Lockdown: Cierre y Parón.

We are now in Lockdown! In many countries citizens are asked, or forced to stay at home. Hopefully it will be for a short period until Covid19 disappears from the face of the earth!

Meanwhile, let’s increase our Spanish vocabulary and keep it rich with new words and expressions. ¿De acuerdo? Agreed?

El Cierre … El Parón

To refer to the lockdown in Spanish we may use the word CIERRE. El cierre. It comes from the verb CERRAR to close.

We are already familiar with the words CERRADO = CLOSED and ABIERTO = OPEN seen on the doors and windows of many commercial establishments.

The word PARÓN is also used to refer to Lockdown. El parón.

It is derived from PARAR = to stop. Here are words assoicated with Parar:

El paro (The strike)

La parada (The bus stop)

Estar parado (To be standing)

¡Párate! (Stop!) or (Stand up!)

One more expression to refer to unemployment = El paro forzoso.

This unemployment is caused by COVID19, of course!!

It is forced upon the society: El paro forzoso.

See how those words are all related?

CERRADO

What public places are closed? Our favourite take away, the fast food outlet where we buy fried chicken, hamburgers and pizza. My goodness they are all closed! What shall we eat now?

El restaurante está cerrado. Tengo hambre. ¿Qué voy a comer?

They must remain closed to avoid people from gathering close one to the other. We must think of how our actions affect the entire community. We cannot say:

¡Me da igual! (I don’t care!)

ABIERTO

These places are open.

Está abierto. Están abiertos.

El mercado está abierto. (The market is open.)

El supermercado está abierto. (The supermarket is open)

El abasto está abierto. (The grocery (parlour) is open.)

COMIDA SANA

We can go there and buy items to cook our own healthy food, comida sana

We can prepare them ourselves.

La comida sana. Healthy food.