Mi rutina

Mi rutina

Paco is worried because he’s being late at work. Eva tries to solve the problem…

In this episode you will learn: how to describe your routine in Spanish, how to ask someone about his/her daily actions in Spanish, how to show interest in someone’s problems in Spanish.

Dialogue

EVA: ¿Qué te pasa, Paco? Te veo con mala cara.

PACO: Nada. He vuelto a llegar tarde al trabajo.

EVA: ¿Y qué haces para llegar siempre tarde?

PACO: Pues no lo sé. Me levanto a las 8 de la mañana. Me ducho, desayuno, cojo el autobús y llego tarde.

EVA: ¿Te levantas cuando suena el despertador?

PACO: Sí. A las 8 estoy en pie como un clavo.

EVA: ¡Pues entonces no lo entiendo! Repasemos: Te levantas, te duchas, desayunas, coges el bus… ¿y llegas tarde?

PACO: Sí. Esa es mi rutina.

EVA: Una última pregunta, Paco: ¿A qué hora empiezas a trabajar?

PACO: A las 8.

Translation

EVA: What’s wrong Paco? You don’t look well.

PACO: Nothing. I arrived late to work again.

EVA: And what do you do to always arrive late?

PACO: Well, I don’t know. I get up at 8 am. I take a shower, eat breakfast, catch the bus and I arrive late.

EVA: Do you get up when the alarm rings?

PACO: Yes. I’m up and ready to go at 8AM.

EVA: Well, then I don’t understand! Let’s review: You getup, you take a shower, you eat breakfast, you catch the bus … And you arrive late?

PACO: Yes. That’s my routine.

EVA: One last question, Paco. what time do you start work?

PACO: At 8.

Notes

¿qué te pasa?
what’s wrong with you?
This is a useful expression to ask someone when you think he/she has a problem.

Te veo con mala cara.
You don’t look well. You look ill/ worried.
This is a expression we use when someone looks worried or ill and it is reflected on his/her face. As we say that our face shows our worries and feelings.

He vuelto a llegar tarde.
I arrived late again.
VOLVER A + INFINITIF. This is a way to say that you do something one more time or even several times. For example if you failed an exam and you do it again and failed once more, then we would say: He vuelto a suspender el examen.

Me levanto a las 8.
I get up at 8.
LEVANTARSE is a reflexive verb, that means that it needs some pronouns before the verb, which are: ME,TE,SE,NOS,OS,SE and then the verb, in this case in the present tense: ME LEVANTO, TE LEVANTAS, SE LEVANTA, NOS LEVANTAMOS, OS LEVANTÁIS, SE LEVANTAN. We use Present tense to talk about actions that happen at the present time or actions that we make habitually as a routine.

Cojo el autobús.¡
I catch the bus.
Pay attention! This verb could be used in Spanish of Spain to get transports. Coger un taxi, el autobús, el tren… but NEVER use it in this sense in South America as there it means to copulate in a coloquial way. So, instead of COGER use SUBIR or PARAR.

Estoy en pie como un clavo.
I’m up and ready to go!
This is an expression that means that I get up and stand up completely and very tight the same as a nail, which is not bended.