How to Ask How Much Something Is

Learn how to ask how much something is

Dialogue

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Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do Spanish by SpanishPod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask how much something is in Spanish.

For example, "How much does this cost?" is

¿Cuánto cuesta esto?

Lucas Hurtado is at a small grocery store.

He sees a snack with no visible price tag, and asks for the price.

Before you hear the conversation, let's preview some of its key components.

esto

"this"

esto

treinta

"thirty"

treinta

¿Cuánto cuesta esto?

Cuesta treinta pesos.

Once more with the English translation.

¿Cuánto cuesta esto?

"How much does this cost?"

Cuesta treinta pesos.

"This costs thirty pesos."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Lucas asks,

"How much does this cost?"

¿Cuánto cuesta esto?

Let’s start with the word esto, "this." Esto. Esto.

You can use this word while pointing at something near you. It’s useful when you want to refer to something you don't know the word for in Spanish.

Let’s move to the start of the question.

Cuánto. Translating as, "how much," in this context. Cuánto. Cuánto.

Next is cuesta. "Costs." Cuesta. Cuesta.

Cuesta is from the verb costar, meaning "to cost.” Costar.

All together, it’s ¿Cuánto cuesta esto? This literally means "How much costs this?" but translates as "How much does this cost?"

¿Cuánto cuesta esto?

Let’s take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how the shop clerk says,

"This costs thirty pesos."

Cuesta treinta pesos.

Let’s start with treinta pesos, "thirty pesos." Treinta pesos.

First is treinta, "thirty." Treinta. Treinta.

Next is pesos. "Pesos," the name of the Mexican currency. Pesos. Pesos.

Note: pesos is the plural form peso.

Together it’s treinta pesos, "thirty pesos." Treinta pesos.

Before this is cuesta, "costs," as in “This costs.” Cuesta. Cuesta.

All together, Cuesta treinta pesos. "This costs thirty pesos."

Cuesta treinta pesos.

The pattern is

¿Cuánto cuesta ITEM?

"How much does ITEM cost?"

¿Cuánto cuesta ITEM?

To use this pattern, simply replace the {ITEM} placeholder with the thing you’d like to know the price of.

Note: This pattern requires a noun phrase, in which an indefinite article is followed by a noun. The gender of the article depends upon the noun that follows it. The noun phrase can also be replaced by a demonstrative pronoun, as in the dialogue. This pronoun will depend on the location, gender, and number of the desired item.

For example:

Imagine you’d like to know the price of a coffee, un café.

Café. "Coffee." Café. Café.

Note that café is masculine and singular.

Un is also masculine and singular to agree with cafè.

Un. Think of this like "a or an," in English. Un. Un.

Ask "How much does a coffee cost?"

Ready?

¿Cuánto cuesta un café?

"How much does coffee cost?"

¿Cuánto cuesta un café?

Note: If you ask for un café, " coffee," it is assumed you are asking about black coffee.

If you’d like a specific type, you would request un café de olla, “a coffee from an earthen-ware pot,” or un café lechero, “a coffee with milk.”

The word, esto, can be used to discuss an item without knowing its name in Spanish. Esto can be used for things close to you, and eso, "that," for things out of reach. Eso.

When you want to ask for an item by name, rather than by pointing it out, you need to include an article. In this lesson, we’ll introduce the indefinite article.

The indefinite article is like the English "a," as in "a coffee."

The masculine indefinite article is un, as in un café, a coffee.

The feminine indefinite article is una, as in una sandia, a watermelon.

Again, the key pattern is

¿Cuánto cuesta ITEM?

"How much does ITEM cost?"

¿Cuánto cuesta ITEM?

Let's look at some more examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

¿Cuánto cuesta esto?

"How much does this cost?"

¿Cuánto cuesta esto?

¿Cuánto cuesta un café?

"How much does coffee cost?"

¿Cuánto cuesta un café?

¿Cuánto cuesta una sandía?

"How much does watermelon cost?"

Cuánto cuesta una sandía?

¿Cuánto cuesta eso?

"How much does that cost?"

¿Cuánto cuesta eso?

¿Cuánto es?

"How much is it?"

¿Cuánto es?

Did you notice how the native speaker used a different sentence pattern?

¿Cuánto es?

“How much is ?

First is Cuánto, "How much?" Cuánto. Cuánto.

Next is es. " is." Es.

Es is from the verb, ser, meaning "to be."

Note: The "it" is understood from the conjugated form and context.

All together, it's ¿Cuánto es? This literally means "How much is?" but translates as "How much is it?"

¿Cuánto es?

You should be aware of this pattern, but for this lesson, we'll use the sentence pattern

¿Cuánto cuesta ITEM?

"How much does ITEM cost?"

Let’s review the key vocabulary.

Sandía.

"Watermelon."

Sandía.

Eso.

"that."

Eso.

Let's review.

Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation.

Ready?

Do you remember how to say "this" when you don’t know its name?

Esto.

And how to say "How much?"

¿Cuánto?

Do you remember how to say

"How much does this cost?"

¿Cuánto cuesta esto?

Do you remember how to say, "thirty?"

Treinta.

And how to say "thirty pesos,"

Treinta pesos.

Do you remember how to say, “This costs thirty pesos.”

Cuesta treinta pesos.

Do you remember how to say "coffee?"

Café.

And how to say "a coffee?"

un café.

Do you remember how to say "watermelon?"

Sandía.

And how to say "a watermelon?"

Una sandía.

Do you remember how to say "that?"

Eso.

Let's practice.

Imagine you’re Lucas , and you’re at a farmers’ market. You'd like to try a snack with no price tag located close to the clerk. Ask the price using the word for "that," or eso.

Ready?

¿Cuánto cuesta eso?

Cuesta treinta pesos.

Listen again and repeat.

¿Cuánto cuesta eso?

Let’s try another.

Imagine they’re also selling artisan coffee. Ask for the price of a coffee, or un café.

Don’t forget the article.

Ready?

¿Cuánto cuesta un café?

Cuesta veinte pesos.

Listen again and repeat.

¿Cuánto cuesta un café?

Let’s try one more.

They are also selling whole watermelons. Ask for a watermelon, or una sandía.

Ready?

¿Cuánto cuesta una sandía?

Cuesta cincuenta pesos.

Listen again and repeat.

¿Cuánto cuesta una sandía?

In this lesson, you learned how to ask how much something costs. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of shopping at a grocery store. Let’s review.

Do you remember how to say "please?"

Por favor.

Do you remember how to say,

"This, please."

Esto, por favor.

Do you remember how to say "salt?"

Sal.

Do you remember how to ask,

"Do you have salt?"

¿Tiene sal?

Imagine you're Jack Jones , and you're at a grocery store, and you'd like to buy something located close to the clerk.

Do you remember how to say "that" in Spanish?

eso

Ask the clerk for "that."

Eso, por favor.

Aquí tiene.

Listen again and repeat.

Eso, por favor.

You remembered that you also wanted to buy milk

Do you remember how to say "milk" in Spanish?

leche

Now ask the clerk if the store has milk.

Ready?

Disculpe, ¿tiene leche?

Sí, aquí está.

Listen again and repeat.

Disculpe, ¿tiene leche?

You'd also like to know the price of coffee.

Do you remember how to say "a coffee" in Spanish?

un café

Now ask for the price of a coffee.

¿Cuánto cuesta un café?

Cuesta veinte pesos.

Listen again and repeat.

¿Cuánto cuesta un café?

Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can Shop at a Grocery Store unit of this course.

Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.

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