Spanish · Beginner (A1) · Chapter 3 of 12
At the café
En el café
Order food and drink in Spanish, ask for the price and pay the bill, and learn when to say tú and when to say usted.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Order a drink and something to eat politely
- Ask how much something costs and pay
- Choose between tú and usted
Listen
Lucía stops at a café in Madrid in the morning. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Waiter
Buenos días. ¿Qué desea?
Good morning. What would you like?
Lucía
Un café con leche, por favor.
A coffee with milk, please.
Waiter
¿Algo más?
Anything else?
Lucía
Sí, una tostada con tomate.
Yes, a piece of toast with tomato.
Waiter
Muy bien. Aquí tiene.
All right. Here you are.
Lucía
Gracias. ¿Cuánto es?
Thank you. How much is it?
Waiter
Son cuatro euros con cincuenta.
That's four euros fifty.
Lucía
Aquí tiene. Adiós, buenos días.
Here you are. Goodbye, have a good day.
Understand
Tú or usted?
In chapter 1 you saw that Spanish has two words for “you” when you talk to one person. Use with friends, family, children and people your age in relaxed situations. Use , the polite form, with older people, in formal situations and often with strangers and staff. In Spain is very common, even with strangers your own age, but is the safe choice when in doubt.
takes the same verb form as “he” and “she”. That's why the waiter asks and not In the same way, (you, more than one person) takes the “they” form. You usually leave out too, unless you want to be extra clear or polite.
| Word | Use it with | Example |
|---|---|---|
| friends, family, children | (What do you want?) | |
| strangers, staff, older people | (What would you like?) |
Un or una: “a” in Spanish
Every Spanish noun is either masculine or feminine. Masculine nouns take (a) and (the). Feminine nouns take (a) and (the).
Most nouns ending in -o are masculine and most ending in -a are feminine, but not all: (chapter 2) is masculine. Nouns ending in -ción or -dad are feminine. Nouns ending in -e or a consonant can be either: , . So learn each noun together with its word for “the”.
| English | Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|---|
| a, an | ||
| the |
- un caféa coffee
- una tostadaa piece of toast
- el téthe tea
- la lechethe milk
More in the grammar: Articles: el, la, los, las, un, una · Nouns: gender and plural · Subject pronouns: yo, tú, usted, vosotros…
New words
- ¿Qué desea?What would you like? (polite)
- el cafécoffee · masculine
- la lechemilk · feminine
- un café con lechea coffee with milk
- el tétea · masculine
- el aguawater · feminine, but takes in the singular
- la tostadatoast · feminine
- el tomatetomato · masculine; is a classic Spanish breakfast
- ¿Algo más?Anything else?
- Aquí tiene.Here you are. (polite)
- ¿Cuánto es?How much is it?
- la cuentathe bill · feminine
- por favorplease
Practise
1.You're asking an older stranger what they would like. Which question do you use?
2.Complete the order with the word for “please”.
A tea, please.
3.Write “a” in Spanish: or ?
A piece of toast with tomato.
4.Put the words in order to ask for the price.
Tap the words below in the right order.How much is the coffee?
5.Which word for “the” goes with ?
6.Match the Spanish with the English.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
Un café con leche, por favor.
A coffee with milk, please.
Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.
Check
Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.
0 of 5 answered.