What is the song about?
The song teaches children three important words for getting along: por favor, gracias, and perdón. It explains when each one is used: por favor when we want something, gracias when someone helps us, and perdón or lo siento when we do something wrong. The bridge talks about arguments between friends and how an apology helps to make peace.
Useful words and expressions
- ¿Me ayudas, por favor?: a polite and very common way to ask for help.
- Muchas gracias: to say thank you warmly.
- Lo siento / Perdón: to apologize.
- pedir disculpas: to say that you are sorry.
- equivocarse: to do something wrong unintentionally (si nos equivocamos).
- hacer borrón y cuenta nueva: to forget a problem and start over. It is a very Spanish and very useful expression.
- palabritas: affectionate diminutive of palabras.
- la paz y la alegría: positive feelings.
Grammar
- Hay que + infinitive expresses something necessary in general: lo que hay que hablar, hay que ayudar.
- Deber + infinitive: ¿qué debes decir?
- Si + present for conditions: Si nos equivocamos…, Si haces…
- Ir a + infinitive for the future: nos van a salvar.
- Imperative of decir: di (irregular): Di por favor, solo di «Lo siento».
- Hacer que + subjunctive: hace que la gente se sienta genial.
- The general tú: cuando quieres algo means "when a person wants something".
Watch out: things you shouldn't copy
In order to rhyme, the lyrics use some unnatural phrases:
- lo que hay que hablar: with specific words you use decir, not hablar. The normal way to say it would be «lo que hay que decir».
- si haces un daño: you say si haces daño (without un) or «si haces algo mal».
- deja nuestra amistad descubierta: descubierta means "uncovered" and is not used like this with amistad. The idea is that the friendship is fine again; in real life you would say, for example, «salva nuestra amistad».
- lo pides con calma para sonreír is a somewhat loose phrase; the idea is to ask for things calmly and with a smile.