Lesson 36 Notes

August 13th, 2007
CoffeeBreakSpanish.com
Lesson 36
Notes
In this edition:
shopping for
postcards and
for shoes
De compras
Lesson 36
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’s lesson involves two shopping
situations: in the first dialogue Mark buys
postcards in an estanco, and in the second
dialogue Kara and her mother go shopping for
shoes. Although the conversations refer to buying
specific items, the vocabulary and language used
is similar to most shopping situations.
Transcripts of the dialogues are provided below
and you can find further explanations of the
language covered overleaf. The dialogue-only
mp3 files are listed on the members’ page of
the website or in the podcast feed.
In these dialogues the roles are as follows:
A: Mark
B: Estanco employee
C: Kara
D: Kara’s mother
E: Shoe shop assistant
Dialogue 1
A
¡Buenas!
B
Hola.
A
¿Tienen tarjetas postales?
B
Sí, están allí al lado de las revistas.
A
Gracias
Mark goes to look at the postcards, selects some and returns to the desk.
B
Muy bien. ¿Quiere usted sobres para las tarjetas?
A
Sí, por favor.
B
¿Y eso es todo?
A
Necesito también sellos.
B
¿Para dónde?
A
Uno para Canadá, dos para Gran Bretaña y uno para España.
B
Muy bien. ¿Necesita algo más?
A
No, no. Ya está.
B
Pues entonces son €4,30 en total.
A
Aquí tiene.
B
Gracias, y aquí tiene la vuelta.
Coffee Break Spanish: Lesson 36
page 1
Dialogue 1
A
Muchas gracias.
B
A usted. Que tenga un buen día.
In dialogue 2, Kara and her mother are shopping for shoes. As we learned in a previous episode, Kara’s
mother doesn’t speak much Spanish. In this dialogue, however, she tries her best to speak a little
Spanish to the shop assistant.
Dialogue 2
E
Buenos días.
D
Hola.
C
Buenos días.
E
¿En qué puedo ayudarles?
C
Sólo estamos mirando.
E
Muy bien. ¿Si necesitan algo, me lo dicen?
C/D
Gracias.
Kara and her mother look at the shoes.
C
Por favor, mi madre quisiera probarse estos zapatos. ¿Tiene una treinta y ocho?
E
Un momento... [Shop assistant finds the size 38] Aquí tiene.
D
Gracias
E
¿Cómo están?
D
“They’re a bit big”.
C
¿Tiene la treinta y siete?
E
Voy a ver. [Goes to look for the size 37] Lo siento. Se nos ha agotado la treinta y siete.
C
No importa.
D
¿Y éstos?
E
Éstos sí que tengo en la treinta y siete. Un momentito. [Goes to look for the size 37]
Aquí tiene.
D
Gracias. [Tries them on] Están bien.
C
¿Cuánto valen?
E
Éstos valen cuarenta y cinco euros.
C
[Repeats to her mother] Cuarenta y cinco euros
D
“Forty-five?”
C
Sí.
D
Muy bien.
C
Se los lleva.
E
Muy bien. ¿Quieren acompañarme a la caja?
C
¿Podemos pagar con tarjeta de crédito?
E
Claro que sí. Necesito su pasaporte o DNI.
C
Aquí tiene.
E
Gracias.
C
Gracias.
Coffee Break Spanish: Lesson 36
page 2
The language notes which follow will explain any new vocabulary or constructions contained in the
conversation. However, you should try to listen to the conversation a few times before studying the
explanations below.
Language Notes: Dialogue 1
buenas
“hello”
una tarjeta postal
postcard
están allí
they are over there
al lado de
beside
una revista
magazine
un sobre
envelope
¿eso es todo?
is that all?
un sello
stamp
ya está
that’s it; that’s fine; that’s all
pues entonces...
well, in that case...
son €4,30 en total
that’s 4.30 in total
la vuelta
change
que tenga un buen día
have a nice day
buenas is short for buenas
tardes and is commonly heard in
the afternoon, eg. when going
into a shop
aquí means “here”; allí means
“there”. In some Spanishspeaking areas you may also
hear allá, meaning “(further) over
there”.
Notice that in Spanish a plural
verb is used: you say son 4,30
as opposed to es... In Spain you
may also hear this price as
cuatro con treinta, literally “four
with thirty”, ie. four euros with
thirty cents.
Language Notes: Dialogue 2
sólo estamos mirando
we are just looking
mi madre quisiera...
my mother would like...
probarse algo
to try something on
un zapato
shoe
estos zapatos
these shoes
¿tiene una treinta y ocho?
do you have a (size) 38?
¿cómo están?
how are they? how do they feel? same construction as ¿cómo
estás?, this time applied to the
shoes
voy a ver
lit. “I’m going to see”; “I’ll have a voy a + infinitive = “I’m going
look”
to...”
se nos ha agotado...
we’ve run out of...
no importa
it doesn’t matter
Coffee Break Spanish: Lesson 36
mirando is the gerund form,
translated as “-ing” in English
page 3
Language Notes: Dialogue 2
éstos
these ones
Note that éstos means “these
ones” when it has an accent; if it
doesn’t have an accent it has to
come with a noun: estos zapatos
= “these shoes”, whereas éstos
= “these ones”
sí que tengo...
I do indeed have (them)
sí que can be placed before any
verb to make it more emphatic:
sí que estoy cansado, “I am
indeed tired”. It’s often used in
answer to a question.
un momentito
a little moment
¿cuánto valen?
how much are they
an alternative to ¿cuánto
cuestan?
se los lleva
she’ll take them
To say “I’ll take them” use me
los llevo.
¿quieren acompañarme...?
would you like to accompany
me...
la caja
the cash desk / checkout
claro que sí
of course
DNI
identification document
abbreviated form of documento
nacional de identificación
CoffeeBreakSpanish.com
All materials ©Copyright Radio Lingua International 2007
Coffee Break Spanish: Lesson 36
page 4