Missing Boy Found: The Sea Returns a Lost Child

Key vocabulary

• desaparecerv.

  to disappear, go missing

  “El menor había desaparecido once días antes en Granollers.”— The minor had disappeared eleven days earlier in Granollers.

  Pattern desaparecer sin dejar rastro (to disappear without leaving a trace)

  Compare perderse (to get lost) / extraviarse (to go missing)

  Regular conjugation: desaparezco, desapareces, desaparece; past participle desaparecido

  💡 des- (negative prefix) + aparecer (to appear) = to not appear, i.e., to disappear; easy to remember logically

• cadáverm.

  corpse, body

  “El cadáver fue trasladado al Instituto de Medicina Legal.”— The body was transferred to the Institute of Legal Medicine.

  Pattern hallar el cadáver (to find the body)

  Compare cuerpo sin vida (lifeless body) / restos mortales (mortal remains)

  Plural: cadáveres

  💡 From Latin cadere (to fall); after a person falls, they become a corpse; same origin as caer

• temporalm.

  storm, bad weather

  “Desapareció durante un episodio de lluvias torrenciales.”— He disappeared during an episode of torrential rains.

  Pattern temporal de lluvias (rainstorm)

  Compare tormenta (storm) / tempestad (tempest)

  Plural: temporales

  💡 Note the difference from the adjective temporal (temporary); as a noun it means storm

• búsquedaf.

  search, hunt

  “Las labores de búsqueda se centraron en el cauce del río Besòs.”— The search efforts focused on the bed of the Besòs river.

  Pattern labores de búsqueda (search efforts)

  Compare rastreo (tracking search) / localización (location)

  Plural: búsquedas; verb infinitive: buscar

  💡 From the verb buscar (to search); -queda is a noun suffix; note the spelling of que

• caucem.

  riverbed, channel

  “Se centraron en el cauce del río Besòs.”— They focused on the bed of the Besòs river.

  Pattern el cauce del río (the riverbed)

  Compare lecho del río (riverbed) / cause (cognate variant)

  Plural: cauces

  💡 From Latin calix (pipe), extended to mean the channel through which water flows

• rastrearv.

  to track, search

  “Los bomberos rastrearon también otros cauces fluviales.”— Firefighters also searched other riverbeds.

  Pattern rastrear la zona (to search the area)

  Compare buscar (to look for) / peinar (to comb through)

  Regular conjugation: rastreo, rastreas, rastrea

  💡 Same origin as rastro (trace); tracking along traces means searching

• infructuosoadj.

  fruitless, unsuccessful

  “Las búsquedas resultaron infructuosas durante muchos días.”— The searches were fruitless for many days.

  Pattern búsqueda infructuosa (fruitless search)

  Compare inútil (useless) / vano (vain)

  Feminine: infructuosa; plural: infructuosos/infructuosas

  💡 in- (negative) + fructuoso (fruitful); fructus in Latin means fruit

• conmoverv.

  to move, touch emotionally

  “La desaparición del pequeño conmovió profundamente a toda la comunidad.”— The little boy's disappearance deeply moved the whole community.

  Pattern conmover profundamente (to deeply move)

  Compare emocionar (to move emotionally) / afectar (to affect)

  Irregular conjugation: conmuevo, conmueves, conmueve; past participle conmovido

  💡 con- (together) + mover (to move) = to be moved inwardly, i.e., to move emotionally

• condolenciaf.

  condolence

  “Transmitió sus condolencias a la familia del menor.”— He conveyed his condolences to the boy's family.

  Pattern transmitir condolencias (to convey condolences)

  Compare pésame (condolence) / consuelo (comfort)

  Plural: condolencias; commonly used in plural

  💡 con- (together) + dolor (pain) = to share pain, i.e., condolence

• solidaridadf.

  solidarity

  “Ha demostrado la enorme solidaridad de una comunidad.”— It has shown the enormous solidarity of a community.

  Pattern mostrar solidaridad (to show solidarity)

  Compare unión (unity) / apoyo (support)

  Plural: solidaridades

  💡 From Latin solidus (solid); solidarity is standing together solidly

• desenlacem.

  outcome, ending

  “Aunque el desenlace no fue el esperado...”— Although the outcome was not the expected one...

  Pattern el desenlace de la historia (the outcome of the story)

  Compare final (ending) / conclusión (conclusion)

  Plural: desenlaces

  💡 des- (to untie) + enlace (connection) = to untie the connection, i.e., outcome

• adversidadf.

  adversity, hardship

  “Refleja lo mejor de la sociedad ante la adversidad.”— It reflects the best of society in the face of adversity.

  Pattern ante la adversidad (in the face of adversity)

  Compare dificultad (difficulty) / desgracia (misfortune)

  Plural: adversidades

  💡 From Latin adversus (opposite); adversity is a situation that opposes you

Grammar spotlight

Sentence patterns to steal

• Gracias a esta técnica, se pudo confirmar oficialmente que se trataba del menor desaparecido, poniendo así fin a once días de incertidumbre para su familia.

  Thanks to this technique, it was officially confirmed that this was the missing minor, thus putting an end to eleven days of uncertainty for his family.

  Gracias a + noun, se pudo + infinitive, poniendo así fin a + nounYou can replace the noun after gracias a and the verb after pudo to express 'thanks to a certain means, something was able to be done.'

• Desde ese momento, los equipos de emergencia peinaron la zona sin descanso tratando de localizarlo.

  From that moment on, emergency teams combed the area tirelessly trying to find him.

  Desde + time point, + subject + verb + sin descanso + tratando de + infinitiveYou can replace the time point, subject, and main verb to express 'from a certain time, doing something without rest.'

• A pesar de todos estos esfuerzos, las búsquedas resultaron infructuosas durante muchos días.

  Despite all these efforts, the searches were unsuccessful for many days.

  A pesar de + noun, + subject + resultar + adjectiveYou can replace esfuerzos with other nouns and use different adjectives after resultar.

• También ha demostrado la enorme solidaridad de una comunidad que no dejó de buscar a Rami ni un solo día.

  It has also shown the enormous solidarity of a community that did not stop searching for Rami for even a single day.

  Ha demostrado + noun + que no dejó de + infinitive + ni un solo díaYou can replace the noun after demostrado and the infinitive to express 'has shown a spirit of not giving up.'

• Aunque el desenlace no fue el esperado, el esfuerzo conjunto de cientos de personas refleja lo mejor de la sociedad ante la adversidad.

  Although the outcome was not the expected one, the joint effort of hundreds of people reflects the best of society in the face of adversity.

  Aunque + clause, + subject + refleja lo mejor de + noun + ante + nounYou can replace the content of the aunque clause and the object after refleja to express 'although the result is not as desired, something reflects a positive side.'