Healthy eating (AQA GCSE Spanish): Revision Notes
Healthy eating (La alimentación saludable)
Learning to talk about healthy eating habits is essential for discussing lifestyle choices in Spanish. This topic covers key vocabulary for foods, drinks, and expressions used to describe dietary habits and give advice about healthy living.
Essential vocabulary
Understanding food and health-related vocabulary forms the foundation for discussing eating habits in Spanish. These terms will help you express your dietary preferences and describe healthy lifestyle choices.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| el agua (f) | water |
| el azúcar | sugar |
| el pan | bread |
| la carne roja | red meat |
| la dieta | diet |
| la fruta | fruit |
| la leche | milk |
| la sal | salt |
| la salud | health |
| la vida | life, lifestyle |
| las patatas fritas | chips, fries |
| las verduras | (green) vegetables |
| sano/a | healthy |
| tener hambre | to be hungry |
| tener sed | to be thirsty |
| vegano/a | vegan |
| vegetariano/a | vegetarian |
| dulce | sweet |
| equilibrado/a | balanced |
| sentir(se) | to feel |
Useful adverbs for describing eating habits
These adverbs help you express quantities and frequencies when discussing your eating patterns. They're particularly useful for describing changes in diet or comparing eating habits.
Quantity adverbs:
- demasiado - too much
- bastante - quite, quite a lot
- más - more
- menos - less, fewer
Example sentences:
- Comí demasiado ayer. - I ate too much yesterday.
- Los niños comen bastante. - The children eat quite a lot.
- Como más cuando estoy de vacaciones. - I eat more when I'm on holiday.
- Como menos durante la semana. - I eat less during the week.
Note that these adverbs are invariable (they don't change form) when used with verbs. However, demasiado and bastante can also function as adjectives, agreeing with the nouns they describe: Comes demasiados caramelos (You eat too many sweets).
Key grammar structures
When discussing healthy living, two important structures help you give advice and express what's necessary for maintaining good health.
Expressing importance: Para tener una dieta sana, es importante + infinitive (To have a healthy diet, it is important to...)
Giving advice: Para llevar una vida sana, tienes que + infinitive (To lead a healthy lifestyle, you have to...)
Example usage:
- Voy a comer más fruta y menos cosas dulces. - I am going to eat more fruit and fewer sweet things.
Grammar and pronunciation tips
-
Gender of "agua": Although el agua uses the masculine article el, it's actually feminine. This is because feminine nouns beginning with stressed a- or ha- take el in the singular to avoid the awkward sound of la agua.
-
Pronunciation of "j": In words like carne roja, the j is pronounced like the English h in "house" but stronger.
-
Verb "sentir(se)": This reflexive verb means "to feel" and changes its stem: me siento (I feel), te sientes (you feel).
Example sentences in different tenses
Present tense:
- Tengo una dieta equilibrada. - I have a balanced diet.
- Como muchas verduras cada día. - I eat lots of vegetables every day.
Past tense (preterite):
- Ayer comí demasiadas patatas fritas. - Yesterday I ate too many chips.
- El año pasado llevé una vida más sana. - Last year I led a healthier lifestyle.
Future tense:
- Voy a beber más agua. - I'm going to drink more water.
- Intentaré comer menos azúcar. - I will try to eat less sugar.
Translation practice
Spanish to English:
- Creo que llevo una vida bastante sana. Antes, tomaba demasiadas patatas fritas y mucha carne roja.
- Para llevar una vida sana, tienes que comer más pescado y más frutas y verduras.
English to Spanish: 3. I am going to eat more fruit and fewer sweet things. 4. The children eat quite a lot, but they also do lots of exercise.
Answers:
- I think that I lead quite a healthy lifestyle. Before, I used to have too many chips and lots of red meat.
- To lead a healthy lifestyle, you have to eat more fish and more fruits and vegetables.
- Voy a comer más fruta y menos cosas dulces.
- Los niños comen bastante, pero también hacen mucho ejercicio.
Remember!
- Learn food vocabulary in groups (fruits, vegetables, proteins) to make memorisation easier
- Practice using demasiado, bastante, más, and menos to express quantities accurately
- Remember the key structures: es importante + infinitive and tienes que + infinitive for giving health advice
- Use different tenses to talk about past eating habits, current diet, and future health goals
- Don't forget that el agua is feminine despite using the masculine article