A Christmas Story Vocabulary

The line from the movie you heard this time was:
"I triple dog dare you!"

Or as translated in the movie:
¡Te hago un doble reto triple!

Once again you probably won't be able to ever use that phrase. And I don't even think that anyone has used that phrase since the 1930's. However, you could easily figure out that triple means "triple" and possibly doble means "double". Looking at its place in the sentence you also might be able to figure out that reto means "challenge or dare".

Here are some more simple phrases. When there is a name just substitute any name.

No podía creer lo que dije.
I couldn't believe my own ears.
Creer means "to believe". Podía is a form of the verb "poder" which means "to be able". Notice that the word "ears" (los óidos) is not here. What was actually being said here was "I could not believe what I had just said".

¡No puedo bajar los brazos!
I can't put my arms down!
This is a short sentence. But if you read carefully you will learn a few important things. Puedo is a form of the verb "poder" which means "to be able". It means that I can't do something right now. "Bajar" is the verb that means "to go down" or "to put down". Notice that the first verb "poder" was conjugated. But the second verb, "bajar" was not conjugated. So to say that you cannot do something you only have to say "No puedo verb". You do not have to worry about the conjugation of the verb. To say you are able to do something don't use the word "no". "Los brazos" means "arms" or "the arms". Notice that the English word "my" is not translated.

No puedo levantarme.
I can't get up.
In the above sentence you learned the verb "bajar" which means "to go down" or "to put down". Here you learn the opposite verb "levantar" which means "to raise or to lift".

¿Dónde está Ralphie?
Where is Ralphie?
Dónde means "where". Está is the present form of the verb "estar". Está means in this sentence "he is". There are two verbs that mean "to be". One is "estar" and the other is "ser". The verb "estar" is used because it indicates location. Using "estar" and "ser" can be confusing. Click here to learn more about the difference between estar and ser.

¿Quién es ese?
Who is that?
Quién means "who". Ese means "that". Es is the present form of the verb "ser". Es is used instead of "está" which was used in the above sentence. Es is used in these types of sentences. Using "estar" and "ser" can be confusing. Click here to learn more about the difference between estar and ser.

Vocabulary Words
triple	=	triple
doble	=	double
reto	=	challenge or dare
creer	=	to believe
poder	=	to be able
puedo	=	I am able (present tense)
bajar	=	to put down or to go down
el brazo	=	arm
levantar	=	to raise or to lift
dónde	=	where
quién	=	who