Lesson 27 Notes

May 14th, 2007
CoffeeBreakSpanish.com
In this edition:
changing money
and dealing with
other
transactions at
the bank
Lesson 27
Notes
¿Se puede cambiar dinero aquí?
Lesson 27
Programme Notes
Welcome to Coffee Break Spanish, the podcast
aimed at independent learners of Spanish. In
Coffee Break Spanish we’ll be guiding you
through the basics of the Spanish language and
helping you to learn to communicate in Spain
and Spanish-speaking countries.
In this week’s lesson we’ll be looking at banking
and money transactions including changing
money at the bureau de change.
Some vocabulary
To begin with, let’s look at some important words
which we’ll need for this week’s lesson:
el dinero
money
Note that this phrase is a construction that you
can easily come up with on your own, based on
your previous knowledge.
You can use this existing knowledge to create the
following sentences:
quisiera cambiar dinero
I would like to change money
necesito cambiar dinero
I need to change money
In a bank situation you may hear:
¿en qué puedo ayudarle?
how can I help you?
cambiar
to change
An alternative to this phrase is:
¿en qué puedo servirle?
how can I help you?
sacar
to take out
Literally, ¿en qué puedo servirle? means “how can I
serve you?” or “in what can I serve you?”
firmar
to sign
Changing money
If you want to change money then you’re likely
to want to use the following phrase:
quiero cambiar dinero
I want to change money
1
We’ve already come across the construction used
to ask “is it possible to...?” or “can one....?”:
¿se puede...?
can one...?
So, to say “can one change money here?” you
would say:
¿se puede cambiar dinero aquí?
can you change money here?
See page 2 of the notes for lesson 25 for a list of
currencies used in Spanish-speaking countries.
More specifics
It may not be cash you want to change. You may
need to change travelers’ cheques:
If you’re trying to change money, you may be
asked:
¿cuánto quiere cambiar?
how much do you want to change?
Note that quiere is the form of the verb used for
“you” in the formal form. It also means,
however, “he wants” or “she wants”:
quiere cambiar dinero
he/she wants to change money
The context will always help you understand the
actual meaning of the word.
The word for “dollar” is:
un dolar
a dollar
cincuenta dólares
fifty dollars
The word for “pound”, as used in the UK, is:
una libra
a pound
cincuenta libras
fifty pounds
You can use the phrases we’ve already learned to
put these amounts into full sentences:
quisiera cambiar cien dólares
I would like to change 100 dollars
quiero cambiar cincuenta libras
I want to change 50 pounds
Coffee Break Spanish: Lesson 27
los cheques de viaje
travelers’ cheques
quisiera cambiar estos
cheques de viaje
I would like to change these
travelers’ cheques
Alternatively you may wish to take out money
with a credit card:
¿puedo sacar dinero
con mi tarjeta de crédito?
can I take out money
with my credit card?
If you take out money you may have sign a
withdrawal slip. We learned earlier that “to
sign” is firmar. You can easily work out how to say
“where do I sign”:
¿dónde firmo?
where do I sign?
Equally you could say:
¿dónde necesito firmar?
where do I need to sign?
The answer would be something like:
necesita firmar aquí
you need to sign here
Using ATMs
If you’ve used an automatic cash dispenser
(ATM) then you may find yourself in the
situation where the ATM has “eaten” your card:
el cajero se ha tragado mi tarjeta
the ATM has “swallowed” my card
page 2
A conversation
Have a look at this short conversation:
Here is a translation of the conversation for your
convenience:
A:
Hello.
B:
Hi. I need to change some
money.
A:
Buenos días.
B:
Hola. Necesito cambiar dinero.
A:
Muy bien. ¿Cuánto quiere
cambiar?
A:
OK. How much do you want to
change?
B:
Quisiera cambiar cien libras.
B:
I would like to change £100.
A:
Muy bien. Cien libras son
ciento cuarenta y siete euros.
Su pasaporte, por favor.
A:
OK. £100 is €147. Your
passport, please.
B:
Here you are.
B:
Aquí tiene.
A:
A:
Gracias. ¿Puede firmar aquí,
por favor?
Thank you. Can you sign here,
please?
B:
Of course.
B:
Claro que sí.
A:
A:
Aquí tiene su pasaporte y los
ciento cuarenta y siete euros.
Here is your passport and the
147 euros.
B:
Thank you very much.
B:
Muchas gracias.
CoffeeBreakSpanish: Lesson 27 - Basic Vocabulary
el dinero
money
cambiar
to change
sacar
to take out
firmar
to sign
quiero cambiar dinero
I want to change money
quisiera cambiar dinero
I would like to change money
necesito cambiar dinero
I need to change money
¿en qué puedo ayudarle?
how can I help you?
¿en qué puedo servirle?
how can I help you?
¿se puede ...?
can one ...?
¿se puede cambiar dinero aquí?
can one change money here?
¿cuánto?
how much?
¿cuánto quiere cambiar?
how much do you want to change?
un dolar, dos dólares
one dollar, two dollars
una libra, dos libras
one pound, two pounds
un cheque de viaje
a travelers’ cheque
una tarjeta de crédito
a credit card
¿puedo sacar dinero con mi tarjeta de can I take out money with my credit
card?
crédito?
firmo
I sign
¿dónde firmo?
where to I sign?
Coffee Break Spanish: Lesson 27
page 3
necesita firmar aquí
you need to sign here
tragarse
to swallow
el cajero (automático)
cash machine / ATM
el cajero se ha tragado mi tarjeta
the ATM has swallowed my card
CoffeeBreakSpanish: Lesson 27 - Bonus Vocabulary
una transferencia
transfer
organizar
to organise
quiero organizar una transferencia
I’d like to arrange a transfer
cobrar
to cash
cobrar un cheque
to cash a cheque
un cheque de viajero
alternative for travelers’ cheque
la cuenta
account
el saldo
balance
Coffee Break Spanish: Lesson 27
page 4