Practice some of the vocabulary from this song and its pronominal verbs using these flashcards, games and exercises.

Did you miss the analysis for this song? Find it here!

Activities

Vocabulary Excercises

We have chosen 15 words and phrases out of this song to form our vocabulary list, which can be found below. You can use the following activities to learn and practice this vocabulary.

Vocabulary Flashcards – Learn the vocabulary from this song with our sets of Spanish to English and English to Spanish flashcards, then test yourself with our interactive flashcards.

Vocabulary Games – Practice the vocabulary for this song using our memory and matching games and our word search puzzle.

Vocabulary Exercises – Fill in the missing vocabulary with drag and drop and fill in the blanks exercises.

Grammar Exercises

We haven’t gone over pronominal verbs in a song yet, and there are a handful of them in this song, so we’ll focus on those. Full conjugations of these verbs can be found below.

You can use the following activities to learn and practice these verbs:

Pronominal Verb Flashcards – Practice the stem-changing verbs in this song with our sets of Spanish to English and English to Spanish flashcards, then test yourself with our interactive flashcards.

Pronominal Verb Games – Practice the stem-changing verbs in this song using our memory and matching games.

Pronominal Verb Exercises – Practice the stem-changing verbs in this song using our drag and drop, fill in, and highlighting exercises.

Resources

Vocabulary List

Term	Meaning	P of S	Context
acercarse	to approach	spl chg verb	acercaste
acostumbrarse	get used to, become accustomed to	reg verb	acostumbrado
al revés	backwards, inside out, upside down, reversed		al revé’
dar vueltas	go around in circles, go round and around		dando vuelta
explicarse	explain oneself; make sense to, explain to oneself	spl chg verb	explico
hacer falta	be needed, necessary		falta
igual que	the same as, just like		igual
liga	elastic band; league	fem noun	liga
locura	insanity, madness, dementia	fem noun	locura
pensar	to think	stm chg verb	piensas, pienso, pensando
probar	to taste, try; check, test; prove, demonstrate	stm chg verb	probar
ratico	a little while, a short time	masc noun	ratico
regresar	to return, come back, go back; give back, take back	reg verb	regresas
sonar	to sound; to ring; to seem/look/sound familiar	stm chg verb	suena
vaina	scabbard, case, sheath; pod, husk, shell	fem noun	vaina

Pronominal Verbs

Pronominal verbs are verbs that require the use of a reflexive pronoun. There are several types of pronominal verbs.

Reflexive Verbs

These are verbs whose action reflects back on the subject. The action is done to oneself (as opposed to doing it to someone else). Common reflexive verbs are actions like waking oneself up or combing one’s hair.

There is one reflexive verb in this song. While it is not one of the standard reflexive verbs, here the verb ‘quitar’ is used reflexively. We see ‘me quito el corazón’ meaning ‘I remove (my own) heart’.

Reciprocal Verbs

Reciprocal verbs work similarly to reflexive ones, however with the meaning of ‘each other’ rather than oneself. The reciprocal formation only works with the plural pronouns (nos, os and se).

For example:

Ellos se miran
They look at each other

There are no reciprocal verbs in this song.

Idiomatic Pronominal Verbs

These are verbs that have a different, though often related, meaning when used with a reflexive pronoun versus without. All but one of the pronominal verbs in this song fall into this category. The meanings of these verbs are provided below.

Verb	Definition	Pronominal Definition
ir	to go	to leave
explicar	to explain	explain oneself; make sense to, explain to oneself
acercar	to move closer, get closer, bring closer	to approach
acostumbrar	to get used to, familiarize with, accustom to, be in the habit of	get used to, become accustomed to
sentir	to feel; sense; hear; taste; feel about, think about; feel sorry about	to feel

Passive and Impersonal Constructions

The passive ‘se’ and the impersonal ‘se’ are very similar. They both discuss actions that do not have specific subjects performing the action.

Passive constructions state what action was performed without stating who or what performed it. The third-person singular or plural is used in order to agree with the number of the object being acted upon.

For example:

Impersonal constructions talk about people in general. They are often used to talk about how things are done according to custom, rule, or general consensus. They are also often used to ask for directions or to find out how to say things. They will always be in the third person singular.

For example:

Se come bien en Chile.
You/One/People eat well in Chile.

There are no instances of either the passive or the impersonal ‘se’ in this song.

Accidental or Unplanned Occurrences

This construction indicates that an action was unintentional. The subject is indicated by an indirect object pronoun which is preceded by the reflexive pronoun ‘se’. The verb, rather than being conjugated to agree with the subject, agrees with whatever noun follows the verb. If there is no noun the verb is conjugated in the third person singular. Use of the indirect object gives the sense that the subject is not to blame, that they are the receiver of the action and had nothing to do with it.

Se me perdieron las llaves
I lost the keys

Reflexive Pronouns

	Singular	Plural
1st person	me – myself	nos – ourselves
2nd person	te – yourself	os – yourself / yourselves
3rd person	se – himself, herself	se – themselves

Pronoun Placement

Reflexive verbs can be conjugated in any tense or mood. The reflexive pronoun is placed before the verb, or in the case of two verbs, before the conjugated verb. The exception to this is with infinitives and gerunds, where the pronoun can be placed before the conjugated verb or attached to the end of the infinitive or gerund, as with object pronouns.

No voy a acercarme or No me voy a acercar
I’m not going to get any closer.