3 questions travellers always get asked.
And how to answer them!
6
Minutes
Spanish shopping dialogues #1
Intermediate Spanish conversations This time we'll hear six typical dialogues between a shopper and a shop assistant in a clothing store.
The Hablarama Panel
Travelling in Spain or Latin America? You’ll need to know how to answer these basic questions.
In this class you’ll be able to listen to 2 native Spanish speakers, one from Latin America and one from Spain. They’ll speak at their normal speed. We truly believe that this is the quickest, most effective way for you to get used to the Spanish language.
And after we’ve looked at the questions, we’ll show you how to answer them!
1. ¿Es tu primera vez en…?
Is this your first time in…..?
A classic one which the locals will ask you all the time. Listen to the question with two different accents, one from Spain and one from Latin America (Argentina to be precise)
2. ¿De dónde es usted?
Where are you from?
In Spain, you can also use the ‘tú’ form if you are in informal situations:
- ¿De dónde eres?
Let’s hear how our native speakers use both forms…
3. ¿Conoces…? / ¿Conoce…?
Do you know…?
The first option, with the ‘S’ at the end, corresponds to the informal tú form, whereas ‘conoce’ is the usted form. Latin American Spanish speakers will always use the usted version.
We heard:
- ¿Conoces el barrio de Recoleta?
Do you know the Recoleta* neighbourhood. - ¿Conoces el barrio de Gracia?
Do you know the Gracia neighbourhood?
* One of the most upmarket areas in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
** A trendy/grungy neighbourhood in Barcelona, Spain.
Possible answers
Let’s have a look at different ways to answer these questions:
¿Es tu primera vez en….?
If it is our first time, that’s easy!
- Sí.
Yes. - Sí, es mi primera vez.
Yes, it’s my first time.
If we’ve been to the city before:
- No, ya he venido muchas veces.
No, I’ve already been here many times. - No, estuve aquí el año pasado.
No, I was here last year.
If we live in the city:
- No, yo vivo aquí.
No, I live here.
¿De dónde es usted?
This is a simple question which we’ve seen before in both our Essential Spanish Course and our section on Spanish Phrases.
- Soy de los Estados Unidos.
I’m from the United States. - Soy de Inglaterra.
I’m from England. - Soy de Irlanda.
I’m from Ireland.
We can also answer with our nationality:
If we are male, we’ll say:
- Soy inglés.
I’m English. - Soy estadounidense.
I’m American. - Soy irlandés.
I’m Irish.
If we are female, we’ll use:
- Soy inglesa.
- Soy estadounidense*.
- Soy irlandesa.
*Some nationalities have the same form for the feminine and masculine forms. For a bigger list of nationalities, check out the first class from our Spanish Phrases section.
¿Conoces…? / ¿Conoce…?
The simple answers:
- Sí – Yes
No – No
For more elaborate responses we could say:
- No. No lo conoce.
No, I don’t know it. - Sí, lo conozco.
Yes, I know it.
Here we have used the pronoun ‘lo’, because our original question referred to ‘barrio‘, which is singular and masculine.
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