Lesson 26 Notes

May 7th, 2007
CoffeeBreakSpanish.com
In this edition:
shopping for
food and gifts in
the market
Lesson 26
Notes
Deme cuatro lonchas de jamón
Lesson 26
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.
A common situation for holiday-makers in a
Spanish-speaking country is visiting the market.
During the lesson we will cover some important
grammar points including the use of the
demonstrative adjectives este and esta.
En el mercado
As with previous shopping-based lessons we’ll be
reusing the words and phrases we’ve covered
already:
quiero ...
I want ...
cuatro lonchas de jamón
four slices of ham
It is, of course, more polite to say:
quisiera cuatro lonchas de jamón
I would like four slices of ham
Another common way of asking for food in the
market situation is by using the word póngame.
Literally this means “put me...” in the sense of
laying down slices of meat for weighing.
póngame cuatro lonchas de jamón
“give me” four slices of ham
An alternative is:
deme cuatro lonchas de jamón
give me four slices of ham
quisiera ...
I would like ...
The word deme literally means “give me”.
We’ll use the words queso (cheese) and jamón (ham)
in our examples while shopping at the market.
If you are buying meat then you’ll need to know
the word for “a slice”:
una loncha
a slice
If talking about cheese rather than ham, you’re
more likely to use the word un trozo, meaning “a
piece”:
deme un trozo de queso, por favor
give me a piece of cheese, please
You can therefore ask for:
You should be aware that while these phrases
may sound a little abrupt when written in an
1
isolated way in this guide, they will sound very
natural in the market situation.
Cheese (and other products!) can be bought by
the kilo or half kilo, so you could say:
un kilo de queso
a kilo of cheese
medio kilo de queso
half a kilo of cheese
So, in this conversation, Kara asks if she can try
the jamón serrano and comments on the fact that
it’s riquísimo, delicious. She decides she would like
to buy some:
quisiera comprar un poco de eso
I would like to buy a little of that
The market stall holder starts to cut some slices
of ham and asks:
¿vale así?
is that enough?
Note that you say medio kilo and not un medio kilo.
If you’re not sure what something is, you could
ask for:
un poco de eso
a little of that
You could also ask:
¿qué es eso?
what is that?
Note the use of eso for “that”. We’ll be coming
back to this later.
un poco menos
a little less
When the amount is just right, Kara says ¡ya!
The word ya normally means “already”, but in
this context it is used to suggest that the required
amount has been reached.
This and that
We’ve already come across the word eso in this
lesson, meaning “that”.
You can ask:
¿puedo probarlo?
can I try it?
You may remember probar from ¿puedo probármelo?,
meaning “can I try it on?”
Look at the conversation below which is based
on the content of the recording where Kara is at
the market and is interested in the jamón serrano,
cured ham. Mark plays the part of the market
stall holder.
Kara:
¿Qué es eso?
Mark:
Es jamón serrano.
Kara:
¿Puedo probarlo?
Mark:
Claro.
Kara:
Está riquísimo. Quisiera un
poco de eso.
Mark:
¿Vale así?
Kara:
Un poco más ... ¡ya!
Mark:
Muy bien.
Coffee Break Spanish: Lesson 26
Kara asks for a little more, un poco más. Equally,
she could have said:
To say “this” you use the word esto. Note that this
refers to something general and not, for example,
“this bag”.
In a market situation you could point to
something and say “I would like this”:
quisiera esto
I would like this
Alternatively, if something is further away, you
could say:
quisiera eso
I would like that
However, if you want to say “this bag” or “this
bracelet” then you need to use different words.
For masculine words, you use este, and for
feminine words you use esta:
este bolso
this bag
page 2
Note that if you refer to a specific item, the word
caro may have to change to cara:
esta pulsera
this bracelet
este bolso es demasiado caro
this bag is too expensive
This table may help to clarify things:
esta pulsera es demasiado cara
this bracelet is too expensive
general
esto
masculine
este
(bolso)
feminine
esta
(pulsera)
You may want to ask if the seller has something
cheaper:
¿tiene algo más barato?
do you have something cheaper?
Bartering
It’s very common to barter in Spanish markets,
and you can use your language skills to help you
get a better price for the items you want to buy.
You should be aware that bartering for food
items is not generally considered appropriate, but
for gift items, eg. bags, jewellery, some clothes,
etc. it’s acceptable.
You may wish to begin by saying:
To accept a price, simply use the phrase
me lo llevo
I’ll take it
If you do not achieve the price you’re looking for,
you can simply say:
lo siento
I’m sorry
es muy caro
it is very expensive
You also know the word demasiado, meaning
“too”:
es demasiado caro
it is too expensive
CoffeeBreakSpanish: Lesson 26 - Basic Vocabulary
el jamón
ham
el queso
cheese
la loncha
slice
el trozo
piece
póngame
give me
deme
give me
un kilo de
a kilo of
medio kilo de
half a kilo of
un poco de
a little of
Coffee Break Spanish: Lesson 26
page 3
¿qué es eso?
what is that?
¿puedo probarlo?
can I try it?
el jamón serrano
serrano ham, cured Spanish ham
más
more
menos
less
un poco más
a little more
un poco menos
a little less
vale así
that’s enough; that’s the right amount
¡ya!
lit. already; “perfect”
esto
this (general)
este
this (masculine)
este bolso
this bag
esta
this (feminine)
esta pulsera
this bracelet
es muy caro
it’s very expensive
es demasiado caro
it’s too expensive
¿tiene algo más barato?
do you have something cheaper?
me lo llevo
I’ll take it
lo siento
I’m sorry
CoffeeBreakSpanish: Lesson 26 - Bonus Vocabulary
un gramo
gramme
trescientos gramos de ...
three hundred grammes of ...
eso es todo
that’s all
¿dónde está la sección de ... ?
where is the ... section?
productos lácteos
dairy
frutas y verduras
fruit and vegetables
congelados
frozen food
¿puedo comprar ... aquí?
can I buy ... here?
un abanico
a fan
(los) artículos de cuero
leather goods
un paraguas
an umbrella
unas gafas de sol
sunglasses
Coffee Break Spanish: Lesson 26
page 4