Spanish · Beginner (A1) · Chapter 8 of 12
Food and shopping
La comida y las compras
Buy fruit and vegetables at a Spanish market: ask politely with quisiera, say quantities like a kilo of, and make nouns plural.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Ask for food politely with quisiera, and say what you want with querer
- Say quantities: a kilo, half a kilo, a dozen, a bottle
- Make nouns plural
Listen
Luis is shopping at a fruit and vegetable stall in the Central Market in Valencia. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Stallholder
Buenos días. ¿Qué le pongo?
Good morning. What can I get you?
Luis
Quisiera un kilo de tomates, por favor. ¿Cuánto cuestan las naranjas?
I'd like a kilo of tomatoes, please. How much are the oranges?
Stallholder
Dos euros el kilo. Son de Valencia.
Two euros a kilo. They're from Valencia.
Luis
Entonces dos kilos de naranjas. Y medio kilo de fresas.
Then two kilos of oranges. And half a kilo of strawberries.
Stallholder
Lo siento, no hay fresas.
Sorry, there are no strawberries.
Luis
Vale, pues un kilo de manzanas.
OK, a kilo of apples, then.
Stallholder
Muy bien. ¿Algo más?
All right. Anything else?
Luis
No, nada más. ¿Cuánto es?
No, nothing else. How much is it?
Stallholder
Son ocho euros con cincuenta.
That's eight euros fifty.
Luis
Aquí tiene. Gracias.
Here you are. Thank you.
Understand
Quisiera and quiero
means “I would like”. It's the most polite way to ask for something in a shop, a bar or a hotel:
means “I want”. With it's also normal and not rude in Spain: The shop assistant often asks (What can I get you?), using the polite .
comes from (to want). Its e changes to ie in most forms: , . Only and keep the e: , . It's also followed by an infinitive: (Do you want to eat?)
| Person | |
|---|---|
| / / | |
| / | |
| / | |
| / / |
- Quisiera una botella de agua, por favor.I'd like a bottle of water, please.
- Quiero medio kilo de fresas, por favor.I want half a kilo of strawberries, please.
Quantities
Quantities are followed by (of) and then the food, with no , , or : , not .
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| a kilo of oranges | |
| half a kilo of strawberries | |
| 100 grams of ham | |
| a dozen eggs | |
| a bottle of water | |
| a loaf of bread (a baguette) |
More about plurals
You know the rule from chapter 5: add -s after a vowel and -es after a consonant, and , become , . When you ask about more than one thing, the verb changes too: becomes .
Some words lose their written accent in the plural. The stress stays on the same syllable, but the longer word no longer needs the accent to show it: (lemon), .
| One | More than one |
|---|---|
| (city) | |
More in the grammar: Articles: el, la, los, las, un, una · Nouns: gender and plural
New words
- ¿Qué le pongo?What can I get you? · said by shop staff in Spain ()
- quisieraI would like
- el kilokilo · masculine
- los tomatestomatoes · plural of (chapter 3)
- ¿Cuánto cuestan…?How much are…?
- la naranjaorange · feminine
- entoncesthen, in that case
- medio kilohalf a kilo
- la fresastrawberry · feminine
- Lo siento.I'm sorry.
- pueswell, then
- la manzanaapple · feminine
- nada másnothing else
Practise
1.Which is the most polite way to ask for apples?
2.Write the plural of .
A kilo of tomatoes, please.
3.Complete the question: “How much are the strawberries?”
How much are the strawberries?
4.Complete with the right form of .
My brother and I want two kilos of oranges.
5.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.I'd like half a kilo of strawberries.
6.Match the quantities.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
Quisiera un kilo de naranjas, por favor.
I'd like a kilo of oranges, 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.