Learn About Frida Kahlo in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to learn about Frida Kahlo in Spanish in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• talk about a historical figure’s life

• use the preterite to discuss life events

Vocabulary

Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!

Adjectives

Spanish	English
grave	serious
personal	personal
político	political
surrealista	surrealist

examples
A los dieciocho años, sufrió un accidente muy grave. At eighteen years of age, she suffered a very serious accident.
Frida Kahlo creó pinturas muy personales. Frida Kahlo created very personal paintings.

Adverb

Spanish	English
actualmente	nowadays

examples
Actualmente, es un símbolo del feminismo. Nowadays, she is a symbol of feminism.

Nouns

Spanish	English
la convalecencia	convalescence
la etiqueta	title
el feminismo	feminism
el ideal	ideal
el matrimonio	marriage
la muerte	death
el, la muralista	muralist
la obra	work
París	Paris
la pelvis	pelvis
el pintor, la pintora	painter
la pintura	painting
la relación	relationship
el símbolo	symbol
el surrealismo	surrealism
el tormento	torment

examples
Durante su convalecencia comenzó a pintar más. During her convalescence she started to paint more.
Ella compartió sus ideales. She shared their ideals.
Ella rechazó la etiqueta de surrealista. She rejected the title of surrealist.
El segundo matrimonio duró hasta su muerte. The second marriage lasted until her death.

The phrase contraer matrimonio means to get married.

Pronunciation

You might be wondering why we’ve included París, a word that undoubtedly looks familiar to you. Listen to how the pronunciation varies between Spanish and English!

examples
Un poeta francés invitó a Frida a exponer en París. A French poet invited Frida to exhibit her work in Paris.

Noun Phrase

Spanish	English
la columna vertebral	spine

examples
Frida se fracturó la columna vertebral. Frida fractured her spine.

Numbers

Spanish	English
mil novecientos siete	nineteen hundred seven
mil novecientos veintinueve	nineteen twenty-nine
mil novecientos treinta y nueve	nineteen thirty-nine
mil novecientos cincuenta y cuatro	nineteen fifty-four

examples
Frida Kahlo nació en mil novecientos siete. Frida Kahlo was born in nineteen hundred seven.
En mil novecientos treinta y nueve, se divorciaron. In nineteen thirty-nine, they got divorced.
Frida murió en mil novecientos cincuenta y cuatro. Frida died in nineteen fifty-four.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

Amputar

Amputar(to amputate) is an -ar verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	amputé	I amputated
tú	amputaste	you amputated	informal singular you
vos	amputaste	you amputated	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	amputó	he, she amputated
usted	amputó	you amputated	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	amputamos	we amputated
vosotros, vosotras	amputasteis	you amputated	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	amputaron	they amputated
ustedes	amputaron	you amputated	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Comenzar

Comenzar(to start) is an -ar verb with an irregular yo form in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	comencé	I started
tú	comenzaste	you started	informal singular you
vos	comenzaste	you started	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	comenzó	he, she started
usted	comenzó	you started	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	comenzamos	we started
vosotros, vosotras	comenzasteis	you started	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	comenzaron	they started
ustedes	comenzaron	you started	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Compartir

Compartir(to share) is an -ir verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	compartí	I shared
tú	compartiste	you shared	informal singular you
vos	compartiste	you shared	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	compartió	he, she shared
usted	compartió	you shared	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	compartimos	we shared
vosotros, vosotras	compartisteis	you shared	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	compartieron	they shared
ustedes	compartieron	you shared	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Crear

Crear(to create) is an -ar verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	creé	I created
tú	creaste	you created	informal singular you
vos	creaste	you created	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	creó	he, she created
usted	creó	you created	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	creamos	we created
vosotros, vosotras	creasteis	you created	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	crearon	they created
ustedes	crearon	you created	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Divorciarse

Divorciarse(to get divorced) is an -ar pronominal verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me divorcié	I got divorced
tú	te divorciaste	you got divorced	informal singular you
vos	te divorciaste	you got divorced	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se divorció	he, she got divorced
usted	se divorció	you got divorced	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos divorciamos	we got divorced
vosotros, vosotras	os divorciasteis	you got divorced	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se divorciaron	they got divorced
ustedes	se divorciaron	you got divorced	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Durar

Durar(to last) is an -ar verb that is regular in the preterite.

Durar tends to be used in the third-person singular: duró or third-person plural duraron.

Estar

Estar(to be) is a stem-changing verb in the preterite. That means that its "stem," esta, changes to estuv in all forms.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	estuve	I was
tú	estuviste	you were	informal singular you
vos	estuviste	you were	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	estuvo	he, she was
usted	estuvo	you were	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	estuvimos	we were
vosotros, vosotras	estuvisteis	you were	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	estuvieron	they were
ustedes	estuvieron	you were	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Fracturarse

Fracturarse(to fracture) is an -ar pronominal verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me fracturé	I fractured
tú	te fracturaste	you fractured	informal singular you
vos	te fracturaste	you fractured	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se fracturó	he, she fractured
usted	se fracturó	you fractured	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos fracturamos	we fractured
vosotros, vosotras	os fracturasteis	you fractured	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se fracturaron	they fractured
ustedes	se fracturaron	you fractured	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Influir

Influir(to affect) is a stem-changing verb in the preterite. That means that its "stem," influi, changes to influy in the él, ella, usted and ellos, ellas, ustedes forms.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	influí	I affected
tú	influiste	you affected	informal singular you
vos	influiste	you affected	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	influyó	he, she affected
usted	influyó	you affected	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	influimos	we affected
vosotros, vosotras	influisteis	you affected	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	influyeron	they affected
ustedes	influyeron	you affected	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Invitar

Invitar(to invite) is an -ar verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	invité	I invited
tú	invitaste	you invited	informal singular you
vos	invitaste	you invited	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	invitó	he, she invited
usted	invitó	you invited	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	invitamos	we invited
vosotros, vosotras	invitasteis	you invited	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	invitaron	they invited
ustedes	invitaron	you invited	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Marcar

Marcar(to mark) is an -ar verb with an irregular yo form in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	marqué	I marked
tú	marcaste	you marked	informal singular you
vos	marcaste	you marked	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	marcó	he, she marked
usted	marcó	you marked	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	marcamos	we marked
vosotros, vosotras	marcasteis	you marked	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	marcaron	they marked
ustedes	marcaron	you marked	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Mezclar

Mezclar(to mix) is an -ar verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	mezclé	I mixed
tú	mezclaste	you mixed	informal singular you
vos	mezclaste	you mixed	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	mezcló	he, she mixed
usted	mezcló	you mixed	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	mezclamos	we mixed
vosotros, vosotras	mezclasteis	you mixed	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	mezclaron	they mixed
ustedes	mezclaron	you mixed	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Morir

Morir(to die) is a stem-changing verb in the preterite. That means that its "stem," mo, changes to mu in the él, ella, usted and ellos, ellas, ustedes forms.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	morí	I died
tú	moriste	you died	informal singular you
vos	moriste	you died	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	murió	he, she died
usted	murió	you died	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	morimos	we died
vosotros, vosotras	moristeis	you died	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	murieron	they died
ustedes	murieron	you died	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Nacer

Nacer(to be born) is an -er verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	nací	I was born
tú	naciste	you were born	informal singular you
vos	naciste	you were born	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	nació	he, she was born
usted	nació	you were born	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nacimos	we were born
vosotros, vosotras	nacisteis	you were born	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	nacieron	they were born
ustedes	nacieron	you were born	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Rechazar

Rechazar(to reject) is an -ar verb with an irregular yo form in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	rechacé	I rejected
tú	rechazaste	you rejected	informal singular you
vos	rechazaste	you rejected	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	rechazó	he, she rejected
usted	rechazó	you rejected	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	rechazamos	we rejected
vosotros, vosotras	rechazasteis	you rejected	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	rechazaron	they rejected
ustedes	rechazaron	you rejected	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Relacionarse

Relacionarse(to spend time with) is an -ar pronominal verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me relacioné	I spent time with
tú	te relacionaste	you spent time with	informal singular you
vos	te relacionaste	you spent time with	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se relacionó	he, she spent time with
usted	se relacionó	you spent time with	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos relacionamos	we spent time with
vosotros, vosotras	os relacionasteis	you spent time with	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se relacionaron	they spent time with
ustedes	se relacionaron	you spent time with	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Residir

Residir(to reside) is an -er verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	residí	I resided
tú	residiste	you resided	informal singular you
vos	residiste	you resided	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	residió	he, she resided
usted	residió	you resided	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	residimos	we resided
vosotros, vosotras	residisteis	you resided	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	residieron	they resided
ustedes	residieron	you resided	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Sentirse

Sentirse(to feel) is a stem-changing -ir pronominal verb in the preterite. That means that its "stem," se, changes to si in the él, ella, usted and ellos, ellas, ustedes forms.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me sentí	I felt
tú	te sentiste	you felt	informal singular you
vos	te sentiste	you felt	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se sintió	he, she felt
usted	se sintió	you felt	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos sentimos	we felt
vosotros, vosotras	os sentisteis	you felt	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se sintieron	they felt
ustedes	se sintieron	you felt	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Ser

Ser(to be) is an irregular verb in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	fui	I was
tú	fuiste	you were	informal singular you
vos	fuiste	you were	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	fue	he, she was
usted	fue	you were	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	fuimos	we were
vosotros, vosotras	fuisteis	you were	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	fueron	they were
ustedes	fueron	you were	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

No, we didn’t make a mistake and yes, you’re seeing that right. Ser and ir are conjugated the same way in the preterite!

Note that none of the forms of the verb ser take an accent in the preterite.

Sufrir

Sufrir(to suffer) is an -ir verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	sufrí	I suffered
tú	sufriste	you suffered	informal singular you
vos	sufriste	you suffered	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	sufrió	he, she suffered
usted	sufrió	you suffered	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	sufrimos	we suffered
vosotros, vosotras	sufristeis	you suffered	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	sufrieron	they suffered
ustedes	sufrieron	you suffered	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Tener

Tener(to have) is a stem-changing verb in the preterite. That means that its "stem," te, changes to tuv in all forms.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	tuve	I had
tú	tuviste	you had	informal singular you
vos	tuviste	you had	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	tuvo	he, she had
usted	tuvo	you had	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	tuvimos	we had
vosotros, vosotras	tuvisteis	you had	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	tuvieron	they had
ustedes	tuvieron	you had	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Note that the yo and él, ella, usted forms of tener in the preterite do not have accent marks.

Usar

Usar(to use) is an -ar verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	usé	I used
tú	usaste	you used	informal singular you
vos	usaste	you used	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	usó	he, she used
usted	usó	you used	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	usamos	we used
vosotros, vosotras	usasteis	you used	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	usaron	they used
ustedes	usaron	you used	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Volver

Volver(to come back) is an -er verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	volví	I came back
tú	volviste	you came back	informal singular you
vos	volviste	you came back	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	volvió	he, she came back
usted	volvió	you came back	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	volvimos	we came back
vosotros, vosotras	volvisteis	you came back	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	volvieron	they came back
ustedes	volvieron	you came back	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Verb Phrase

In this skill, you learn the following verb phrase!

Llegar A

Llegar a(to manage to) is an -ar verb with an irregular yo form in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	llegué a	I managed to
tú	llegaste a	you managed to	informal singular you
vos	llegaste a	you managed to	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	llegó a	he, she managed to
usted	llegó a	you managed to	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	llegamos a	we managed to
vosotros, vosotras	llegasteis a	you managed to	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	llegaron a	they managed to
ustedes	llegaron a	you managed to	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Llegar a is followed by an infinitive verb.

examples
Frida nunca llegó a tener hijos. Frida never had children.

Contraer Matrimonio

Contraer matrimonio(to get married) is a stem-changing verb in the preterite. That means that its "stem," contrae, changes to contraj in all forms.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	contraje matrimonio	I got married
tú	contrajiste matrimonio	you got married	informal singular you
vos	contrajiste matrimonio	you got married	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	contrajo matrimonio	he, she got married
usted	contrajo matrimonio	you got married	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	contrajimos matrimonio	we got married
vosotros, vosotras	contrajisteis matrimonio	you got married	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	contrajeron matrimonio	they got married
ustedes	contrajeron matrimonio	you got married	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

The Preterite

Regular Spanish Preterite Forms

There are only two sets of endings for regular preterite verbs, one for -ar verbs and one for both -er and -ir verbs. To conjugate a regular verb in the preterite tense, simply remove the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, or -ir) and add the preterite ending that matches the subject. Check out the table of regular preterite endings below.

Subject	-ar Verbs	-er and -ir Verbs
yo	-é	-í
tú	-aste	-iste
él, ella, usted	-ó	-ió
nosotros	-amos	-imos
vosotros	-asteis	-isteis
ellos, ellas, ustedes	-aron	-ieron

Note that some verbs, like ir, ser, and ver, are completely irregular in the preterite!

Phrase

Here is one of the phrases used in these lessons!

Spanish	English
hoy en día	nowadays

Quiz Yourself!

Want more practice with the vocabulary you learned in these lessons? Click here!

Spanish Conversation

Fantastic! Let's put the grammar and vocab from above to the test in the following example of a conversation in Spanish.

Nico:

¿Conoces a Frida Kahlo, Jimena?

Are you familiar with Frida Kahlo, Jimena?

Jimena:

Sí. Fue una famosa pintora mexicana, ¿no?

Yes. She was a famous Mexican painter, wasn’t she?

Nico:

Sí. Frida Kahlo creó pinturas muy personales. A los dieciocho años, sufrió un accidente muy grave.

Yes. Frida Kahlo created very personal paintings. At eighteen years of age, she suffered a very serious accident.

Jimena:

¡No!

No!

Nico:

Sí. Frida se fracturó la columna vertebral. También se fracturó la pelvis. Este accidente influyó en su obra profundamente.

Yes. Frida fractured her spine. She also fractured her pelvis. This accident affected her work profoundly.

Jimena:

¡Qué triste!

How sad!

Want to learn more about biographies in Spanish? Check out the following articles!

• How to Sound Like a Local in Mexico

• Biography of Dolores Huerta

• Biography of Federico García Lorca