‘5 Spanish expressions you need to know’ is the first post and video created within the series we are going to dedicate to the Spanish reading GCSE exam. In a few videos we are going to tell you the tips and tricks you need to know and we will help you to revise.

These expressions are also very useful to anyone learning Spanish. They have one thing in common, they are very popular but they are not included in one specific topic so they are difficult to come across.

Please see this video, the transcription is bellow.

After this video you can find some exercises with this expressions on this post.

TRANSCRIPT

I am going to upload new videos in the future about the reading paper as well as the other papers. So, in this reading series there will be more videos about little tips easy to learn and fast to learn, and very effective. So please subscribe to the channel and turn on the notifications. Click to the bell next to the subscribe bottom and then you will receive a message, a notification, as soon as I upload a new video.

Well, let’s dive in and see the first expression:

EXPRESSION 1: HACE FALTA

Hace falta means it’s needed. But we also use it saying we need something. So, if I say ‘me hace falta’, it’s I need.

So, this expression is very important that you know what it means, because really when it is in a reading it is going to mean the lack of something and you are going to be aware that the following thing is not a positive thing, is something that is missing.

So, ‘me hace falta’ would be ‘I need’. ‘Te hace falta’: ‘you need’. ‘Le hace falta’: ‘He or she needs’. As you can see this works like a ‘gustar verb’. So, ‘me hace falta un boli’ is ‘I need a pen’. If I say ‘me hacen falta los libros’ is ‘I need the books’. So I have to say ‘hacen’ instead of ‘hace’.

But in a reading you will only need to recognise it. If you want to use it in your speaking or in your writing just conjugate it like a ‘gustar verb’: me hace falta, le hace falta, les hace falta.

You can also find ‘falta’ when you are talking about the environment saying for example: ‘la falta de agua’ or ‘la falta de comida’. That would be ‘the lack of water’ or ‘the lack of food’

EXPRESSION 2: ‘ME DA MIEDO’

Let’s move to the following expression. Expression number 2 is ‘me da miedo’ for example. So, ‘da miedo’ would be ‘it scares’. Y ‘me da miedo’ is ‘it scares me’. We have a similar expression to expression number 1, because it works like a ‘gustar verb’, so we just have to conjugate it the same.

So, ‘me da miedo el covid’ o ‘me dan miedo las serpientes’ o ‘me dan miedo los perros’. ‘A él le da miedo volar’, ‘a ellos les dan miedo los aviones’.

This expression you can also use it to say something makes you hungry or makes you hot. For example: ‘me da hambre ver la comida’ or ‘este jersey me da mucho calor’ ‘me da calor’.

So, when you are talking about the uniform, for example you can say: ‘mi uniforme es muy cómodo pero me da calor en verano’.

EXPRESSION NUMBER 3: ‘SE ME DA BIEN’

Expression number 3 is ‘se me da bien’. ‘Se me da bien’ means ‘I am good at’.

Por ejemplo: ‘se me da bien cocinar’: ‘I am good at cooking’

‘Se me da bien’, this third expression, is going to work like expression number 1 and expression number 2: it is a ‘gustar verb’. So, we can say:

‘Se me da bien trabajar con los números’, ‘Se me dan bien las matemáticas’, ‘A él, se le da bien el alpinismo’.

We can also use this expression instead of with ‘bien’, with some other adverbs. For example:

‘Se me da mal montar en bicicleta’, ‘se me da fatal la química’, ‘se me da fenomenal dibujar’.

EXPRESSION NUMBER 4: ‘ME LLEVO BIEN’

Expression number 4: ‘me llevo bien con mi familia’: ‘I get along with my family’. ‘Me llevo bien is reflexive. So, we need to say. ‘me llevo bien con’, or ‘te llevas bien con’ if it’s ‘you get along with’, ‘se lleva bien con’: ‘he or she gets along with’ .

If we don’t get along, we may say ‘me llevo mal’, ‘me llevo fatal’. ‘Me llevo fenomenal’.

But remember: this is a reflexive verb. We have to use ‘me llevo’, ‘te llevas’, ‘se lleva’, ‘nos llevamos’, ‘os lleváis’, ‘se llevan’. So, the verb is conjugated, it is not like a gustar verb. This is a reflexive verb. To see more about ‘llevar’ and the different meanings of this verb, llevar, you can click here in this link (bellow) to see the you can see the video about ‘llegar verb’ and it’s conjugation and it’s different meanings:

It is a very useful verb.

Very useful expressions as well are: ‘me molesta’, ‘me fastida’. Which mean: ‘annoys me’. And which behaves as a ‘gustar verb’:

‘Me molesta mi hermana’, ‘te molesta la música’, ‘le molesta trabajar’.

And finally the last expression.

EXPRESSION NUMBER 5: ‘ESTAR HARTO DE’

Expression number 5: ‘estar harto de’: ‘to be sick of’, ‘to be fed up of’.

Por ejemplo: ‘estoy harta de estudiar’: ‘I am fed up of studying’ ‘I can not bear it any more’ ‘I can not put up with’

So, we just reviesed 5 very important expressions. Very different the way we say it in English and Spanish. Which are:

1. ‘Hace falta: it is needed’. Or ‘me hace falta trabajar’: ‘I need to work.’

2. ‘Me da miedo’, ‘me da miedo la película’: ‘the movie scares me’.

3. Expression number 3: ‘se me da bien cantar’: ‘I am good at singing’.

4. Expression number 4: ‘me llevo bien con mi madre’: I get along with my mum’.

5. Expression number 5: ‘estoy harta de este ruido’: ‘I am fed up of this noise’.

So, please subscribe to the channel and turn on the notifications, to be updated and to be aware of anything new that we upload. And don’t forget you can visit www.howtounlockspanish.com, where you can find a section about the GCSE exam and GCSE content, and tips and tricks.

So, thank you for being with us and I see you very soon.

You can practice these expressions and more and read a story while you learn about the Spanish festival reading our book: ‘Kate en las Fallas‘ which includes a lot of description examples, relationships, dialogues and it is an easy reader. Also check the workbooks, exam practice books and revision books we recommendhere.