English and the World · Spain · 30 · Cádiz · A1–C2 · A1–A2 free
A city under siege, French shells falling short of the walls, and a group of deputies in a small church writing a constitution for a whole nation. Choose your level.
Cádiz, 1810–1812
In 1808 Napoleon’s army came into Spain, and soon the French controlled almost everything in the south. But no one could take Cádiz. The city is on a long, narrow island, and British and Spanish ships kept the sea open. From 1810 to 1812 the French guns fired at the city from across the bay, but most of the shells fell short or did not explode.
The people of Cádiz even laughed at them. Everyone sang a little song: the women of Cádiz made curls in their hair with the French bombs! Nobody was very afraid, and life went on.
The Constitution of 1812
Deputies came to Cádiz from everywhere in Spain and from the Americas. They met in a small church, San Felipe Neri. There they wrote a constitution: the rules for the whole country. They finished it on 19 March 1812, Saint Joseph’s day. In Spanish, José is often called Pepe, so people called the constitution “La Pepa”.
The constitution said that the nation, not the king, was the master of Spain. Everybody had to follow the same laws, and anyone could print their ideas. But not everything changed: the king returned in 1814 and stopped it. Today there is a big monument to it in Cádiz.
🦉 Want more? Sophia explains pronouns of every kind, including everyone, someone and no one, in In Her Place (Philo & Sophia, Lesson 8).
Language: everyone, no one, everything
| people | things | places | |
|---|---|---|---|
| every- (all) | everyone / everybody | everything | everywhere |
| no- (none) | no one / nobody | nothing | nowhere |
| some- | someone / somebody | something | somewhere |
| any- (questions, negatives, “it doesn’t matter which”) | anyone / anybody | anything | anywhere |
⚠️ These words take a singular verb: Everyone sings, Nobody was afraid, not ✗ Everyone sing. And only one negative: Nobody came, not ✗ Nobody didn’t come.
Read the texts first. Press “Check my answers” at the end.
Choose the best answer.
1. Why could the French not take Cádiz?
2. What did the people of Cádiz sing about?
3. Why is the constitution called “La Pepa”?
4. What happened in 1814?
Write one word: everyone, everything or everywhere.
5. The French controlled almost in the south. (things)
6. in the city sang the song. (people)
7. Deputies came from in Spain. (places)
8. The new law was for . (people)
Write nobody (or no one), nothing or nowhere.
9. could take Cádiz. (people)
10. Many shells fell into the sea and did . (things)
11. The deputies had else to meet: the French held most of Spain. (places)
12. was very afraid. (people)
Go there!
Visit: the church of San Felipe Neri, where the constitution was written, and the Monument to the Constitution of 1812 in the Plaza de España. Then visit the Museum of the Cortes de Cádiz, close to San Felipe Neri.
Your task: write six rules for your class or family, with everyone, no one, everything and nothing.
It tells how a besieged city wrote one of Europe’s first liberal constitutions while French shells fell short of its walls, why it was named after Saint Joseph’s day, what it promised and whom it left out, how a king tore it up, and how it travelled to Portugal, Italy and Latin America, with grammar, practice, etymology and a visit plan.
The A1–A2 version above is free for everyone.
It tells how a besieged city wrote one of Europe’s first liberal constitutions while French shells fell short of its walls, why it was named after Saint Joseph’s day, what it promised and whom it left out, how a king tore it up, and how it travelled to Portugal, Italy and Latin America, with grammar, practice, etymology and a visit plan.
The A1–A2 version above is free for everyone.