Spanish StoriesEl autobús equivocado
The Wrong Bus
Clara boards the wrong bus on the way to her grandmother's birthday and ends up somewhere she's never been — a lively A1 story about small mistakes and unexpected discoveries.
Topics
- travel
- public transportation
- family
- mistakes
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Listen to the story
Learner-paced · SpanishWhat you'll encounter
- Grammar
- Present tense verbs, Reflexive verbs (se levanta, se pone, se despide), Simple past tense for retelling (subí, pasó), Question formation
- Vocabulary
- Public transportation (autobús, parada, conductor), City places (barrio, plaza, fuente), Flowers and gifts (ramo, rosas)
- Language skills
- Asking for help and directions, Describing a mistake, Retelling an experience to someone else
Clara vive en la ciudad, pero cada domingo va a visitar a su abuela, que vive en un más tranquilo, cerca del río. Hoy es un día especial: es el cumpleaños de su abuela, y Clara quiere llegar temprano con un bonito de flores.
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Por la mañana, Clara se viste rápido, su bolso y camina hasta la de autobús. Normalmente coge el autobús 42, pero hoy está pensando en el regalo perfecto para su abuela y no mira bien el número. a un autobús que también es azul y blanco, como el 42, pero en realidad es el autobús 24.
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Durante los primeros minutos, Clara no nota nada . Mira su teléfono y piensa en qué flores comprar: ¿rosas rojas o margaritas? Pero después de un rato, el autobús en una calle que ella no conoce. Las casas son diferentes, más pequeñas, y no hay ninguna tienda familiar.
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«Esto no es mi barrio», piensa Clara, un poco nerviosa. Mira por la ventana otra vez, pero no reconoce nada. Se levanta y camina hacia el .
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«Perdone, ¿este autobús va a la calle Sol?», pregunta.
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El conductor la mira por el . «No, señorita. Este es el 24. Va hacia el pueblo de Robledo. El 42 sale de la misma parada, pero por el otro lado de la calle.»
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Clara se pone un poco . «¿Y ahora qué hago? Es el cumpleaños de mi abuela.»
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«», dice el conductor con una sonrisa. «En la próxima parada puede y esperar el autobús de vuelta. Solo tarda quince minutos.»
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Clara baja en la próxima parada. Está en una plaza pequeña que no conoce, con una en el centro y varios de fruta y flores. El lugar tiene un ambiente tranquilo, muy diferente al ruido de su barrio. Mira el reloj: todavía tiene tiempo.
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Camina un poco por la plaza y ve un puesto de flores con rosas de muchos colores. Una mujer mayor está organizando los ramos .
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«¿Busca algo especial?», pregunta la mujer.
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«Es el cumpleaños de mi abuela», responde Clara. «Pero no conozco este lugar. Subí al autobús equivocado esta mañana.»
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La mujer se ríe. «A mí también , hace muchos años, cuando era joven. Mire, estas rosas amarillas son mis favoritas. Son perfectas para una abuela.»
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Clara compra un ramo de rosas amarillas, más bonito que el que pensaba comprar antes. La mujer le explica cómo llegar a la parada correcta, y diez minutos después, Clara sube al autobús 42, esta vez segura del número.
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Cuando llega a casa de su abuela, llega quince minutos tarde, pero con una historia divertida y un ramo precioso entre las manos.
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«Perdón por la », dice Clara, y le cuenta toda la aventura: el autobús equivocado, la plaza desconocida y la mujer de las flores.
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Su abuela se ríe mucho durante toda la historia. «Solo tú puedes perderte por la ciudad y volver con las flores más bonitas que he visto.»
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Clara sonríe y abraza a su abuela . A veces, un pequeño error puede llevar a un descubrimiento muy bonito.
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Show English translation
Clara lives in the city, but every Sunday she visits her grandmother, who lives in a quieter neighborhood near the river. Today is a special day: it's her grandmother's birthday, and Clara wants to arrive early with a nice bouquet of flowers.
In the morning, Clara gets dressed quickly, grabs her bag, and walks to the bus stop. She usually takes the 42 bus, but today she's thinking about the perfect gift for her grandmother and doesn't look closely at the number. She boards a bus that is also blue and white, like the 42, but it's actually the 24.
During the first few minutes, Clara doesn't notice anything strange. She looks at her phone and thinks about which flowers to buy: red roses or daisies? But after a while, the bus turns onto a street she doesn't recognize. The houses look different, smaller, and there isn't a single familiar shop.
"This isn't my neighborhood," Clara thinks, a little nervous. She looks out the window again, but nothing looks familiar. She gets up and walks toward the driver.
"Excuse me, does this bus go to Sol Street?" she asks.
The driver looks at her in the mirror. "No, miss. This is the 24. It's headed to the town of Robledo. The 42 leaves from the same stop, but from the other side of the street."
Clara turns a little pale. "What do I do now? It's my grandmother's birthday."
"Don't worry," the driver says with a smile. "You can get off at the next stop and wait for the bus back. It only takes fifteen minutes."
Clara gets off at the next stop. She's in a small plaza she doesn't know, with a fountain in the middle and several fruit and flower stalls. The place has a calm feeling, very different from the noise of her own neighborhood. She checks the time: she still has some to spare.
She walks around the plaza a bit and sees a flower stall with roses in many colors. An older woman is arranging the bouquets carefully.
"Looking for something special?" the woman asks.
"It's my grandmother's birthday," Clara answers. "But I don't know this place. I got on the wrong bus this morning."
The woman laughs. "That happened to me too, many years ago, when I was young. Look, these yellow roses are my favorites. They're perfect for a grandmother."
Clara buys a bouquet of yellow roses, even prettier than the one she'd planned to buy before. The woman explains how to get to the right stop, and ten minutes later, Clara gets on the 42, sure of the number this time.
When she arrives at her grandmother's house, she's fifteen minutes late, but she's carrying a funny story and a beautiful bouquet.
"Sorry for being late," Clara says, and she tells the whole adventure: the wrong bus, the unfamiliar plaza, and the flower woman.
Her grandmother laughs throughout the whole story. "Only you could get lost in the city and come back with the prettiest flowers I've ever seen."
Clara smiles and hugs her grandmother tightly. Sometimes a small mistake can lead to a lovely discovery.
Vocabulary in this story
- barrio
- neighborhood
- ramo
- bouquet
- coge
- grabs
- parada
- stop
- Sube
- gets on / boards
- raro
- strange
- gira
- turns
- conductor
- driver
- espejo
- mirror
- pálida
- pale
- Tranquila
- don't worry
- bajar
- get off
- fuente
- fountain
- puestos
- stalls
- con cuidado
- carefully
- me pasó
- it happened to me
- tardanza
- lateness
- con fuerza
- tightly
Comprensión(check what you understood)
Answer a few quick questions about the story. This is just for you: there's no account or score saved.