Learn how to buy something using Mexican Spanish
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Alisha: Hi everybody, this is Alisha. |
| Fernando: Hola amigos, soy Fernando. |
| Alisha: Going Shopping in Mexico! |
| Fernando: In this lesson you will learn how to buy something using Mexican Spanish. |
| Alisha: You will learn how to ask for prices, count money, haggle, and order things in Spanish. |
| Fernando: The conversation takes place at a market stand and is between Ashley and the stand attendant. |
| Alisha: The conversation is between a seller and a customer, so they will be speaking formal Spanish. |
| Fernando: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Ashley: Buenas tardes. ¿Cuánto cuesta el aguacate? |
| Merchant: A sesenta pesos el kilo. |
| Ashley: ¿Y cuánto cuesta el limón? |
| Merchant: A cincuenta el kilo. |
| Ashley: Dos kilos por favor. |
| Merchant: Aquí tiene. |
| Alisha: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Ashley: Buenas tardes. ¿Cuánto cuesta el aguacate? |
| Merchant: A sesenta pesos el kilo. |
| Ashley: ¿Y cuánto cuesta el limón? |
| Merchant: A cincuenta el kilo. |
| Ashley: Dos kilos por favor. |
| Merchant: Aquí tiene. |
| Alisha: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Ashley: Buenas tardes. ¿Cuánto cuesta el aguacate? |
| Alisha: Good afternoon. How much is the avocado? |
| Merchant: A sesenta pesos el kilo. |
| Alisha: Sixty pesos per kilo. |
| Ashley: ¿Y cuánto cuesta el limón? |
| Alisha: And how much is the lemon? |
| Merchant: A cincuenta el kilo. |
| Alisha: Fifty per kilo. |
| Ashley: Dos kilos por favor. |
| Alisha: Two kilos please. |
| Merchant: Aquí tiene. |
| Alisha: Here you are. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Fernando: Ok, so we are at a market in Mexico City… |
| Alisha: One of those street markets that open once in a week? |
| Fernando: Exactly. The classical farmers market. |
| Alisha: Oh, I love those. So, if you see something you’re interested in buying… what do you say? |
| Fernando: Simple. You start by asking the price. |
| Alisha: Asking the price? |
| Fernando: Yes, you ask cuánto cuesta and that’s it. It’s just basic haggling techniques. The seller will then offer you a price. |
| Alisha: I see. And if you don’t like it, you can ask for a lower price? |
| Fernando: Right. That’s where the haggling process begins. |
| Alisha: I imagine you can get pretty good deals doing this. |
| Fernando: Definitely, so don’t be afraid to give it a try. |
| Alisha: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Alisha: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Fernando: buenas tardes [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: good afternoon |
| Fernando: buenas tardes [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: buenas tardes [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: cuánto [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: how much |
| Fernando: cuánto [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: cuánto [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: costar [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: to cost |
| Fernando: costar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: costar [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: sesenta [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: sixty |
| Fernando: sesenta [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: sesenta [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: peso [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: peso (Mexican currency) |
| Fernando: peso [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: peso [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: cincuenta [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: fifty |
| Fernando: cincuenta [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: cincuenta [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: dos [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: two |
| Fernando: dos [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: dos [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: por favor [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: please |
| Fernando: por favor [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: por favor [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: aquí [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: here |
| Fernando: aquí [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: aquí [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: tener [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: to have |
| Fernando: tener [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: tener [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Alisha: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Fernando: The first word we’ll look at is.... |
| Fernando: Por favor |
| Alisha: Please |
| Fernando: Make sure you add this phrase to the end or at the beginning of all your requests. |
| Alisha: Is it used in the same way as please in English? |
| Fernando: Exactly in the same way. But in extremely casual conversations, it is more common to say the short version “por fa”. |
| Alisha: And to sound more formal? |
| Fernando: Por favor señor. Or por favor señora. Literally it means “as a favor.” |
| Alisha: After asking the price of the lemons, Ashley asked the merchant to please give her two kilos of lemon. What did she say? |
| Fernando: Dos kilos por favor. |
| Alisha: “Two kilos, please.” Let’s repeat, everyone! |
| Fernando: Dos kilos, por favor [pause] |
| Alisha: So you always add this phrase por favor to show respect, right? |
| Fernando: Yes, you can add it at the end or at the beginning of a sentence to underline your request. |
| Alisha: And is that what people use in everyday life? |
| Fernando: Yes, that’s what we typically use, |
| Alisha: So it’s just shortened? |
| Fernando: Right. Por fa. |
| Alisha: Our second phrase is aquí tiene. |
| Fernando: This means “Here you are”. Once more, Aqui tiene. |
| Alisha: What does it mean? |
| Fernando: It is used to bring attention to the fact that I am giving something to someone. |
| Alisha: What is the verb here? |
| Fernando: The verb is tener, “to have”. The literal translation is here you have. |
| Alisha: Let’s repeat that part of the dialogue where Ashley is asking the merchant. Repeat after Fernando - “two kilos please.” |
| Fernando: Dos kilos por favor [pause] |
| Alisha: Here you are. |
| Fernando: Aquí tiene [pause] |
| Alisha: Great! Now let’s move onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Alisha: So the purpose here is to learn how to ask how much something costs. What’s the phrase Fernando? |
| Fernando: ¿Cuánto cuesta, plus the item you’re asking about. Cuánto means “how much”, and cuesta means “it costs”. |
| Alisha: It’s the conjugation of the verb “to cost”, right? |
| Fernando: Yes, the verb “to cost”, or costar, is conjugated in third person to mean “it costs”. In other words, how much does it cost. |
| Alisha: So please say “How much does the lemon cost?” |
| Fernando: Repeat after me - ¿Cuánto cuesta el limón? [pause] |
| Alisha: And now “how much does the avocado cost?” |
| Fernando: Repeat ¿Cuánto cuesta el aguacate? [pause] |
| Alisha: Here we were using the singular forms of the nouns “lemon” and “avocado”..Now let’s use the plural forms “lemons” and “avocados”. |
| Fernando: What’s important to know is that the verb changes slightly… from cuesta to cuestaN. |
| Alisha: So when talking about more than one item, an N is added to the end of the verb. |
| Fernando: Right. For example… ¿Cuánto cuestan los limones? |
| Alisha: How much are the lemons? |
| Fernando: ¿Cuánto cuestan los aguacates? |
| Alisha: How much are the avocados? |
| Alisha: And just to finish here, Fernando, what is a typical answer to a merchant once you have agreed on the price? |
| Fernando: You must order the product. So you say “give me a kilo please” or whatever. |
| Alisha: And how do you say that, again? |
| Fernando: You just need to mention the name of the product with its corresponding article. If it’s lemons, unos limones and don’t forget to add “please”, por favor. |
| Alisha: Unos limones, por favor… |
| Fernando: Repeat after me - unos limones por favor [pause] |
| Alisha: What if you are counting by units, such as kilos? |
| Fernando: Then you say “two kilos, please.” Dos kilos, por favor. Or three kilos, tres kilos por favor. |
| Alisha: Lets repeat everyone |
| Fernando: Dos kilos por favor. [pause]. |
Outro |
| Alisha: Ok, I think we’ve covered our lesson here. Don’t forget to check the lesson notes to find more examples using cuánto cuesta… |
| Fernando: See you in our next lesson! por favor… |
| Alisha: Bye everyone!! |
Comments
Hide