Learn some common phrases you may hear every day while traveling in Latin America
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| JP: Welcome, everyone, to Five Essential Phrases that you’re going to use in the Spanish speaking world. My name is JP, and I’m here with Fernando… Hola Fernando. |
| Fernando: Hola, JP. |
| JP: Hola. So what do you have for us today? Five essential phrases to use in the Spanish speaking world. What are we talking here? |
| Fernando: We’re talking stuff to help you get by, where if, you’re sightseeing, these five phrases will get you through anything… |
| JP: Now this is a countdown, right? So what is number five? |
| Fernando: Number five would be, “Hola, buenos días.” |
| JP: Hola means hello. |
| Fernando: Hola is a great way to start. |
| JP: And then what was the next part you said? |
| Fernando: Buenos días. |
| JP: Buenos días. Alright. So this is “good morning.” |
| Fernando: Good morning, good day. |
| JP: So you say “hola, Buenos días.” Alright, if it’s not morning, it’s afternoon… |
| Fernando: If it’s afternoon, then you say, “buenas tardes.” |
| JP: Ok, buenas tardes… you say that after lunch, until the evening. Ok, what if it’s the evening already… it’s dark out, and you’re in your nice clothes… |
| Fernando: You’ll wanna go with buenas noches. |
| JP: Ok, so hola, buenos días, or hola buenas tardes, or hola buenas noches. |
| Fernando: Exactly, so if you’re walking into a restaurant, you’ll want to greet someone with hola, buenas tardes, hola buenos días, or hola, buenas noches…. |
| JP: Depending on which meal you´re having… |
| Fernando: Exactly. And, if you´re asking for directions… hola, buenos días… and then you´ll ask the question. Now moving along to number four… |
| JP: Ok, cool. Alright, the number four essential phrase in Spanish… |
| Fernando: Perdón. |
| JP: Perdón. Ok, this sounds a lot like the English word “pardon.” |
| Fernando: I´m assuming everyone´s guessed that already. |
| JP: Ok, right. Perdón. Now is this… |
| Fernando: Technically, it’s an apology. And you can say perdón to somebody if you accidently bump into them, if you step on someone’s foot, if you are late, you can say perdón. |
| JP: So it’s definitely an apology. |
| Fernando: It’s definitely an apology. |
| JP: Now you can also use this sometimes just to get somebody’s attention, right? |
| Fernando: Exactly, yes. “Excuse me!” So that would be the other way of using it. “Excuse me.” |
| JP: so if you wanted to get somebody’s attention to ask them a question, you can start with perdón. Alright , Fernando, what’s your number three essential phrase? |
| Fernando: No entiendo, ¿habla ingles? |
| JP: I said what’s your number three…. |
| Fernando: No entiendo, ¿habla inglés? |
| JP: yah I do… so… |
| Fernando: Well? |
| JP: Oh, I see what you’re doing… you’re demonstrating… ok, say it again… “I don’t understand” |
| Fernando: No entiendo. |
| JP: No entiendo , this means “I don’t understand…” and what’s the last part you said? |
| Fernando: ¿Habla inglés? |
| JP: ¿Habla inglés? do you speak English? |
| Fernando: so it’s “no entiendo, ¿habla inglés? |
| JP: This of course is your last resort, as a Spanish learner, you don’t want to have to resort to English… but sometimes you do. |
| Fernando: Sometimes you do, sometimes you will need to resort to English, to further understand, let’s say, the directions are far, or if they’re complex. |
| JP: Say it again for us. |
| Fernando: No entiendo, ¿habla inglés? |
| JP: No entiendo, ¿habla inglés? Now are there a lot of people in the Spanish speaking world that can help you in English? |
| Fernando: Of course, surroundings permitted. If you’re at a touristy place, or at a hotel, or at an international restaurant… |
| JP: They’ll have employees that speak English. Ok, cool. No entiendo, ¿habla inglés? So that’s great, we’ve got “hola, buenos días,” we’ve got “perdón,” we’ve got “no entiendo, ¿habla inglés? What’s number two, Fernando, what’s the number two essential phrase that you have to know in Spanish? |
| Fernando: ¿Me podría ayudar? |
| JP: Ok, “could you help me?” |
| Fernando: Would you be so kind as to help me? |
| JP: ¿Me podría ayudar? So you can say this and hand someone you’re camera… and they would understand that you want them to take a picture. Or if you drop your bag, and you say ¿me podría ayudar? they would understand that you need help with your bag. |
| Fernando: Yes. and you can also combine all of these with a couple of the phrases we’ve used in the past.. so we can say, perdón, ¿me podría ayudar? |
| JP: Excuse me, could you help me? |
| Fernando: Exactly. Or “buenos días, ¿me podría ayudar?” |
| JP: Good morning, could you help me out? |
| Fernando: And you can pull out a map, you know, I´m trying to get from A to B… it´s a very resourceful phrase to have. |
| JP: Ok, ¿me podría ayudar? could you help me out. Ok, ¿me podría ayudar? was our number two essential phrase to know in Spanish. It´s time for number one, Fernando. |
| Fernando: Yes, and all this talking has actually built up my thirst. Una cerveza, por favor. |
| JP: Una cerveza, por favor. Is this number one? Oh, so cheesy, Fernando… una cerveza… ok! Una cerveza means a beer. Por favor is please, right? Una cerveza por favor, so you’re asking for a beer please. |
| Fernando: And obviously, once it´s arrived, you´ll want to thank them. Gracias. |
| JP: Gracias is thank you. Alright, so we do have two very polite words here, we have please and thank you; por favor, and gracias. Mama always told you to say please and thank you, right? |
| Fernando: Exactly. |
| JP: And then una cerveza, that’s a very, very useful thing to know. |
| Fernando: Especially when you´re walking in a Spanish speaking country, you know, you’ll build up that thirst. you’ll stop at a café… you’re not going to want a hot espresso… You’re gonna want a beer and chill…. |
| JP: Una cerveza, por favor… Alright, those are Fernando’s top five essential phrases in Spanish, that you can use yourself, in the Spanish speaking world. Is there anything else, Fernando? |
| Fernando: ¿Perdón? |
| JP: Ah, that’s number four. |
| Fernando: No, we’ve covered quite a bit. |
| JP: Alright, folks I hope you enjoyed this lesson, we’ll see you in the next All About Spanish lesson. For now, it’s time to go, so hasta luego. |
| Fernando: Bye-bye. |
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