Let’s look at some simple and effective ways of inviting someone to do something or proposing something in the Spanish language.
1. ¿Te apetece?
This roughly translates as ‘do you fancy…?’ or ‘do you feel like…?. For example:
- ¿Te apetece tomar algo?
Do you feel like having a drink? - ¿Te apetece ver una película?
Do you fancy watching a film?
2. ¿Quieres?
As you’d imagine, the verb for ‘want’ comes in handy in these situations:
- ¿Quieres pedir una pizza esta noche?
Do you want to get a pizza tonight? - ¿Quieres ir a Madrid este fin de semana?
Do you want to go to Madrid this weekend?
If we use the polite ‘usted form’, those previous phrases would be:
- ¿Quiere pedir una pizza esta noche?
- ¿Quiere ir a Madrid este fin de semana?
The following phrases are slightly more complex:
- ¿Quieres que invitemos* a Andrea a cenar con nosotros?
Do you want that we invite Andrea to have dinner with us? - ¿Quieres que vayamos* al museo por la tarde?
Do you want us to go to the museum this afternoon?
*After ‘querer’ we use the subjunctive if the subject of the second verb is different.
Notice that the translated forms sound a little strange in English? Spanish grammar is a little more rigid than English when jumping between first person singular and first person plural.
3. ¿Te gustaría?
This form isn’t used so much, but as an English speaker you might want to use it as it’s the direct translation of ‘would you like’:
- ¿Te gustaría ir a cenar fuera mañana?
Would you like to eat out tomorrow? - ¿Os gustaría probar un vino de la región?
Would you (plural informal) like to try a local wine?
4. The simple present
Native Spanish speakers will often use the presente del indicativo to propose an action:
- ¿Vamos a la playa?
Shall we go to the beach? - ¿Comemos algo ya?
Shall we eat something now?
