Viva La Vida Quiz / Test | Languages

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. One of Ricky Martin's best known songs is "Livin' La Vida Loca". We already learned that "vida" is the Spanish word for "life". What kind of life does Ricky lead with his girlfriend as indicated by the word "loca", knowing that she is the kind of woman that makes him want to take his clothes off and go dancing in the rain?

Answer: Crazy

Ricky is leading a crazy life. "Loca" is used as an adjective in this title. It is the feminine form of "loco". In English an adjective will usually go before the noun. In Spanish it is just the other way around. In English you would therefore say "crazy life", in Spanish it is "vida loca".

In Spanish adjectives follow the gender of the noun they describe. "Vida" is a feminine word, so the adjective is also feminine, becoming "loca" instead of "loco".

2. One of Shakira's hits is called "Dia de Enero". "Dia" means "day". Shakira sings about the day she met her lover. She describes the month in which this happened by using the word "enero". Knowing that there is a lot of sun in the video and that Shakira lives in the Southern Hemisphere, which month is she describing?

Answer: January

Shakira has met her boyfriend on a day in January. The Spanish word for this month is "enero". This is a masculine noun. Most nouns in Spanish ending with -o are masculine, although there are notable exceptions. Although not all months end with -o, they are all masculine nouns, like for instance "septiembre" (September) and "diciembre" (December). Note that the names of months are not capitalized in Spanish.

3. Alejandro Sanz sings about "Corazon Partio". "Partio" means "broken" in English. What did Alejandro break, knowing that a woman is involved and he will require bandages, but not in the literal sense?

Answer: Heart

Poor Alejandro has his heart broken. "Corazon" means "heart" therefore. "Partio" is an adjective here and goes after the noun. As "corazon" is a masculine word, the adjective is also in masculine form. "Partio" is derived from the verb "partir". In this context it most likely means "to fracture".

It can also mean "to cut", "to slice" or "to crack". The bandages Alejandro sings about can be translated as "tiritas", as demonstrated in this sentence: "Tiritas pa este corazon partio" (bandages for this broken heart).

4. One of the hits of Enrique Iglesias is "Bailamos". In the song both Spanish and English are used, so Enrique tells his girl he will not leave her side and asks her to let the rhythm take over. What is Enrique inviting her to do with the word "bailamos"?

Answer: Dance

Enrique would like to dance with his lover. "To dance" can be translated in Spanish as "Bailar". To conjugate this verb you remove the -ar ending. In this case the plural form in present tense is used, the conjugation for "we". "Bailamos" can therefore be translated as "We dance".

In this context it can also be seen as asking someone to dance (as in "Let's dance"). The imperative form of "Bailar" however would be "Bailemos".

5. Juanes has a song called "A Dios le Pido". He wants to ask someone something (as indicated by "pido"). Knowing that Juanes asks for protection for his family and country from someone who would never leave him, who is Juanes directing his query to ("A Dios")?

Answer: God

"Pido" is the singular form of "pedir", a verb that means "to ask". In this case Juanes sings " I ask". The verb also has different meanings like "to command" or "to order". Given the context that Juanes is talking to God, he is more likely to be asking something. "Dios" can be capitalized, but is also used without a capital.

In the latter instance it is usually one of many gods, in the first case it will usually one single supreme being.

6. Don Omar has a song called "Hasta Abajo". The word "hasta" can be translated as "until". In the context it is used in a less literal sense. As Don is dancing the night away with his girl and is obviously using very cool moves, what could be the direction Don could be going until?

Answer: Down

Don's title "Hasta Abajo" could be translated as "get down", as in having a lot of fun on a night out. "Hasta" is used as a preposition in this case meaning "until". So literally it would translate as "until down". "Hasta" can also be used as an adverb. In that case it would mean "even". "Abajo" is used as an adverb in the title, meaning "down". It can also mean "downstairs" or "under".

7. Consuelo Velazquez wrote a song called "Besame Mucho". "Mucho" can be translated as "a lot". What would Consuelo like her boyfriend to do a lot so it will linger, now that she fears it would be their last time?

Answer: Kiss

"Mucho" is used as an adverb in this sentence, meaning "a lot". It can also be used as a noun or an adjective with quite the same meaning. "Besame" is an imperative form of "besar" to kiss. Officially the imperative form would be "besa", while "me" means the same in Spanish and English. Therefore Consuelo invites her lover to kiss her a lot (saying "kiss me a lot").

8. One of Gloria Estefan's hits is "Mi Tierra". "Mi" means "my" in English. Knowing that Gloria is singing about her Cuban roots, what could be the meaning of "tierra"?

Answer: Homeland

"Mi Tierra" can be translated here as "my homeland". "Tierra" is used as a noun here and can have different meanings like "earth", "country" or "land". If Gloria had wanted to speak about her native land, she also could have used "tierra natal". "Natal" would be the adjective "native". "Mi" is used here as an adjective, in this case indicating possession (possessive adjective). "Mi" can also be used as a pronoun.

9. One of the biggest hits for Mecano is "Hijo de la Luna". "Hijo" can be translated as either "son" or "child". What is the meaning of "luna", when you know that a gypsy woman in the song asks to wait until sunrise to find a suitable man?

Answer: Moon

The word "hijo" is used as a noun and usually means "son". It is a masculine word. The feminine form is "hija". It can also mean "child" in a more general sense, like when you are expecting a baby. The word "luna" is a noun meaning "moon". In this case it is a female noun. It can also mean "window" or "glass" (in this case it is meant as crystal).

10. Paulina Rubio has a song called "El Ultimo Adios". "Adios" means "goodbye". Knowing that Paulina feels like days without her lover's nights are like daggers to her cold heart, what could be the meaning of "ultimo"?

Answer: Final

Paulina is obviously not happy with her lover departing. "Adios" is used as a noun here, meaning "goodbye" or "farewell". "Adios" is a masculine noun. This can also be seen by the use of the adjective "ultimo", as the adjective follows the gender of the noun they describe. The feminine form of "ultimo" would be "ultima". "Ultimo means "last" or "final".

Source: Author James25

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor stedman before going online.
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Viva La Vida Trivia Quiz

Music is a great way to learn a language. The title of this quiz comes from a Coldplay song, which can be translated as meaning "live the life". Let's check ten more songs that can teach us some Spanish.

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