’s maintenance team directly. Together, the utterance means: “If it still freezes, should I contact building maintenance directly?”

8. Contacta directamente con el equipo de mantenimiento y explica que la aplicación puede no estar funcionando.

   Contact them directly and explain that the app may not be working.

   Contacta

   contact

   directamente

   directly

   equipo

   team

   mantenimiento

   maintenance

   explica

   explain

   aplicación

   app

   puede

   may; can

   estar funcionando

   be working

   More detail

   Contacta is the affirmative command form of contactar for tú singular: “contact.” The command addresses one person informally. A useful contrast is contacte, the affirmative command for usted singular. directamente means “directly” and modifies the way the contact is made. It is an adverb, so it does not change for gender or number. equipo means “team.” In el equipo, the article shows that this noun is masculine singular. For example, el equipo técnico means “the technical team.” mantenimiento means “maintenance.” In el equipo de mantenimiento, de mantenimiento identifies the team’s function: it is the maintenance team. Spanish commonly uses de in this kind of noun relationship. explica is the affirmative command form of explicar for tú singular: “explain.” It coordinates with contacta, so the same person is instructed to do both actions. Explique would address one person as usted instead. aplicación means “application” or “app.” It is a feminine singular noun, as shown by la aplicación. The written accent is part of the word: aplicación. puede is the third-person singular present form of poder, “can” or “may.” Here, with la aplicación as its subject, it expresses possibility: the app may not be working. It is not the command form; the command forms are different, such as puede not being used to tell someone “be able to.” estar funcionando is estar plus the gerund funcionando, “be working” or “be operating.” Funcionando comes from funcionar; the construction describes an ongoing state. With puede no estar funcionando, no negates the working state inside the possibility: “may not be working.” Together, Contacta directamente con el equipo de mantenimiento means “Contact the maintenance team directly.” Y explica que links a second command: “and explain that.” The subordinate clause la aplicación puede no estar funcionando says that the app may not be working. The complete meaning is: “Contact them directly and explain that the app may not be working.”

9. Puedo dejar la pantalla abierta hasta saber qué pasó.

   I can keep the screen open until I know what happened.

   Puedo

   I can

   dejar

   leave; keep

   pantalla

   screen

   abierta

   open

   hasta

   until

   saber

   know; find out

   qué pasó

   what happened

   More detail

   Puedo is the first-person singular present form of poder, “to be able to/can.” It expresses the speaker’s ability or possibility: Puedo ayudarte = “I can help you.” The following infinitive states what the speaker can do. dejar is an infinitive meaning “to leave” or “to keep” in this sentence. With poder, Spanish uses the pattern poder + infinitive: Puedo dejar... = “I can keep/leave...” Here, dejar takes la pantalla as its object and abierta describes the resulting state. pantalla is a feminine singular noun meaning “screen.” The definite article la and the adjective abierta agree with it in feminine singular form. For example, la pantalla está limpia means “the screen is clean.” abierta is the feminine singular form of the adjective abierto, “open.” It agrees with pantalla; the masculine singular form is abierto, as in el archivo está abierto (“the file is open”). In this sentence, dejar la pantalla abierta means “keep the screen open,” not merely “leave” it somewhere. hasta introduces the endpoint of an action or state: “until.” The pattern hasta + infinitive can be used when the understood subject remains the same, as in Esperaré hasta terminar (“I will wait until finishing”). Here, hasta saber means “until [I] know/find out.” saber is the infinitive “to know” or “to find out.” Its first-person present form is sé: Sé la respuesta = “I know the answer.” In hasta saber, the infinitive is used after hasta, and the subject is understood from Puedo as the speaker. qué pasó means “what happened.” Qué has an accent because it introduces an indirect question. Pasó is the third-person singular preterite of pasar, “to happen” in this use; the preterite presents the event as completed. Compare qué pasó (“what happened”) with qué pasa (“what is happening/what happens”). Together, Puedo dejar la pantalla abierta says “I can keep the screen open.” hasta saber qué pasó adds the endpoint: this can continue until the speaker finds out what happened. The complete utterance therefore means: “I can keep the screen open until I know what happened.”

10. Entonces el equipo de mantenimiento puede usar la captura de pantalla para entender qué salió mal.

    Then maintenance can use the screenshot to understand what went wrong.

    Entonces

    then

    equipo

    team

    mantenimiento

    maintenance

    puede

    can

    usar

    use

    captura de pantalla

    screenshot

    entender

    understand

    qué

    what

    salió mal

    went wrong

    More detail

    Entonces means “then” here and links this statement to what was established before. It can also introduce a conclusion, so its exact force comes from context. equipo is the noun “team.” It is masculine singular, as shown by el equipo; its plural is equipos. In el equipo de mantenimiento, the phrase de mantenimiento specifies the team’s area or function. mantenimiento is the noun “maintenance,” used here after de to identify that area. puede comes from poder, “can” or “to be able to.” It is the third-person singular present form used with el equipo: el equipo puede. Other useful forms are puedo (“I can”) and pueden (“they can” or “you plural can”). usar is the infinitive “to use.” After poder, Spanish uses an infinitive: puede usar means “can use.” Example: Podemos usar esta herramienta. — “We can use this tool.” captura de pantalla means “screenshot.” captura is the head noun, and de pantalla specifies the kind of capture. The phrase is feminine singular in la captura de pantalla; its plural is capturas de pantalla. entender means “to understand.” In para entender, the infinitive follows para and expresses purpose: “in order to understand.” Example: Leo el mensaje para entender el problema. — “I read the message to understand the problem.” qué introduces the embedded question “what.” It has an accent because it is interrogative, even though the question appears inside a larger sentence. In qué salió mal, it asks what went wrong. salió mal means “went wrong.” salió is the third-person singular preterite of salir; in this expression, salir means “turn out” or “come out,” and mal means “badly” or “wrong.” The useful contrast salió bien means “went well.” Together, el equipo de mantenimiento puede usar la captura de pantalla means “the maintenance team can use the screenshot.” para entender qué salió mal gives the purpose: “to understand what went wrong.” The complete utterance is: “Then the maintenance team can use the screenshot to understand what went wrong.”