Don't just translate.
Understand.

“poser un lapin” — to stand someone up

Literally “to put down a rabbit.” This French idiom means to fail to show up to a planned meeting. It has nothing to do with rabbits.

“faire des pieds et des mains” — to bend over backwards

Literally “to do with feet and hands.” Means to go to extraordinary effort. Similar to English “move heaven and earth.”

“avait fait” — plus-que-parfait (pluperfect)

The past-before-past tense. Marie’s effort happened before he stood her up. French marks this distinction grammatically; English often leaves it implied.

“tomar el pelo” — to pull someone’s leg

Literally “to take someone’s hair.” A common Spanish idiom meaning to tease or joke with someone. Nothing to do with hair.

“¿verdad?” — universal tag question

Spanish uses “¿verdad?” regardless of verb or tense. English requires matching tag questions: “isn’t it?”, “aren’t you?”, “don’t they?”

“es que” — emphasis / justification marker

No direct English equivalent. Adds emotional weight — closer to “it’s just that” or “the thing is.” Very common in spoken Spanish.

“nur Bahnhof verstehen” — to not understand anything

Literally “to only understand train station.” Originated from WWI soldiers who only wanted to hear “Bahnhof” — the train station that would take them home. Similar to English “it’s all Greek to me.”

“dass... verstand” — verb-final word order

In German subordinate clauses introduced by “dass,” the conjugated verb moves to the very end. English keeps the verb in place; German rearranges.

“so... dass” — correlative construction

“So [adjective] that [result].” A common German pattern for expressing cause and effect. The “so” in the main clause pairs with “dass” in the subordinate clause.