Read and Translate: Wildfire

Hello and Welcome to Your Daily Pinch of Spanish! :)

Today I want to talk about something that's been going on near where I live, and it's actually very annoying: a fire. More like a wildfire.

It's not particularly big, an it's not that out of control, you could say (as in it doesn't seem to be spreading much), and it is far enough so that everyone in this neighborhood is safe, but the smoke still gets here and it is annoying, especially at night.

I'll talk to you about it in Spanish now, and later give you the translation and notes:

Cerca de mi casa está quemando un fuego, en el tope de un monte. Lleva ya cinco días, y si veo el humo subir hoy, entonces ya serán seis. Está cerca de mi casa, pero no al punto que sea peligroso. El humo es lo más que presenta una molestia, porque la casa se llena de ese mal olor, en especial en la noche. A veces parece como si al fin se hubiera apagado el fuego, pero luego, en la tarde (quizá por el sol caliente y el calor) vuelve a encender, y el humo a subir. Espero que ya lo controlen los bomberos el día de hoy.

Now let me give you the full translation of this in English:

Near my house there's a fire burning, on the top of a hill. It's been burning for five days, and if I see the smoke coming up today, then it will be six. It's close to my house, but not to the point that it's dangerous. The smoke is the biggest annoyance, because the house gets full of that bad smell, especially at night. Sometimes it appears as if the fire finally extinguished, but then later, in the afternoon (perhaps because of the hot sun and the heat) it goes on again, and the smoke rises. I hope the firefighters control it today. 

Vocabulary and notes:

Vocabulary

(*I won't give you all of the words, since some I'm going to explain as a phrase in a moment.)

1- Cerca (sehr-cah) - Near, close to

2- Está (Ehs-tah) - to be (present form)

3- Quemando (Keh-mahn-doh) - Burning, to be burning (from verb 'quemar')

4- Tope (toh-peh) - The top

5-  Monte (Mohn-teh) - Hill

6 - Cinco (seen-koh) - Five

7- Entonces (ehn-tohn-sehs) - Then

8- Pero (peh-roh) - But

9- Peligroso (peh-lee-groh-soh) - dangerous

10- Humo (oo-moh) - Smoke

11- molestia (Moh-lehs-tee-ah) Annoyance

*Annoying translates to - molesto, or, molestoso; and also fastidioso.

12- Casa (kah-sah) - House

13- Mal olor (mahl oh-lohr) Bad smell, bad odor

14- Noche (Noh-cheh) - Night

15- Luego (loo-eh-goh) - Later

16-  Tarde (Tahr-deh) - Afternoon

17- Sol (Sohl) - Sun

18- Caliente (Kah-lee-ehn-teh) - Hot, warm

19- Calor (ka-lohr) - Heat

20- Encender (ehn-sehn-dehr) - To turn on, to switch on

21- Subir (soo-beer) - Rise

22- Espero (ehs-peh-roh) - I hope (from verb 'esperar'. It also translates to wait, in this form 'I wait'.)

23- Controlen (cohn-troh-lehn) - control (from verb 'controlar')

24- Bomberos  (bohm-beh-rohs) - Firefighters (*plural. Singular is: bombero) 

25- Hoy (oi) - Today

Notes:

Lleva ya - This expression translates to 'it's been' or 'it has gone on'. Literally, it would translate to 'it carries already'. Lleva ya cinco días - It's been five days, or, it has gone on for five days.

Si ___ entonces ___- The word si (without an accent) means 'if'. It's the conditional. Usually it will be followed by entonces, like in English 'if' is followed by 'then'. Si (something happens) entonces (outcome). Si veo el humo subir hoy - if I see the smoke rise today entonces ya serán seis (días) - Then it will be six (days).

Sometimes the word entonces won't be there, but as a conditional, it will usually have an outcome. An extra example: Si llueve hoy, no voy a salir - if it rains today, I won't go out.

Hubiera - This word causes confusion even to native Spanish speakers. (Well, it did to me for a long time lol). And why, you may ask? It's because there is another word that is used in the same context and means exactly the same thing: Hubiese (oo-bee-seh). The two are interchangeable; you can use it exactly the same. Now, I read that hubiese is more formal than hubiera, at least it originally it was. Today you can use both for the same purpose and in the same context. It translates to 'would have' or 'there was'. Extra examples: Hubiera/hubiese dormido más - I would have slept more.

Ella hubiese ganado - She would have won

*Update: I hadn't even finished writing this when I saw the smoke rising, so, yet ANOTHER day of smoke here. That fire just keeps going and going. (*Update: This was in 2015. That fire lasted for days!)

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This is it for today! This is quite a long one, isn't it? I hope you have enjoyed this post, and that you find it useful, which is the most important.

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See you next time! :)