Frankenstein; or, the modern prometheus — Page 13
So soon as he had finished, the youth began, not to play, but to utter sounds that were monotonous, and neither resembling the harmony of the old man's instrument nor the songs of the birds; I since found that he read aloud, but at that time I knew nothing of the science of words or letters.
Tan pronto como él hubo terminado, el joven comenzó, no a tocar, sino a emitir sonidos que eran monótonos, y que no se parecían ni a la armonía del instrumento del anciano ni a los cantos de los pájaros; después descubrí que leía en voz alta, pero en aquel momento yo no sabía nada de la ciencia de las palabras ni de las letras.
"The family, after having been thus occupied for a short time, extinguished their lights and retired, as I conjectured, to rest.
"La familia, después de haber estado así ocupada durante un breve tiempo, apagó sus luces y se retiró, según conjeturé, a descansar.
Vocabulary
- Tan
- So, as; used in comparisons or intensifiers
- pronto
- Soon, quickly, promptly
- como
- As, like, how; used in comparisons
- él
- He; third person singular masculine pronoun
- hubo
- There was/were; past tense of haber
- terminado
- Finished, completed; past participle of terminar
- el
- The; masculine singular definite article
- joven
- Young person, youth; adjective meaning young
- comenzó
- He/she began, started; preterite of comenzar
- no
- No, not; negation word
- a
- To, at; preposition indicating direction or purpose
- tocar
- To play an instrument; to touch something
- sino
- But rather, but instead; used after negation
- emitir
- To emit, produce, or give off sounds
- sonidos
- Sounds, noises; plural of sonido
- que
- That, which, who; relative or conjunction word
- eran
- They/he/she were; imperfect tense of ser
- monótonos
- Monotonous, dull, repetitive; lacking variation
- y
- And; basic coordinating conjunction
- se
- Reflexive pronoun; himself, herself, themselves
- parecían
- They resembled, seemed like; imperfect of parecer
- ni
- Nor, not even; used in negative constructions
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article
- armonía
- Harmony; pleasing combination of musical sounds
- del
- Of the; contraction of de + el
- instrumento
- Instrument; tool or musical device
- anciano
- Elderly man, old person; adjective meaning old
- los
- The; masculine plural definite article
- cantos
- Songs, chants; singing sounds of birds
- de
- Of, from; common preposition indicating possession
- pájaros
- Birds; plural of pájaro
- después
- Afterward, later, after; indicating sequence in time
- descubrí
- I discovered, found out; preterite of descubrir
- leía
- He/she was reading; imperfect tense of leer
- en
- In, on, at; common preposition of location
- voz
- Voice; sound produced by speaking or singing
- alta
- High, loud; feminine adjective meaning elevated
- pero
- But; coordinating conjunction showing contrast
- aquel
- That (over there); distant demonstrative adjective
- momento
- Moment, instant; brief period of time
- yo
- I; first person singular subject pronoun
- sabía
- I/he/she knew; imperfect tense of saber
- nada
- Nothing, not anything; negative indefinite pronoun
- ciencia
- Science, knowledge; systematic study of the world
- las
- The; feminine plural definite article
- palabras
- Words; units of language with meaning
- letras
- Letters, literature; individual alphabet characters
- La
- The; feminine singular definite article
- familia
- Family; group of related people living together
- haber
- To have; auxiliary verb used to form tenses
- estado
- Been; past participle of estar, indicating state
- así
- Thus, so, like this; indicating manner or way
- ocupada
- Busy, occupied; feminine past participle of ocupar
- durante
- During, throughout; preposition indicating time span
- un
- A, an; masculine singular indefinite article
- breve
- Brief, short; adjective meaning of short duration
- tiempo
- Time, weather; general concept of temporal duration
- apagó
- He/she turned off, extinguished; preterite of apagar
- sus
- Their, his, her; plural possessive adjective
- luces
- Lights; plural of luz, sources of illumination
- retiró
- He/she withdrew, retired; preterite of retirarse
- según
- According to, depending on; preposition of reference
- conjeturé
- I conjectured, guessed; preterite of conjeturar
- descansar
- To rest, to relax; to take a break
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