Selena Gomez's Vaping Warning: A Lesson on Voice & Health

Key vocabulary

• vapearv.

  to vape

  “Vapeaba mucha nicotina.”— She vaped a lot of nicotine.

  Pattern vapear nicotina — to vape nicotine

  Compare fumar cigarrillos electrónicos — to smoke electronic cigarettes

  vapeo, vapeas, vapea, vapeamos, vapeáis, vapean

  💡 From English vape; conjugated regularly in Spanish, note that the spelling retains e.

• lupusm.

  lupus

  “La artista padece lupus.”— The artist suffers from lupus.

  Pattern padecer lupus — to suffer from lupus

  Compare enfermedad autoinmune — autoimmune disease

  plural lupus (invariable)

  💡 From Latin lupus (wolf); named because the rash resembles a wolf bite.

• insinuarv.

  to hint, insinuate

  “Ya había insinuado antes que la enfermedad podría afectar su voz.”— She had already hinted before that the illness could affect her voice.

  Pattern insinuar que... — to hint that...

  Compare sugerir — to suggest

  insinúo, insinúas, insinúa, insinuamos, insinuáis, insinúan

  💡 The root sinu- means "bent," extended to mean "to say in a roundabout way."

• hincharv.

  to swell

  “Siento como si se me hinchara la garganta.”— I feel as if my throat is swelling up.

  Pattern hincharse la garganta — for the throat to swell up

  Compare inflamar — to inflame

  hincho, hinchas, hincha, hinchamos, hincháis, hinchan

  💡 Often used with a reflexive pronoun to mean "to swell," as in se me hincha.

• roncoadj.

  hoarse

  “La voz suena ronca o forzada.”— The voice sounds hoarse or strained.

  Pattern voz ronca — hoarse voice

  Compare áspero — rough

  ronca, roncos, roncas

  💡 Related to "roncar" (to snore); the voice is often hoarse after snoring.

• sibilanciasf.

  wheezing

  “El vapeo se relaciona con sibilancias.”— Vaping is linked to wheezing.

  Pattern tener sibilancias — to have wheezing

  Compare pitos — wheezing sounds

  singular sibilancia

  💡 From Latin sibilare (to whistle), describing the whistling sound during breathing.

• adictivoadj.

  addictive

  “La nicotina es muy adictiva.”— Nicotine is very addictive.

  Pattern muy adictivo — highly addictive

  Compare que crea dependencia — that creates dependence

  adictiva, adictivos, adictivas

  💡 From adicto (addict); the suffix -ivo indicates a quality.

• trasplantem.

  transplant

  “Recibió un trasplante de riñón.”— She received a kidney transplant.

  Pattern trasplante de riñón — kidney transplant

  Compare injerto — graft

  plural trasplantes

  💡 The prefix tras- means "transfer"; plantar means "to plant."

• brotem.

  flare-up, outbreak

  “Había sufrido un brote en 2020.”— She had suffered a flare-up in 2020.

  Pattern brote de lupus — lupus flare-up

  Compare recaída — relapse

  plural brotes

  💡 Originally meaning "bud," extended to a disease suddenly "sprouting up."

• cuestionarv.

  to question

  “Algunas personas cuestionaron su consumo de nicotina.”— Some people questioned her nicotine use.

  Pattern cuestionar algo — to question something

  Compare poner en duda — to call into doubt

  cuestiono, cuestionas, cuestiona, cuestionamos, cuestionáis, cuestionan

  💡 From cuestión (question), meaning "to raise a question."

• aplaudirv.

  to applaud, praise

  “Muchos fans aplaudieron que hablara abiertamente.”— Many fans applauded that she spoke openly.

  Pattern aplaudir que... — to praise that...

  Compare alabar — to praise

  aplaudo, aplaudes, aplaude, aplaudimos, aplaudís, aplauden

  💡 Originally "to clap," extended to "to publicly praise."

• adicciónf.

  addiction

  “Habló abiertamente de su adicción.”— She spoke openly about her addiction.

  Pattern adicción a la nicotina — nicotine addiction

  Compare dependencia — dependence

  plural adicciones

  💡 Related to adicto; the suffix -ción indicates a state.

Grammar spotlight

Sentence patterns to steal

• «No voy a poder cambiar mi voz otra vez. Vapeaba mucha nicotina».

  "I won't be able to change my voice again. I used to vape a lot of nicotine."

  No voy a poder + infinitive + otra vezYou can replace the verb and object, e.g., No voy a poder recuperar el tiempo otra vez.

• «Es una tontería y me cambió la voz».

  "It's a foolish thing and it changed my voice."

  Es una tontería y me cambió + nounYou can replace the noun, e.g., me cambió la vida.

• Cada vez hay más pruebas de los efectos secundarios del vapeo.

  There is increasing evidence of the side effects of vaping.

  Cada vez hay más + noun + de + nounYou can replace the nouns, e.g., Cada vez hay más casos de gripe.

• «Que Selena Gomez sea sincera sobre su adicción nos recuerda que algunos hábitos son más difíciles de dejar de lo que la gente cree».

  "That Selena Gomez is honest about her addiction reminds us that some habits are harder to quit than people think."

  Que + subject + subjunctive + nos recuerda que + clauseYou can replace the subject and the clause, e.g., Que él admitiera su error nos recuerda que...

• Muchos fans salieron en defensa de la estrella y aplaudieron que hablara abiertamente de su adicción.

  Many fans came to the star's defense and applauded that she spoke openly about her addiction.

  salir en defensa de + person + y aplaudir que + subjunctiveYou can replace the person and the clause, e.g., salir en defensa del profesor y aplaudir que explicara...