Today’s Vine is by Saúl Tijeras, from Almería, Spain.

There are two expressions you should know beforehand.

Tu cara es un poema.

Literally: Your face is a poem.

It’s a way of saying, “You’ve got such-and-such written all over you,” or, “I can read all your emotions in your face.”

In this Vine, it’s being used as: “I can tell you had a bad day just by looking at your face.”

¡Madre mía!

Literally: Mother of mine!

An expression of surprise, equivalent to “Oh my gosh!” in English.

The Vine

Transcript

• Guy #1: Madre mía, algo malo te ha pasado hoy, ¿verdad?
• Guy #1: Tu cara es un poema.
• Guy #2: Lo sé.
• Guy #2:  Este es de García Lorca.

Explanation

• Guy #1: My mother, something bad happened to you today, right?
• Guy #1: Your face is a poem.
• Guy #2: I know. [his face is covered in poetry-filled sticky notes]
• Guy #2:  This one is by García Lorca.

He is referring to Federico García Lorca, a 20th-century Spanish poet who was executed during the Spanish Civil War in 1936.

Slo-Mo Version

https://soundcloud.com/spanishin6seconds/wednesday-vine-tu-cara-es-un

Useful Phrases

• Tu cara es un poema – Your face is a poem 
  • “I can read all your emotions in your face”

• Madre mía – Mother of mine
  • “Oh my goodness!”

• Lo sé. – I know / I know it.
  • read this earlier post for more on “lo sé”

• ¿verdad? – right?
  • la verdad = the truth
  • es verdad = it’s true

 

Verb Tenses in this Vine

I’ll point out the verbs and tenses, and link to places where you can read more about each tense.

• algo malo te ha pasado. = Something bad has happened to you.
  • this is the present perfect form of pasar  (to pass/to happen)
  • for another example of this tense, check out the sample lesson

• Tu cara es un poema = Your face is a poem.
  • this is the present tense form of ser (to be)

• lo sé. = I know it.
  • this is the present tense form of saber (to know)
  • for more on this verb, check out this earlier post

VOCABULARY

See if you can identify these words/phrases in English.

• el poema
• la cara
• la madre
• mía
• ¡madre mía!
• ¿verdad?
• algo
• algo bueno
• algo malo
• pasar
• ¡lo sé!
• hoy

If you’re still reading this, watch the Vine again!  Then try to speak the words of the Vine out loud again, as slowly as you need to.