Illustration for “But the only thing I've broken is the vacuum cleaner!”

Spanish dialogue with translation · B1 · 14 lines

¡Si lo único que he roto es la aspiradora! But the only thing I've broken is the vacuum cleaner!

Comic · 14 panels

Panel 1 of 14 for “But the only thing I've broken is the vacuum cleaner!”: “Sergio, I've been talking to you for ten minutes, and you're just looking at your phone.”

Lucía
Sergio, hace diez minutos que te hablo y tú solo miras el móvil.
Sergio, I've been talking to you for ten minutes, and you're just looking at your phone.

Panel 2 of 14 for “But the only thing I've broken is the vacuum cleaner!”: “Yes, yes, I'm listening to you. It's just for a moment.”

Sergio
Que sí, que te escucho. Es solo un momento.
Yes, yes, I'm listening to you. It's just for a moment.

Panel 3 of 14 for “But the only thing I've broken is the vacuum cleaner!”: “Really? Could you repeat what I just told you?”

Lucía
¿De verdad? ¿Podrías repetir lo que te acabo de decir?
Really? Could you repeat what I just told you?

Panel 4 of 14 for “But the only thing I've broken is the vacuum cleaner!”: “Well… that the dinner is really tasty.”

Sergio
Pues… que la cena está muy rica.
Well… that the dinner is really tasty.

Panel 5 of 14 for “But the only thing I've broken is the vacuum cleaner!”: “I didn't tell you that! You don't pay attention to me anymore, and it bothers me that you look at your phone all the time.”

Lucía
¡Eso no te lo he dicho! Ya no me haces caso, y me molesta que mires el móvil a todas horas.
I didn't tell you that! You don't pay attention to me anymore, and it bothers me that you look at your phone all the time.

Panel 6 of 14 for “But the only thing I've broken is the vacuum cleaner!”: “What are you talking about? So now you don't like me, or what?”

Sergio
Pero ¿qué dices? ¿Que ahora te caigo mal, o qué?
What are you talking about? So now you don't like me, or what?

Panel 7 of 14 for “But the only thing I've broken is the vacuum cleaner!”: “I want you to put that phone down now. And if you keep this up, I'm going to break up with you.”

Lucía
Quiero que dejes ya ese móvil. Y si sigues así, voy a romper contigo.
I want you to put that phone down now. And if you keep this up, I'm going to break up with you.

Panel 8 of 14 for “But the only thing I've broken is the vacuum cleaner!”: “Break up with me? But the only thing I've broken is the vacuum cleaner!”

Sergio
¿Romper conmigo? ¡Pero si lo único que he roto es la aspiradora!
Break up with me? But the only thing I've broken is the vacuum cleaner!

Panel 9 of 14 for “But the only thing I've broken is the vacuum cleaner!”: “The vacuum cleaner? The one my mother gave us?”

Lucía
¿La aspiradora? ¿La que nos regaló mi madre?
The vacuum cleaner? The one my mother gave us?

Panel 10 of 14 for “But the only thing I've broken is the vacuum cleaner!”: “That one. It suddenly stopped, and I've spent all evening trying to find out how to fix it. I'm going to go crazy (man speaking)!”

Sergio
Esa. Se ha parado de golpe y llevo toda la noche buscando cómo arreglarla. ¡Me voy a volver loco!
That one. It suddenly stopped, and I've spent all evening trying to find out how to fix it. I'm going to go crazy (man speaking)!

Panel 11 of 14 for “But the only thing I've broken is the vacuum cleaner!”: “And why didn't you tell me? You should talk to me, not to the phone.”

Lucía
¿Y por qué no me lo has dicho? Deberías hablar conmigo, no con el móvil.
And why didn't you tell me? You should talk to me, not to the phone.

Panel 12 of 14 for “But the only thing I've broken is the vacuum cleaner!”: “Because I was embarrassed. Sorry, I lost my temper.”

Sergio
Porque me daba vergüenza. Perdona, he perdido los nervios.
Because I was embarrassed. Sorry, I lost my temper.

Panel 13 of 14 for “But the only thing I've broken is the vacuum cleaner!”: “It's not that big a deal. We make up, and tomorrow we buy another one: this time we agree on the color.”

Lucía
No es para tanto. Hacemos las paces y mañana compramos otra: esta vez nos ponemos de acuerdo en el color.
It's not that big a deal. We make up, and tomorrow we buy another one: this time we agree on the color.

Panel 14 of 14 for “But the only thing I've broken is the vacuum cleaner!”: “Deal. I'd rather have dinner with you, not argue with a vacuum cleaner.”

Sergio
Trato hecho. Yo preferiría cenar contigo, no discutir con una aspiradora.
Deal. I'd rather have dinner with you, not argue with a vacuum cleaner.

Grammar for this text

Quiero que dejes ya ese móvil and me molesta que mires el móvil — a wish and a feeling about what someone does (units 18 and 24). They talk to each other as tú, so after que come the forms dejes, mires. Si sigues así, voy a romper contigo — romper con means "to break up with"; with a pronoun, con joins it: contigo (with you), conmigo (with me). The joke is that romper also means "to break": he roto — "I've broken". English has the same pun: break up / break.

¿Podrías repetir…? — a polite request in the conditional (unit 4); here it sounds like a challenge. Deberías hablar conmigo — "you should talk to me" (unit 5). Yo preferiría cenar contigo — "I'd rather have dinner with you"; when one person does it, a plain infinitive follows preferiría.

Ya no me haces caso — hacer caso: to listen, to pay attention. ¿Que ahora te caigo mal? — caer mal: to not like someone as a person; as with gustar, the person you don't like is the subject. Se ha parado de golpe — "it suddenly stopped". Me voy a volver loco — volverse loco, "to go crazy". He perdido los nervios — "I lost my temper".

No es para tanto — "it's not that big a deal". Hacemos las paces — "we make up". Nos ponemos de acuerdo — "we agree". Trato hecho — "deal".

Words and grammar of the unit: Go on a date and make up after a fight.

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