How Much Wine Do You Want?

Introduction

This post is about volumes in general, and fractions of a litre in particular.

SCENARIO

Imagine you are at your local bodega or supermarket where you are trying to buy some wine.

After exchanging the customary greetings, vine merchant says to you: how much wine do you want?

In Spanish, the merchant could choose to be less formal and say:

¿Cuánto vino quieres?

In Spanish, the merchant could choose to be more formal and say:

¿Cuánto vino quiere?

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OUR TIP

Answering the question should be quite straightforward. You may need to be careful with the units of volume to make sure that you get the correct amount of wine. The notes below* should help you male sure of that

With that in mind, you could say:

• Quería una botella de vino (I want a bottle of wine)
• Quería un cuarto de litro de vino (I want a quarter of a litre of wine)
• Quería medio de litro de vino (I want half a litre of wine)
• Quería tres cuartos de litro de vino (I want three quarters of a litre of wine)
• Quería un litro de vino (I want a litre of wine)
• Quería un litro y medio de vino (I want one and a half litres of wine)
• Quería dos litros de vino (I want two litres of wine)

Now you should practise answering the question:

¿Cuánto vino quieres?

*See some commonly used volumes in Spanish below

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*Spanish Volumes

Some expressions of volumes commonly used when shopping in Spanish are shown below:

	Mililitros	Centilitros	Litros
cien mililitros diez centilitros	100ml	10cl
ciento cincuenta mililitros quince centilitros	150ml	15cl
doscientos mililitros veinte centilitros	200ml	20cl
doscientos cincuenta mililitros veinticinco centilitros un cuarto de litro	250ml	25cl	¼l
trescientos mililitros treinta centilitros	300ml	30cl
trescientos treinta mililitros treinta y tres centilitros	330ml	33cl
cuatrocientos mililitros cuarenta centilitros	400ml	40cl
quinientos mililitros cincuenta centilitros medio litro	500ml	50cl	½l
seiscientos mililitros sesenta centilitros	600ml	60cl
setecientos mililitros setenta centilitros	700ml	70cl
setecientos cincuenta mililitros setenta y cinco centilitros tres cuartos de litro	750ml	75cl	¾l
ochocientos mililitros ochenta centilitros	800ml	80cl
novecientos mililitros noventa centilitros	900ml	90cl
mil mililitros cien centilitros un litro	1,000ml	100cl	1l

Notes

Volumes expressed in millilitres (ml) and especially under 100 millilitres (cien mililitros) are more common in perfumes and such like

Approximate relationships to some commonly used UK & US units of volume are shown below:

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What Would You Like?

Introduction

This post is about ordering drink in a cafe/ bar.

SCENARIO

Imagine you walk into a cafe/ bar. After exchanging customary greetings, the waiter says to you something like: "what would you like?"

In Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say:

¿Qué te pongo?

Alternatively, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say:

¿Qué le pongo?

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OUR TIP

The question in Spanish is an invitation for you to order, which should be quite straightforward. Often giving the name of a drink would be sufficient. However, you can be much more communicative with a little effort. Doing so will also help you practise choosing between the more formal and less formal ways of speaking.

Using the verb in the question for your answer would be quite an appropriate starting point. If you take this option, you would choose between a less^* “ponme” and a more formal “póngame”.

Here are some examples of informal answers :

• Ponme un café, por favor (I'll have a coffee, please);
• Ponme un café con leche, por favor (I'll have a white coffee, please);
• Ponme una cerveza, por favor (I'll have a beer, please);
• Ponme un agua mineral con gas, por favor (I'll have a fizzy mineral water, please);
• Ponme un vino blanco, por favor (I'll have a white wine please);
• Ponme un vino tinto, por favor (I'll have a red wine please);

*Note

You would use the less formal “ponme” if you are on first name terms with the waiter; or if you want to come across as friendly and familiar. See how to reply when you are not on first name terms.

Now you should practice answering the question:

¿Qué te pongo?

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Tell Me, Who Was Likely To Be Feeling Cold?

Introduction

This post is about verb conjugation -the imperfect tense, subjunctive mood of irregular verb tener.

SCENARIO

Imagine you are talking to a relative, a friend or a colleague about a situation in which it could be expected that people could be feeling cold. The other person wants to know more about it and says: "tell me, who was likely to be feeling cold?".

In Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say:

Dime, ¿quién era probable que tuviera frío?

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

Dígame, ¿quién era probable que tuviera frío?

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OUR TIP

Making a sentence which answers that question should be straightforward -remember:

• Make sure that you conjugate your verb correctly
• Choose between formal or familiar options to suit the occasion -see examples below.

Typical answers could be:

• Era probable que yo tuviera^* frío (it was likely that I would be feeling cold);
• Era probable que tú tuvieras^* frío, ¿no? (it was likely that you -familiar would be feeling cold, wasn't it?);
• Era probable que usted tuviera^*frío, ¿no? (it was likely that you -formal, would be feeling cold, wasn't it?);
• Era probable que Pedro tuviera^* frío (it was likely that Pedro would be feeling cold);
• Era probable que María tuviera^* frío (it was likely that Maria would be feeling cold);
• Era probable que todos tuviéramos^* frío (it was likely that we would all be feeling cold);
• Era probable que vosotros tuvierais^* frío, ¿no? (it was likely that you -familiar/ plural would be feeling cold, wasn't it?);
• Era probable que ustedes tuvieran^* frío, ¿no? (it was likely that you -formal/ plural would be feeling cold, wasn't it?);
• Era probable que Pedro y María tuvieran^* frío (it was likely that Pedro and Maria would be feeling cold);

Now you should practise replying to someone who says to you:

Dime, ¿quién era probable que tuviera frío?

*Please see grammar topic below, Verbs

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Verbs

A verb is a 'doing' word which conveys:

• What action takes place in a sentence
• Who does that action
• When that action occurs.

In addition, the verb may also convey the mood or feelings of the speaker toward the action which takes place. The verb may, for example, indicate whether the speaker is stating a fact, expressing a wish or indeed giving an order.

Irregular Verbs

Verb: tener

The Spanish verb tener is irregular^* in some tenses, as shown in the table below:

Tense	Mood	Regular	Irregular
Present	Indicative		✓
Imperfect	Indicative	✓
Preterite	Indicative		✓
Future	Indicative		✓
Conditional	Indicative		✓
Perfect	Indicative	✓
Pluperfect	Indicative	✓
Future Perfect	Indicative	✓
Conditional Perfect	Indicative	✓
Present	Subjunctive		✓
Imperfect	Subjunctive		✓
Perfect	Subjunctive	✓
Pluperfect	Subjunctive	✓

* NB:

• Conjugate tenses in the regular column the same as other regular verbs ending in -er
• The imperfect tense conjugation/ subjunctive mood is shown below

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Subjunctive Mood/ Imperfect Tense - Conjugation

Verb: tener

Subject		TENER (TO HAVE)
I	Yo	TUVIERA TUVIESE
You	Tú	TUVIERAS TUVIESES
You	Usted*	TUVIERA TUVIESE
He	Él
She	Ella
We	Nosotros	TUVIÉRAMOS TUVIÉSEMOS
You	Vosotros**	TUVIERAIS TUVIESEIS
You	Ustedes***	TUVIERAN TUVIESEN
They	Ellos
They	Ellas

*NB More courteous/ polite form of 'you'

**NB 'You' plural

*** NB More courteous/ polite form of 'you' plural

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Verb Conjugation Notes

It is worth remembering once more that in its basic form (infinitive), a Spanish verb is just a general 'doing' word. In that form, a verb simply indicates an action and nothing else. If we want a verb to be more specific about the action in a sentence, we need to conjugate it. It is only when conjugated that the verb indicates:

• Who does the action
• When the action takes place
• The mood/ attitude of the speaker towards the action

The conjugation tables above refer to using conjugation to establish who does the action. What follows below are some notes on establishing when the action takes place and the mood/ attitude of the speaker towards the action.

Subjunctive Mood

The use of subjunctive mood is disappearing English. Nowadays is often viewed as an old and unfashionable form of the language.

In contrast, the use of subjunctive mood is very much alive and in everyday use in Spanish. This widespread use of subjunctive mood tends to be the bane of many a learner of Spanish from the English speaking world.

The concept of subjunctive mood is perhaps best illustrated by contrasting its use against the use of indicative mood with examples in English. The following are a couple of examples which should serve that purpose:

• Indicative mood (“Peter eats an apple”).- Indicative mood is commonly used to make statements of facts or positive beliefs such as this one. As can be seen in the sample sentence (in quotes above), the speaker makes a clear and unambiguous statement of a fact (Peter eats an apple).
• Subjunctive mood (“Peter would eat an apple if he were hungry”).- In contrast with indicative mood, subjunctive mood is commonly used to make statements indicating hypothetical or non-fact actions. As can be seen in the sample sentence (in quotes), in this case the speaker sees the action of eating an apple as something hypothetical, something which may or may not happen (Peter would eat an apple... if he were hungry).

Verb Tenses

Verb tenses relate to setting the time period (when) during which the action of the verb takes place. Basic times (periods) for Spanish verb actions are:

• The past (before now)
• The present (now)
• The future (after now)

Each Spanish verb tense corresponds to one of those basic time periods. In other words choosing a verb tense places the action of the verb in one of those basic periods and determines when the action takes place.

Now you should practise the use of the imperfect tense of the irregular verb tener with some examples of your own.

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Farmacia

Today's word is: "farmacia" = chemist's/ drugstore

In Spanish, “farmacia” is a feminine noun of Latin/ Greek origin, which means chemists/ drugstore and is used as in:

• La farmacia está al lado del banco (the chemist's/ pharmacy is next door to the bank);

The noun “farmacia” is used also to refer to pharmacology or pharmacy, as in:

• Estudié farmacia en la universidad (I studied pharmacy at university)

A related word is “farmacéutico”/ “farmacéutica”, a describing word/ adjective meaning pharmaceutical, as in:

• La industria farmacéutica (the pharmaceutical industry);

A related word is “farmacéutico”/ “farmacéutica”, could also be a noun meaning pharmacist, as in:

• Pedro es farmacéutico (Pedro is a pharmacist)
• María es farmacéutica (Maria is a pharmacist)

Also related is the word “fármaco”, a noun meaning drug or medicine, as in:

• Fármacos de nueva generación (new generation drugs/ medicines)

Some Spanish expressions with the word “farmacia” are:

• Auxiliar de farmacia (chemist's assistant);
• Farmacia de guardia (out of hours or all night chemist's/ drugstore);
• Farmacia de turno (out of hours or all night chemist's/ drugstore);
• Farmacia piloto (out of hours or all night chemist's/ drugstore -Cuba);

Love-Spanish.com loves the word "farmacia" in the YouTube clip: Guasones - Farmacia (video oficial)

For more on the word "farmacia", visit: Wordreference.com/es/en/ Farmacia

*NB 'Click' on the speaker icon next to the word “farmacia” in the link to hear the word pronounced.

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