Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Today’s phrase is related to the phrase, “How much?” which in Spanish is ¿Cuánto?.
Also related other phrases, “How much is this?” ¿Cuánto es esto? and “How much is that?” ¿Cuánto es eso?
GRAMMAR POINT
Today’s phrase is used when you are at one of the most exciting places in many country around the world, the market. When you come to Spain, one of the most interesting and fun things to do is haggle at street markets. So once you are on the street market and talking prices, there is another phrase that will come in very handy. That phrase is “Lower the phrase, please.” In spanish, “Lower the price, please” is Bájame el precio.
Bájame el precio.
Notice that I’ve intentionally omitted por favor “please” because my recommendation is that when you are trying to force the seller to lower the price, you can’t sound weak. This, however, doesn’t mean you must be rude.
Let's break it down by syllable: Bá-ja-me el pre-cio.
Now, let's hear it once again, Bájame el pre-cio.
The first word, bájame means “lower to me.”
Let’s break down this word and hear it one more time: bá-ja-me.
bájame
This is followed by el, which in Spanish is the article “the” for masculine singular.
el
The last word, precio, means “price.”
Let’s break down this word and hear it one more time: pre-cio.
And precio.
Another phrase that can be used in combination with this is “too expensive,” which in Spanish is Demasiado caro.
Demasiado caro
Let’s break it down by syllable: De-ma-sia-do ca-ro.
Now, let’s hear it once again, Demasiado caro.
In Spain, people don’t haggle at established places of businesses such as stores, department stores, but you can try to haggle at street markets, where sellers set up their tents or stands for a few hours.
Almost every time, Spain has a special day for mercadillo, “market” in English.
mercadillo
Let’s break it down by syllable: mer-ca-di-llo
One more time, mercadillo.
Literally, mercadillo means “little market.”
At mercadillos, you can find a wide range of goods, from fruits and vegetables to clothes, antiquities and and even light craft. Again, remember that haggling is a game where your words must be in accordance with your intentions, so it’s all right to forget some polite words like por favor for a little while.

Outro

Okay, to close out today’s lesson, we'd like for you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you are responsible for saying it aloud. You’ll have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so buena suerte, that means “good luck” in Spanish. Ok, here we go!
Lower the price. - Bájame el precio.
Bájame el precio.
Bájame el precio.
Too expensive. - Demasiado caro.
Demasiado caro.
Demasiado caro.

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