Los treinta y nueve escalones: 40 palabras para aprender antes de leerlo
The Thirty-Nine Steps
Las 40 palabras que John Buchan repite una y otra vez en «Los treinta y nueve escalones» y que no están entre las 4.000 más comunes del inglés. Apréndelas antes y los primeros capítulos se leerán mucho mejor. Cada una lleva su pronunciación, su traducción y una frase del libro.
till/ˈtɪɫ/hasta que43 veces en el libro
I watched from my window till I saw you come home, and then slipped down the stair to meet you....
glen/ˈɡɫɛn/barranca25 veces en el libro
We rumbled slowly into a land of little wooded glens and then to a great wide moorland place, gleaming with lochs, with high blue hills showing northwards.
moor/ˈmʊɹ/brezal, pantano, turbera22 veces en el libro
A child of ten received my ticket, and I emerged on a white road that straggled over the brown moor.
mil/ˈmɪɫ/millas17 veces en el libro
Not tonight, for they’ll follow me forty miles along the road, but first thing tomorrow morning.
moorland/ˈmʊɹˌɫænd/páramo16 veces en el libro
A brown-faced woman was standing by the door, and greeted me with the kindly shyness of moorland places.
heather/ˈhɛðɝ/brezo, urce16 veces en el libro
By-and-by I came to a swell of moorland which dipped to the vale of a little river, and a mile away in the heather I saw the smoke of a train.
fool/ˈfuɫ/tonto, necio, imbécil16 veces en el libro
I found that out—not that it was difficult, for any fool could guess as much.
chap/ˈtʃæp/tipo15 veces en el libro
I rather fancied the chap.
reckon/ˈɹɛkən/coloquial: concluir, como por enumeración y balance de posibilidades15 veces en el libro
Say, sir, I’ve been watching you, and I reckon you’re a cool customer.
mile/ˈmaɪɫ/milla14 veces en el libro
There was no plan of campaign in my head, only just to go on and on in this blessed, honest-smelling hill country, for every mile put me in better humour with myself.
herd/ˈhɝd/pastor, rebañador14 veces en el libro
It was some hours since I had tasted food, and I was getting very hungry when I came to a herd’s cottage set in a nook beside a waterfall.
cottage/ˈkɑtədʒ/casa pequeña14 veces en el libro
The moor surged up around it and left room only for the single line, the slender siding, a waiting-room, an office, the station-master’s cottage, and a tiny yard of gooseberries and sweet-william.
mill/ˈmɪɫ/molino14 veces en el libro
A small mill-lade ran in a wooden aqueduct at the other side of the yard, and into this I fell.
tide/ˈtaɪd/marea14 veces en el libro
(“Thirty-nine steps”) was the phrase; and at its last time of use it ran—(“Thirty-nine steps, I counted them—high tide 10.17 p.m.”).
roadmanpeón caminero13 veces en el libro
Then in a tiny bight of road, beside a heap of stones, I found the roadman.
ridge/ˈɹɪdʒ/cresta, arista13 veces en el libro
Over a long ridge of moorland I took my road, skirting the side of a high hill which the herd had called Cairnsmore of Fleet.
collar/ˈkɑɫɝ/cuello13 veces en el libro
I hunted out a well-used tweed suit, a pair of strong nailed boots, and a flannel shirt with a collar.
queer/ˈkwɪɹ/raro, extraño12 veces en el libro
He seemed to brace himself for a great effort, and then started on the queerest rigmarole.
butler/ˈbətɫɝ/mayordomo, guardés12 veces en el libro
The back door stood open, and a grave butler was awaiting me.
clever/ˈkɫɛvɝ/listo, hábil, avispado12 veces en el libro
A clever man can make big profits on a falling market, and it suited the book of both classes to set Europe by the ears.
milkman/ˈmɪɫkˌmæn/lechero11 veces en el libro
But about twenty minutes to seven, as I knew from bitter experience, the milkman turned up with a great clatter of cans, and deposited my share outside my door.
aeroplaneaeroplano11 veces en el libro
I was as certain as if I had been told that that aeroplane was looking for me, and that it did not belong to the police.
whistle/ˈhwɪsəɫ/silbar, chiflar, pitar11 veces en el libro
I opened the front door, and there was my man, singling out my cans from a bunch he carried and whistling through his teeth.
murderer/ˈmɝdɝɝ/asesino, asesina, homicida11 veces en el libro
… for, unless the murderer came back, I had till about six o’clock in the morning for my cogitations.
cliff/ˈkɫɪf/vertical acantilado, risco, despeñadero11 veces en el libro
I think it’s a piece of open coast with biggish cliffs, somewhere between the Wash and the Channel.
din/ˈdɪn/comedor10 veces en el libro
… even the pockets of the clothes in my wardrobe, and the sideboard in the dining-room.
yarn/ˈjɑɹn/cuento, historia10 veces en el libro
“Get on with your yarn,” I said, “and I’ll tell you.”
plump/ˈpɫəmp/regordete10 veces en el libro
two plump thrushes had blundered into it.
cigar/sɪˈɡɑɹ/puro, cigarro, habano10 veces en el libro
I left him with the newspaper and a box of cigars, and went down to the City till luncheon.
policeman/pəˈɫismən/policía10 veces en el libro
Then I caught sight of a policeman a hundred yards down, and a loafer shuffling past on the other side.
puzzle/ˈpəzəɫ/hacer que se sienta confundido o desconcertado porque no puede entender un asunto complicado, un problema, etc. desconcertar10 veces en el libro
He told me some queer things that explained a lot that had puzzled me—things that happened in the Balkan War, how one state suddenly came out on top …
whisky/ˈhwɪski/whisky9 veces en el libro
There was a tray of drinks on a table beside him, from which he filled himself a stiff whisky-and-soda.
harbour/ˈhɑɹbɝ/puerto, refugio9 veces en el libro
If it was a harbour it must be some little place where the tide mattered, or else it was a heavy-draught boat.
occupant/ˈɑkjəpənt/ocupante9 veces en el libro
I recognized him as the occupant of a flat on the top floor, with whom I had passed the time of day on the stairs.
presently/ˈpɹɛzəntɫi/actualmente9 veces en el libro
“Not Mr Scudder,” he corrected; “Captain Theophilus Digby, of the 40th Gurkhas, presently home on leave.
descend/dɪˈsɛnd/descender, bajar9 veces en el libro
The potato-digging station-master had been gingered up into some activity, for the west-going train was waiting to let us pass, and from it had descended three men who were asking him questions.
grey/ˈɡɹeɪ/gris8 veces en el libro
There seemed no road to it from anywhere, and to increase the desolation the waves of a tarn lapped on their grey granite beach half a mile away.
innkeeper/ˈɪnˌkipɝ/posadera, posadero, ventera8 veces en el libro
“You’re young to be an innkeeper,” I said.
dovecotpalomar8 veces en el libro
From another window I saw that on the far side of the mill stood an old stone dovecot.
villa/ˈvɪɫə/villa, quinta, casa de campo8 veces en el libro
I walked back through fields and lines of villas and terraces and then slums and mean streets, and it took me pretty nearly two hours.
Traducciones: WikDict, English to Spanish (Wiktionary, CC-BY-SA) Pronunciación: ipa-dict (MIT), a partir de Wiktionary.
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