Poema XX: Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche

Spanish online reading and listening practice - level C1

The Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, was once described by Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez as "el más grande poeta del siglo XX en todos los idiomas". As well as being admired for his poetry and winning the Nobel prize for Literature in 1971, he was active in the world of politics and held many political and diplomatic posts during his lifetime. The poem in this exercise is taken from his collection of poems entitled Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada. It was published when the poet was just 19 years old.

This reading and listening exercise can help you practise the perfect infinitive, using el de/la de/los de/las de and using Qué + noun/adjective/adverb + que + subjunctive to express feelings.

 

Exercise: Poema XX: Puedo escribir los versos más tristes, de Pablo Neruda

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Answer in English: we're testing your understanding of the text, not your grammar or expression, so nothing you write here will be marked for accuracy. To get feedback on how you write, try one of our writing exercises.

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