Spanish A1.9 Listening Practice: Know And If
Listen to a A1 Spanish dialogue about know and if, with audio, transcript, and grammar notes for language learning.
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Level
A1.9
Audio
Segmented audio
Transcript
22 segments
A short Spanish listening chapter with transcript.
Unit 2: add saber with si and por que to what you already control, then say one short answer that reuses earlier Spanish instead of starting from a memorized phrase.
Read while you listen.
1. Carmen · Teacher
Welcome to today's lesson! I'm Carmen. Today we are learning how to use 'saber' with 'si' and 'por qué' to talk about what you know or want to know. Let's listen to Álvaro and Lucía.
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2. Álvaro · Native Speaker 1
¿Lucía, vas al cine?
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3. Lucía · Native Speaker 2
No sé si voy.
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4. Álvaro · Native Speaker 1
Quiero saber si vas.
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5. Lucía · Native Speaker 2
No voy hoy.
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6. Álvaro · Native Speaker 1
Quiero saber por qué no.
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7. Carmen · Teacher
Great job listening! Now let's break down those five lines together.
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8. Carmen · Teacher
First, Álvaro asks: '¿Lucía, vas al cine?' This means 'Lucía, are you going to the cinema?' 'Vas' means 'you go' or 'are you going'.
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9. Diego · Student
Is 'al' a combination of two words?
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10. Carmen · Teacher
Yes, Diego! 'A' plus 'el' combines into 'al'.
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11. Carmen · Teacher
Next, Lucía answers: 'No sé si voy.' This means 'I don't know if I'm going.' 'Sé' comes from 'saber', meaning 'I know'.
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12. Diego · Student
Does 'si' mean 'if' here instead of 'yes'?
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13. Carmen · Teacher
Exactly! Without an accent mark, 'si' means 'if'.
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14. Carmen · Teacher
Then Álvaro says: 'Quiero saber si vas.' That means 'I want to know if you're going.' 'Quiero saber' means 'I want to know'.
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15. Diego · Student
So 'saber' stays in the base form after 'quiero'?
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16. Carmen · Teacher
That's right. When you combine two verbs, only conjugate the first one.
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17. Carmen · Teacher
Next, Lucía says: 'No voy hoy.' That means 'I'm not going today.'
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18. Diego · Student
Is the 'h' in 'hoy' completely silent?
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19. Carmen · Teacher
Yes, 'h' is always silent in Spanish.
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20. Carmen · Teacher
Finally, Álvaro uses our challenge phrase: 'Quiero saber por qué no.' This means 'I want to know why not.'
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21. Diego · Student
Is 'por qué' always two words for 'why'?
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22. Carmen · Teacher
Yes, 'por qué' as two words with an accent means 'why'. That's all for today! ¡Hasta luego!
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