Spanish A1.17 Listening Practice: Splits Only Under Stress
Spanish A1 listening practice with audio, transcript, key phrases, and a speaking challenge for splits only under stress.
Podcast listening is in beta while creation and discussion tools are refined. This published chapter includes its complete segmented audio and transcript.
Level
A1.17
Audio
Segmented audio
Transcript
21 segments
What to notice while you listen
What you'll understand
Build short guided Spanish sentences from one new pattern at a time.
Use stem changes disappear in unstressed forms to build an original spoken Spanish answer.
New pattern
stem changes disappear in unstressed forms
Practice aloud after listening
Podemos dormir despues.
A short Spanish listening chapter with transcript.
Unit 2: add stem changes disappear in unstressed forms 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 back! I'm Carmen. Today we are learning how stem-changing verbs stay simple in the 'we' form, like queremos, podemos, and dormimos. Let's hear Álvaro and Lucía.
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2. Álvaro · Native Speaker 1
¿Queremos trabajar ahora?
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3. Lucía · Native Speaker 2
No, no queremos trabajar.
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4. Álvaro · Native Speaker 1
¿Podemos descansar un poco?
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5. Lucía · Native Speaker 2
Sí, podemos dormir después.
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6. Álvaro · Native Speaker 1
Vale, hoy dormimos aquí.
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7. Carmen · Teacher
Álvaro asked: '¿Queremos trabajar ahora?' which means 'Do we want to work now?' Notice queremos keeps the letter E without splitting.
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8. Diego · Student
So we say quiero for 'I want', but queremos for 'we want'?
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9. Carmen · Teacher
That's right, Diego! In queremos, the stress is on the ending, so the stem vowel doesn't split.
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10. Carmen · Teacher
Lucía answered: 'No, no queremos trabajar' — 'No, we don't want to work.'
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11. Diego · Student
Does trabajar stay as an infinitive because it comes right after queremos?
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12. Carmen · Teacher
Yes! When two verbs are paired like this, the second stays in its full form.
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13. Carmen · Teacher
Then Álvaro asked: '¿Podemos descansar un poco?' meaning 'Can we rest a bit?'
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14. Diego · Student
Why isn't it puedemos?
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15. Carmen · Teacher
Because poder only splits to puedo when stressed. For 'we', it stays podemos.
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16. Carmen · Teacher
Lucía replied with our challenge sentence: 'Sí, podemos dormir después.' This means 'Yes, we can sleep later.'
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17. Diego · Student
Does después mean 'later' or 'afterward'?
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18. Carmen · Teacher
It can mean both, Diego! Here it translates naturally to 'later'.
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19. Carmen · Teacher
Álvaro finished with: 'Vale, hoy dormimos aquí,' which means 'Okay, today we sleep here.'
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20. Diego · Student
So dormimos keeps the 'o' sound just like podemos?
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21. Carmen · Teacher
Exactly! Dormir becomes dormimos without any vowel split. Great job listening today!
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