Feijóo Rallies His Party: 'You Are My Army'

Key vocabulary

• líderm./f.

  leader

  “Alberto Núñez Feijóo es el líder del Partido Popular.”— Alberto Núñez Feijóo is the leader of the Popular Party.

  Pattern lídér del partido party leader

  Compare jefe leader

  plural líderes

  💡 From English leader; in Spanish, it has the same form for masculine and feminine, distinguished by the article el/la líder.

• campañaf.

  campaign

  “La campaña dura 53 días.”— The campaign lasts 53 days.

  Pattern campaña electoral election campaign

  Compare campaña política political movement

  plural campañas

  💡 Originally meant 'field', later extended to organized activities, such as campaña electoral.

• ejércitom.

  army

  “«Sois mi ejército».”— "You are my army."

  Pattern ejército popular people's army

  Compare fuerzas armadas armed forces

  plural ejércitos

  💡 From Latin exercitus, related to 'exercise'; an army needs training.

• fallarv.

  to fail; to let down

  “No podéis fallar.”— You cannot fail.

  Pattern fallar a alguien to let someone down

  Compare fracasar to fail

  yo fallo, tú fallas, él falla

  💡 Note that ll is pronounced /ʝ/, not /l/.

• batallaf.

  battle

  “Ésta es la madre de todas las batallas.”— This is the mother of all battles.

  Pattern la madre de todas las batallas the mother of all battles

  Compare combate combat

  plural batallas

  💡 Cognate with English battle; note the pronunciation of ll in Spanish.

• motivarv.

  to motivate

  “Quiere motivar a todos.”— He wants to motivate everyone.

  Pattern motivar a alguien to motivate someone

  Compare animar to encourage

  yo motivo, tú motivas, él motiva

  💡 From motivo (reason); giving someone a reason is motivating them.

• unidadf.

  unity

  “La unidad es muy importante.”— Unity is very important.

  Pattern la unidad del partido party unity

  Compare unión union

  plural unidades

  💡 From uno (one), meaning 'to become one'.

• frentem.

  front

  “Quiere liderar la campaña en todos los frentes.”— He wants to lead the campaign on all fronts.

  Pattern en todos los frentes on all fronts

  Compare línea line

  plural frentes

  💡 Originally meant 'forehead', extended to 'front, frontline'.

Grammar spotlight

Sentence patterns to steal

• «Sois mi ejército, no podéis fallar y yo no os voy a fallar».

  "You are my army, you cannot fail and I will not fail you."

  Sois + noun, no podéis + verb, y yo no os voy a + verbYou can replace the noun and verbs, e.g., Sois mi equipo, no podéis rendiros...

• «Todos nos lo jugamos todo».

  "We are all risking everything."

  Todos nos lo jugamos todo.You can change the subject, e.g., Ellos se lo juegan todo.

• No van a dejar pasar ni una.

  They are not going to let a single one pass.

  No van a dejar pasar ni una.You can replace the verb, e.g., No van a dejar escapar ni una.