Spanish · Upper intermediate (B2) · Chapter 2 of 12
Work in depth
El trabajo a fondo
Negotiate at work in Spanish: the imperfect subjunctive in all persons, quería que and me pidió que, and proposals with ¿Y si…?
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Negotiate prices, deadlines and conditions in a formal meeting
- Form the imperfect subjunctive for all persons
- Use the imperfect subjunctive after past verbs: me pidió que, quería que
- Make and soften proposals: ¿Y si…?, podríamos, habría que
Listen
At a hotel in Tarragona, the purchasing manager, Inmaculada Reyes, meets Fernando Gil, a sales rep from a company that makes bed linen. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Inmaculada
Buenos días, señor Gil. Siéntese, por favor. He estudiado su propuesta con atención.
Good morning, Mr Gil. Please sit down. I've studied your proposal carefully.
Fernando
Muchas gracias. Como le dije por teléfono, nuestra ropa de cama es de muy buena calidad, mucho mejor que la de otros proveedores.
Thank you very much. As I told you on the phone, our bed linen is of very good quality, much better than other suppliers'.
Inmaculada
Seguro que sí. Sin embargo, el precio es más alto de lo que esperábamos. Mi director me pidió que consiguiera un descuento del diez por ciento.
I'm sure it is. However, the price is higher than we expected. My director asked me to get a ten per cent discount.
Fernando
Entiendo. Un diez por ciento es mucho, pero podríamos hacerle un cinco si el pedido fuera más grande.
I understand. Ten per cent is a lot, but we could give you five if the order were bigger.
Inmaculada
Ya es un pedido para las ciento veinte habitaciones del hotel. ¿Y si firmáramos un contrato de dos años?
It's already an order for all hundred and twenty rooms in the hotel. What if we signed a two-year contract?
Fernando
Eso cambia las cosas. Con un contrato de dos años sí podríamos llegar al diez por ciento, pero el pago tendría que ser a treinta días.
That changes things. With a two-year contract we could go up to ten per cent, but payment would have to be within thirty days.
Inmaculada
Normalmente pagamos a sesenta días, pero lo puedo hablar con mi director. Otra cosa: el año pasado tuvimos problemas con otro proveedor. Queríamos que las entregas llegaran los lunes y casi siempre llegaban tarde.
We normally pay within sixty days, but I can discuss it with my director. Another thing: last year we had problems with another supplier. We wanted the deliveries to arrive on Mondays, and they almost always came late.
Fernando
Lo entiendo perfectamente. Nosotros nos comprometemos a entregar en un plazo de cinco días. Y si no cumplimos el plazo, le hacemos otro descuento.
I understand completely. We commit to delivering within five days. And if we don't meet the deadline, we'll give you a further discount.
Inmaculada
Eso me gusta. Mi director quería que le presentara tres ofertas, así que necesito que me lo envíe todo por escrito.
I like that. My director wanted me to give him three offers, so I need you to send me everything in writing.
Fernando
Por supuesto. Se lo enviaré esta misma tarde. Y si quisiera, podría incluir también un presupuesto para el restaurante.
Of course. I'll send it to you this afternoon. And if you wished, I could also include a quote for the restaurant.
Inmaculada
Sí, se lo agradecería. Si su oferta es la mejor, podríamos firmar antes de fin de mes.
Yes, I'd be grateful. If your offer is the best, we could sign before the end of the month.
Fernando
Perfecto. Entonces le llamo el lunes y hablamos.
Perfect. Then I'll call you on Monday and we'll talk.
Understand
The imperfect subjunctive: all the forms
In B1 you met a few forms of the “imperfect subjunctive” () in si tuviera…, iría…. Every verb follows the same rule: take the form of the preterite, drop -ron and add -ra, -ras, -ra, -ramos, -rais, -ran. Irregular preterites carry over: → , → , → . The form always has a written accent: , .
There's a second set of endings with -se: , , . It means exactly the same. It's less common in speech, but you'll find it often in books and in the press.
| Person | () | () | / () |
|---|---|---|---|
| / / | |||
| / | |||
| / | |||
| / / |
Quería que…, me pidió que…
You know that , , and the other B1 triggers take the subjunctive. When the trigger verb is in a past tense or the conditional, the verb after usually goes into the imperfect subjunctive: → (He wanted me to send him three offers).
| Present trigger | Past or conditional trigger |
|---|---|
Negotiating politely
In a negotiation, the conditional softens what you say: (we could), (it would have to), (it would be necessary to, we'd need to). To make a suggestion, use + imperfect subjunctive?: (What if we signed a two-year contract?).
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| What if we signed a two-year contract? | |
| We could give you a discount. | |
| We'd need to discuss it with the director. | |
| That changes things. | |
| … | If you wished, I could include… |
| I'd be grateful (to you). |
More in the grammar: The conditional and if-clauses: haría, si tuviera · The imperfect subjunctive: hablara, tuviera, fuera
New words
- la propuestaproposal · feminine
- la ropa de camabed linen · feminine
- el proveedor / la proveedorasupplier
- el precioprice · masculine
- el descuentodiscount · : to give a discount
- conseguirto get, to obtain; to manage to · e → i like : ; preterite ,
- el pedidoorder (from a customer) · masculine
- el pagopayment · : payment within thirty days
- la entregadelivery · : to deliver, to hand in
- comprometerse ato commit to, to promise to
- el plazodeadline; period (of time) · : within five days
- cumplirto meet (a deadline), to keep (a promise) · : to have a birthday
- el presupuestoquote, estimate; budget · masculine
- agradecerto be grateful for, to thank for · ; : I'd be grateful
Practise
1.Complete: “Mi director me pidió que … un descuento.”
2.Complete with the imperfect subjunctive of : “What if we signed a two-year contract?”
What if we signed a two-year contract?
3.Complete with the imperfect subjunctive of : “We wanted the deliveries to arrive on Mondays.”
We wanted the deliveries to arrive on Mondays.
4.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.We could give you a five per cent discount.
5.Match the Spanish with the English.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
6.What's the imperfect subjunctive of for ?
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
¿Y si firmáramos un contrato de dos años?
What if we signed a two-year contract?
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.