Your Basic Phrasebook
|
Yes |
Si |
|
No |
No |
|
Please |
Por favor |
|
Thank you |
Gracias |
|
Good morning |
Buenos días |
|
Good afternoon |
Buenas tardes |
|
Good evening / night |
Buenas noches |
|
The Spanish like to differentiate between the above three. Morning is until 12 am. Afternoon is until about 7 pm. After that it is night time. | |
|
How are you |
Que tal / como estás |
|
My name is ..... |
Me llamo ..... |
|
What's your name |
Como te llamas |
|
Where is the beach |
Donde está la playa |
|
Where is the hotel ....... |
Donde está el hotel ...... |
|
You may realise now that donde está means 'where is'. You can now combine that with the following: | |
|
The bank |
El banco |
|
The nearest bar |
El bar más cercano |
|
The bus stop |
La parada de autobús |
|
Where can I buy bread |
Donde puedo comprar pan |
|
Where can I buy water |
Donde puedo comprar agua |
|
Obviously donde puedo comprar means 'where can I buy'. Practise this with the following: | |
|
Cigarettes |
Tabaco |
|
Ice cream |
Helados |
|
Beer |
Cerveza |
|
Something to smoke |
(you must be joking!) |
|
See below for many more groceries. | |
Shopping for Groceries
|
Apple |
Manzana |
man-tha-na |
A few Basics
A few groundrules to calm those first-evening nerves whilst ordering from a spanish menu:
Most spanish words are pronounced with the emphasis on the second last syllable. In italics above. The only exceptions have an accent to denote where the emphasis should be placed: see Rice = Arróz, pronounced - a-roth
The Spanish love to roll their 'R's - you can practice this at home before going...brrrrrrrr! it's cold here.
Don't be shy!! There are many residents who have been living here for many years quite successfully with only a rather limited vocabulary. The Spanish and more particularly the Ibicencos are a very tolerant people. Most if not all (especially in the resorts) speak excellent English.
But a little can go a very long way, and the warmest smiles you will receive when speaking spanish to the locals, makes that little bit of pre-holiday effort all worthwhile.