Natural disasters

• huracán - hurricane
• inundación - flood
• llover - to rain
• lluvia - rain
• nevar - to snow
• nieve - snow
• terremoto - earthquake
• tormenta - storm

The news

• artículo - article
• investigar - to investigate
• locutor(ora) - announcer
• noticiero - newscast
• ocurrir - to occur
• reportero(a) - reporter
• tratar de - to try to

Fires

• apagar - to put out
• bajar - to go down
• bombero(a) - firefighter
• comenzar - to start
• destruir - to destroy
• dormido(a) - asleep
• edificio de apartamentos - apartment builing
• escalera - ladder
• escaparse - to escape
• esconder - to hide
• explosión - explosion
• humo - smoke
• incendio - fire
• muebles - furniture
• paramédico(a) - paramedic
• quemar(se) - to burn, to burn up
• se murieron - they died
• subir - to go up

• Note: Comenzar has a stem-change of e to ie. Destruir has a stem-change verb from i to y.

Rescues

• herido(a) - injured, injured person
• héroe - hero
• heroína - heroine
• rescatar - to rescue
• salvar - to save
• valiente - brave
• vida - life
• vivo(a) - living, alive

Other words

• a causa de - because of
• afortunatamente - fortunately
• asustado(a) - frightened
• causa - cause
• de prisa - in a hurry
• de repente - suddenly
• gritar - to scream
• hubo - there was
• llamar - to call
• oír - to hear
• sin duda - without a doubt
• ¡Socorro! - Help!

The verb oír

Oír is an irregular verb in both the present and preterite tenses. Here is the conjugation for the present tense:

• oigo - I hear
• oyes - you hear (singular)
• oye - he/she hears
• oímos - we hear
• oís - you hear (plural)
• oyen - they hear

Here is the conjugation for the preterite tense:

• oí - I heard
• oíste - you heard (singular)
• oyó - he/she heard
• oímos - we heard
• oísteis - you heard (plural)
• oyeron - they heard

The preterite of creer and leer

Creer and leer follow the same pattern as oír in the preterite. Here is creer in the preterite:

• creí - I thought
• creíste - you thought (singular)
• creyó - he/she thought
• creímos - we thought
• creísteis - you thought (plural)
• creyeron - they thought

Here is leer in the preterite:

• leí - I read
• leíste - you read (singular)
• leyó - he/she read
• leímos - we read
• leísteis - you read (plural)
• leyeron - they read

The preterite of destruir

Destruir is conjugated like oír, creer, and leer in the preterite except that that the tú, nosotros, and vosotros forms don't have accent marks.

• destruí - I destroyed
• destruiste - you destroyed (singular)
• destruyó - he/she destroyed
• destruimos - we destroyed
• destruisteis - you destroyed (plural)
• destruyeron - they destroyed

Vocabulario adicional

Cultural insight (Leyendas)

Los volcanes Iztaccíhautl(derecha) y Popcatépetl.

In almost every part of the world, there are legends to tell the creation of landforms of natural disasters. There are also many legends in Spanish-speaking countries revolving around the origins of landforms such as volcanoes and lakes. Probably one of the most famous is that of the origin of Mexico's Popcatépetl and Iztaccíhautl volcanoes. According to Aztec beliefs, Iztaccíhuatl was a princess who fell in love with Popcatépetl, a warrior who was sent to war promising her he would return. However, she was later told that Popcatépetl died in battle and died of grief. Popcatépetl returned and also died of grief after hearing of Iztaccíhautl's death. The gods covered them with snow and changed them into mountains. Today, Iztaccíhautl rsembles a woman sleeping on her back covered with snow and Popcatépetl is an active volcano, raining fire on Earth in rage at the loss of Iztaccíhautl.

Lago Chungará con el volcán Parinacota encimalo.

Another similar popular legend originates from Chile. According to the legend, a prince and princess from different tribes fell in love, however the tribespeople didn't allow them to be together. This angered the gods which flooded and destroyed the towns as punishment. The flood caused the formation of Chungará Lake and the prince and princess became the volcanoes Parinacota and Pomerape. If you want to learn more about Leyendas check this link: https://www.anayainfantilyjuvenil.com/primer_capitulo/cuentos-y-leyendas-de-america-latina.pdf