What it's about
Someone is packing their suitcase for a long trip. They fold their clothes, pack their glasses, toothbrush, and passport, zip it up, and wait for the taxi. They are so excited that they can't sleep and dream of beaches and good food. In the end, they have packed so many things that it seems like they are carrying their whole house with them.
Useful words
- la maleta / el equipaje / la mochila / la bolsa: ways to carry your things.
- hacer la maleta: to pack your luggage.
- el pasaporte, la tarjeta de embarque, los boletos: travel documents. Boletos is used mainly in Latin America; in Spain people say billetes.
- la cremallera (a zipper that goes up and down) and el candado (a small padlock with a key or code).
- las gafas (in Latin America also lentes or anteojos), la toalla, el sombrero, la crema, el cepillo de dientes.
- los suéteres (in Spain, jerséis) and los abrigos.
- el dinero extranjero: money from another country.
Expressions
- pasarlo bien: to have a good time, to have fun. La cámara lista para pasarlo bien.
- estar listo para…: to be ready to/for… Listos para volar.
- no puedo ni dormir: ni reinforces the idea: I can't even sleep.
- llevar algo a cuestas: to carry something on you, on your back. Llevar la casa a cuestas means carrying a ton of things.
- lo más hermoso de la vida: superlative with lo más + adjective.
Grammar
- Tú imperative: haz (hacer), cierra (cerrar), ponle (poner + le). Pronouns are attached to the end of the affirmative imperative: ponle candado.
- Present tense for what is happening now: tomo, reviso, siento, buscamos.
- Preterite tense for completed actions: metí, llené.
- Ir a + infinitive for the near future: lo vamos a ver.
- Stem-changing verbs: cierra (e → ie), comienza (e → ie), puedo (o → ue).
Note: poetic license for rhyme
Some phrases are adapted so that they rhyme and shouldn't be copied as is:
- El taxi ya está: the normal way to say this is el taxi ya está aquí or ya llegó el taxi.
- Listos para allá: this is a shortened phrase. It's better to say listos para irnos or listos para salir.
- Llegamos a cien: here it doesn't have a clear meaning and is used to rhyme with bien. The real expression is estar a cien: to be very excited or nervous.
- Lugares que quiero vivir: the usual way to say this is lugares que quiero conocer or visitar.
- Esta fiesta: refers to the trip, not an actual party.
- De un mágico modo: the adjective comes first for the rhyme. In normal speech, you say de un modo mágico or de forma mágica.
- The title says Haz la maleta and the chorus says Haz tu maleta: both forms are correct.