Lesson 15 Notes

February 3rd, 2007
CoffeeBreakSpanish.com
In this edition:
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Lesson 15
Notes
Para mí un café con leche
Lesson 15
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.
This week we’re looking at ordering drinks in a
café and you’ll be learning how to speak to the
waiter or waitress.
un café
a coffee
un café con leche
a white coffee
un café solo
a black coffee (Sp)
Calling the waiter
The main way of attracting the attention of a
waiter or waitress in a café is:
por favor
“please”
We’ve come across this word before in its basic
meaning of “please”, but it’s probably the most
common way of attracting someone’s attention,
either in a café situation, or if you want to stop
someone in the street and ask them for
directions.
You may have come across the word oiga in
phrase books or dictionaries. This word is heard
from time to time as the way to attract the
attention of someone in a bar or café, but its
usage can sometimes be seen as a bit cheeky. It
literally means “hear!”, the command
(imperative) form of the verb oír (“to hear”).
There are regional variations with this, and you
are advised to listen to how other people attract
the attention of the waiter or waitress and follow
their example.
un café negro
a black coffee (LAm)
un cortado
a black coffee with a splash of milk
un té
a tea
un té con leche
a tea with milk
un té con limón
a tea with lemon
Note the accent on the word té: if the word was
written as te it would mean “you”, or “to you”.
Other drinks now follow:
Drinks
There are a number of drinks you may wish to
order in a Spanish bar or café:
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un zumo
a juice (Sp)
un zumo de naranja
an orange juice
una cerveza
a beer
un jugo
a juice (LAm)
una caña
small beer (approx. half pint)
un jugo de naranja
an orange juice (LAm)
un vino
a wine
un zumo/jugo de manzana
an apple juice
un vino tinto
a red wine
un zumo/jugo de piña
a pineapple juice
un vino blanco
a white wine
una limonada
a lemonade
Asking for drinks
Note that limonada is feminine, in comparison
with all other drinks we’ve learned so far. See the
bonus vocabulary for more examples.
The most basic way of requesting a drink is by
saying, “I want...”:
The word for “water” in Spanish is:
quiero...
I want...
el agua
water
You may immediately think this is a bit strange:
agua seems to be feminine and ends in -a, but
uses the word “el” for “the”. Also, when you ask
for “a mineral water”, you say:
un agua mineral
a mineral water
Perhaps a less direct way of asking for a drink is:
para mí
for me
Equally you can ask for things for other people:
para mi amigo
for my friend
However, agua is indeed feminine, but uses el and
un because una agua and la agua would sound
strange to a Spanish speaker. The same happens
with other words, eg. el ama de casa (the
housewife), el arca (the ark), el arpa (the harp).
para mi mujer/esposa
for my wife
To specify if you want a still or sparkling mineral
water, you use the following words:
un agua mineral sin gas
still mineral water
un agua mineral con gas
sparkling mineral water
Let’s move on now to some alcoholic drinks.
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Note the difference between the words mí and mi
(ie. with and without accent):
mi
my
mí
me (as in “for me”)
When the word carries an accent – mí – it means
“me”, as in para mí, “for me”. When it has no
accent – mi – it means “my”, as in mi amigo.
What they’ll say...
The most likely question the waiter or waitress
will ask you is:
Conversación 2
In this conversation, note how the waitress
addresses “Mark” formally, using para usted and
she uses the informal form with Matthew: para ti.
Mark: ¿qué van a tomar?
what would you like?
Por favor...
Camarera: Buenas tardes. ¿Qué van a
tomar?
Literally ¿qué van a tomar? means “what are you
going to have” in the formal version. You may
also hear:
¿qué quiere tomar?
what would you like? (singular)
Mark:
Bueno, para mí un café con
leche.
Matthew:
Y para mí un zumo de piña.
Camarera: Muy bien. Pues, para usted
un café con leche y para ti un
zumo de piña.
Mark:
Es así. Muchas gracias.
Camarera: En seguida.
¿qué quieren tomar?
what would you like? (plural)
Camarera: ¿El zumo de piña?
Matthew:
Conversación 1
The first conversation included in lesson 15 was
included as an example of how you use the
phrases we’ve learned in context.
Kara: Para mí un café con leche y
para mi amigo una limonada.
Camarero: Muy bien. Pues, un café con
leche para usted y para su
amigo una limonada.
Kara:
Camarera: ¿Y el café con leche es para
usted, señor?
Mark:
Sí. Muchas gracias.
Camarera: De nada.
Por favor...
Camarero: ¿Sí? ¿Qué van a tomar?
Kara:
Sí. Para mí, gracias.
Sí.
A translation of the above conversation should
help you get to grips with all aspects of the
language covered in today’s lesson:
Mark: Excuse me..
Camarero: Muy bien. En seguida.
Camarera: Good afternoon. What would
you like?
Kara:
Mark:
Well, for me a white coffee.
Matthew:
And for me a pineapple juice.
Gracias.
The waiter finishes with the phrase en seguida,
meaning “straight away”, as in “I’ll bring your
drinks as soon as possible”.
Cheers!
Camarera: OK, so for you a white coffee
and for you a pineapple
juice?
Mark:
That’s right. Thank you very
much.
Camarera: I’ll get these for you right
away.
Finally, you need to know the word for
“Cheers!”:
¡salud!
Cheers!
Camarera: The pineapple juice?
Matthew:
The word salud literally means “health”.
Yes, that’s for me. Thank you.
Camarera: And the white coffee is for
you, sir?
Mark:
Yes, thank you.
Camarera: No problem.
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CoffeeBreakSpanish: Lesson 15 - Basic Vocabulary
el café
coffee
el café con leche
white coffee
la leche
milk
el café solo
black coffee (Sp)
el café negro
black coffee (LAm)
el cortado
black coffee with a little milk
el té
tea
el té con limón
tea with lemon
el zumo / el jugo
juice
el zumo / jugo de naranja
orange juice
el zumo / jugo de manzana
apple juice
el zumo / jugo de piña
pineapple juice
la limonada
lemonade
el agua (f)
water
el agua mineral
mineral water
...con gas
sparkling
...sin gas
still
la cerveza
beer
la caña
“half pint of beer”
el vino
wine
el vino tinto
red wine
el vino blanco
white wine
quiero...
I want
para mí
for me
para mi amigo
for my friend
salud
cheers (lit. “health”)
CoffeeBreakSpanish: Lesson 15 - Bonus Vocabulary
un vaso de ...
a glass of ...
una copa de ...
a glass of ... (normally used for wine)
una botella de ...
a bottle of ...
una taza de ...
a cup of ...
un café descafeinado
decaffeinated coffee
un café carajillo
liqueur coffee
4
una coca cola
coke
una fanta (de naranja)
fizzy (orange)
un anís
anise (aniseed schnapps)
una sidra
cider
un coñac
brandy
un ron
rum
una sangría
sangria (punch based on red wine)
un jerez
sherry
un güisqui
whisky
un trago de...
a shot of...
pisco
pisco - South American grape brandy
ginebra
gin
tequila
tequila
vodka
vodka
Be aware that some of the drinks listed above are regional, eg. you’re much more likely to find pisco in
South America than in Spain. Equally, anís is more common in Spain than in most parts of Latin
America.
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