Love-Spanish.com: Tell Me, How Can I Help You?

SCENARIO

Imagine you have just walked into a shop looking to buy something. After exchanging the usual greetings, the shop assistant decides to say to you: "tell me, what would you like?/ what are you looking for?/ how can I help you?".

In Spanish, he/ she could choose to be less formal and say to you:

Dime, ¿qué querías?

On the other hand, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say to you:

Dígame, ¿qué quería (usted)?

OUR TIP

The question is an invitation for you to say what you want/ what you are looking for. When stating what you want, you DO NOT need to be concerned about the level of formality in the other person's question. Your main concern should be about communicating what you want/ what you are looking for. Perhaps you want to say that what you want/ are looking for is:

An item of clothing (in a clothes shop).
A footwear item (in a shoe shop).
A stationary item (in a stationary shop).
Alcoholic beverages (in the local "bodega").
Some vegetables/ greens (in the greengrocer).
Some meat (in the butchers).

Here are some examples of how you would say what you want/ what you are after:

Quería* una camisa blanca (I wanted/ was looking for a white shirt).
Quería* un par de zapatos negros (I wanted/ was looking for a pair of black shoes).
Quería* un cuaderno (I wanted/ was looking for a note pad).
Quería* un litro de vino tinto (I wanted/ was looking for a litre of red wine).
Quería* un kilo de tomates (I wanted/ was looking for a kilo of tomatoes).
Quería* medio kilo de costilletas de cerdo (I wanted/ was looking for a half a kilo of pork chops).

Now you should practice talking about the past to someone who says to you:

Dime, ¿qué querías?

*Please see grammar below

Grammar-The Imperfect

These are examples of expressions using the imperfect to indicate what you want/ you are looking for. Remember that in Spanish we use the imperfect in the following situations:

1. When talking about habitual ongoing actions in the past. Some examples of expressions of this type are:

Antes me gustaba jugar a tenis (I used to like playing tennis).
Tú casi nunca madrugabas (you almost never got up early).
Pedro tenía muchos amigos (Pedro used to have many friends).
Siempre estábamos contentos (we used to be always happy).
A veces llegábais tarde (sometimes, you -plural were late).
Mis compañeros de trabajo apenas me conocían (my work colleagues hardly knew me).

2. When talking about repeated ongoing events in the past. Some examples of expressions of this type are:

Yo iba a la playa lo domingos* (on Sundays I used to go to the beach).
Todos los días te levantabas temprano (you used to get up early everyday).
Pedro trabajaba de lunes a viernes (Pedro used to work from Monday to Friday).
Nos gustaba ir a nadar los lunes (we liked going swimming on Mondays).
Los fines de semana íbais al campo (you -plural used to go to the countryside at the weekends).
Mis amigos venían a visitarme una vez a la semana (my friends used to come to visit once a week).

3. When describing the past. Some examples of expressions of this type are:

Yo era amigo de Sofía (I was Sofía's friend).
Tú eras muy joven (you were very young) .
Mi coche era nuevo (my car was new).
Éramos como hermanos (we were like brothers).
Erais compañeros de trabajo de mi hermano (you -plural were work colleagues of my brother).
Mis padres eran muy mayores (my parents were very old).

4. When talking about ongoing past actions which were occurring at the same time as a completed action. Some examples of expressions of this type are:

Yo comía cuando me llamaste (I was eating when you called).
Dormías cuando llegamos (you were sleeping when we arrived) .
Llovía cuando salí (it was raining when I left).
Llegabamos a Barcelona cuando amaneció (we were arriving in Barcelona when dawn broke).
Cuando os ví, salíais del bar (when I saw you -plural you were leaving the bar).
Cuando llegamos, mis padres salían (when we arrived, my parents were leaving).

5. When asking someone directly, what would you like?/ how can I help you? When replying to that type of question indicating, what I/ we would like/ are looking for. Some examples of expressions of this type are:

¿Qué querías? (what would you like?/ what are you looking for?/ how can I help you?).
¿Qué quería (usted)? (what would you like?/ what are you looking for?/ how can I help you?).
¿Qué queríais? (what would you like?/ what are you looking for?/ how can I help you? - you plural).
¿Qué querían (ustedes)? (what would you like?/ what are you looking for?/ how can I help you? -you plural).
Quería una lata de sardinas (I wanted/ I am looking for a tin of sardines).
Queríamos una habitación doble (we wanted/ we are looking for a double room).

Now you should practice using the imperfect with some examples of your own.

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