¡Hola a todos!

Today we are going to see how to manage in Spanish when buying food in a shop or market. This is often one of the first places many people get to practice their Spanish on a regular basis. Firstly we will learn some useful food vocabulary in Spanish:

• Fruta: Fruit
• Verduras: Vegetables
• Carne: Meat
• Pescado: Fish
• Lácteos: Dairy products
• Naranja: Orange
• Manzana: Apple
• Plátano: Banana
• Tomate: Tomato
• Cebolla: Onion
• Patatas: Potatoes
• Lechuga: Lettuce
• Zanahoria: Carrot
• Cerdo: Pork
• Pollo: Chicken
• Ternera: Veal
• Cordero: Lamb
• Sardinas: Sardines
• Atún: Tuna
• Bacalao: Cod
• Lubina: Seabass
• Leche: Milk
• Huevos: Eggs
• Queso: Cheese
• Yogures: Yoghurts

Next, let´s see how to state the amount of food that you would like to buy:

• Un kilo de…: A kilo of…
• Una libra de: a pound of…
• Medio kilo de…: ½ kilo of…
• Media libra de…: ½ pound of…
• Un cuarto de kilo de…: ¼ kilo of…
• Un cuarto de libra de…: ¼ pound of…
• Cien gramos de (doscientos/trescientos gramos de…): 100 grams of… (200/300 grams of…)

• Una docena de huevos: A dozen eggs
• Media docena de huevos: ½ dozen eggs

• Una lata de… (Dos latas/tres latas/cuatro latas de…): A can/tin of…
• Un bote de…(Dos botes/tres botes/cuatro botes de…): A jar of…
• Una botella de…(Dos botellas/tres botellas/cuatro botellas de…): A bottle of….
• Un cartón de…(Dos cartones/tres cartones/cuatro cartones de…): A carton of…
• Una bolsa de… (Dos bolsas/tres bolsas/cuatro bolsas de…): A bag of…
• Un trozo de…: A chunk/piece of….

• En filetes: In fillets
• En rodajas/lonchas: In slices

To ask for your items you will need to know how to say:

• Quiero: I want
• Quería: I would like (more polite, literally it means “I wanted”)
• Dame: Give me (friendly) (This is not rude. It is usually used)
• Déme: Give me (formal) (This is not rude. It is usually used)

When you come to discuss prices you will want to know how to say:

• ¿Cuánto es?: How much is it?
• Euros: euros
• Dólares: dollars
• Dos (euros) con cincuenta: 2,50€
• Dos (dólares) con cincuenta: $2.50
• Cincuenta céntimos: 0,50€
• Cincuenta centavos: $0.50

Other things that might be useful are:

• ¿Algo más?: Anything else?
• Nada más: Nothing else
• Aquí tiene: Here you are

To illustrate how all this works in practice, let´s see now a sample conversation in a shop:

Frutero: Hola, ¿qué quiere?
Cliente: Quería media docena de huevos.
Frutero: Muy bien, ¿Algo más?
Cliente:Sí, un trozo de queso.
Frutero: Vale, ¿Algo más?
Cliente: No nada más ¿Cuánto es?
Frutero: ($3,50) Son tres dólares con cincuenta
Cliente: Aquí tiene.
Frutero: Gracias, ¡adiós!

This is all for today. With this information you can really try to get stuck in and speak in Spanish when you are out and about food shopping on holiday in a Spanish speaking country or in your own neighbourhood’s Spanish or Latin American-run shops or markets. Conversing in real life situations with native speakers is always the best and most fun way to practice. To start with you might want to prepare some questions beforehand. The first few times you might have to just read them out or at least refer to them, but after a few repeated visits you will get better at it and be able to remember the sentences by heart and understand more and more of what the shop assistant says. This is a great opportunity for you to try some new food too!!

Have a great week and see you soon.

¡Hasta luego!