Grammar Prep – 1/7: “ir + a” to Discuss the Future
The sky has fallen on my head and ·voy a·[I go to*] informar al** king.
“A where vas[you go]?”, asks the hen.
“Yo*** voy also, if you want”, responds the hen.
“Oh!”, says the hen, “the sky has fallen on the poor chick’s head and ·vamos a·[we go to] informar al king”.
They all van[(they) go] with her. The poor things no van al palace.
*In Spanish, the construction “voy/vas/va/vamos/van” + a” is used in a similar way to our construction in English “I’m going to” as a means of discussing the future, except that where English would always use the present continuous (with “ing”), Spanish uses the present simple to accomplish the same thing.
**al = “a” + “el”, “(to) the”. In Spanish, the preposition “a”, which usually means “to” or “at” and is used for indicating direction just like in English, must be used before any people or personified animals/objects when they are the object of the sentence. In this case, “king” is a person, and is the object of the sentence.
***”Voy” already indicates that it is “I” who goes, and so the addition of the subject pronoun “yo”[I] is redundant and always unused in Spanish except in cases of emphasis, clarity or contrast of subjects. Because the chick has used “voy”, the hen, will use “yo voy” since she is using the same verb, but with a different subject–the hen this time instead of the chick.
Let’s Begin with the Story!
The Cuento[Account>Story] of the Pollo🐥 – 2/7 (The Beginning)
Un día un pollo🐥 entra en un forest. Una acorn falls en its cabeza[head]🗣. The poor pollo cree[creed>believes] that the cielo[sky] ha[has] caído[fallen] upon it. It runs in order to informar al¹ king.
En the camino[way] encuentra una hen.
—¿A[to] where* vas¹? —asks the hen.
—¡Oh! —says the pollo🐥,— the cielo ha caído en mi cabeza and voy¹ a informar al king.
*In Shakespearian English, the word “whence” means “from where” and “whither” means “to where”. It helps bring clarity in regards to the direction being taken. Spanish uses this as well, and “a” or “de” is basically required before “dónde”[where] whenever a specific direction taken is meant.
¹See 1/7
El[The] Cuento del[of the] Pollo🐥 – 3/7
—Yo voy¹ also, if quieres[you want], —responde ·la gallina·[the hen] and ·se van·* juntos[joint>together] el pollo and la gallina al palacio🏰 del king.
En el camino encuentran un rooster.
—¿A where vas? —asks el rooster a la gallina🐔.
—¡Oh! —says la gallina— el cielo ha² caído² upon la cabeza🗣 del pobre[poor] pollo and vamos a informar al king.
¹See 1/7
*”se van” literally means “(from/to) themselves they go”. In Spanish, the addition of the reflexive pronoun sometimes slightly changes the meaning of the verb moreso than that it might indicate an action performed on the self. In this case, “van” would simply mean that “they go”, but the addition of “se” emphasizes that they are “going from” somewhere, which could also be translated as “they leave”.
²See 2/7
El Cuento del Pollo🐥 – 4/7
—Yo voy also, if quieres³, —responde el gallo🐓[rooster] and se van juntos el pollo, la gallina🐔 and el gallo al palacio🏰 del rey🤴🏽.
En el camino encuentran un pato🦆.
—¿A where vas? —asks el pato al gallo🐓.
—¡Oh! —says el gallo,— el cielo ha caído en la cabeza🗣 del pobre pollo and vamos a informar al rey.
³See 3/7
El Cuento del* Pollo🐥 – 5/7
—Yo voy also, if quieres —responde el pato🦆 and se van juntos³ el pollo, la gallina🐔, el gallo🐓 and el pato al palacio🏰 del rey🤴🏽.
En el camino² encuentran un ganso[goose].
—¿A where vas? —asks el ganso al pato.
—¡Oh! —asks el pato,— el cielo² ha² caído² en la cabeza🗣 del pobre pollo and vamos a informar al rey.
*”del” = “de” + “el” or “of the”. It’s an obligatory contraction.
³See 3/7
²See 2/7
El Cuento del Pollo – 6/7
—Yo voy¹ also, if quieres, —responde el ganso y se van³ juntos el pollo, la gallina, el gallo, el pato🦆 y el ganso al palacio del rey.
En el camino encuentran un pavo🦃. El pavo quiere³ go with them a informar al rey that el cielo ha caído. None de[of] los[the] pobres*³ animales knows el camino.
¹See 1/7
*Adjectives in Spanish must agree with the nouns they modify in both number and gender.
³See 3/7
El Cuento del Pollo – 7/7
En this momento encuentran una zorra🦊. La zorra says that quiere³ teach them el camino al palacio del rey. All van¹ with her; but she conduce[conducts] them a her den. Here la zorra y[and] her pups eat el pobre pollo y la gallina y el gallo y[and] el pato y el ganso y el pavo. Los pobres no van al palacio y no can informar al rey that el cielo ha caído upon la cabeza del pobre pollo.
³See 3/7
¹See 1/7
