De compras en una Tienda de Ropa/ Shopping in a Clothes Store Vocabulary
This article is not a grammar lesson, it is a typical conversation in a clothes store, with the translation of the meanings in English. Please note that these translations are not literal but rather what each person would most likely say in English and in Spanish.
- Hola, Buenos días, ¿deseabas ver algo? Hello, good morning, did you want to see something?
- No, gracias, estoy mirando. No thanks, im just looking.
- Bueno, cualquier cosa que quieras ver avisame. Ok, anything you want to see, let me know.
5 minutos más tarde…..5 minutes later
-¿Qué precio tiene ese jean que está en vidriera? How much are these jeans in the glass?
-¿El azul oscuro?, 189 pesos. The one that is dark blue? 189 pesos.
-¿Me puedo probar uno? Can i try it on?
-Dale, ¿qué talle usas? Of course, what size are you?
-Soy 37/38 en general. Generally, I am a 37/38.
-Te busco uno….. I will go see if we have one.
-Acá está, allí atrás tienes el probador. Here we have it; back there is the dressing room.
-Bien, gracias. Great, thanks
-¿Cómo te quedó? How did it fit?
-Me queda un poco chico, pero grande de cintura, creo que no es un modelo para mí. ¿Tienes otros modelos? It is small in general but big around the waist, I don’t think this is for me. Do you have other styles?
-Sí, tienes elastizado o unos azules mas claritos con bolsillos, pruébatelos, quedan muy bien. Yes, we have ones that are more stretchy or ones that are light blue with pockets, try them out.
-¿y?, ¿Cómo te fueron? And? How were they for you?
-Bien, me gusta el azul claro, lo llevo. Great, I like the light blue ones, I am going to go with these.
-Bárbaro, ¿quieres aprovechar para ver otras cosas? Great, while you are at it, would you like to see some other things?
-Mmmm…..quiero llevar algo para usar arriba que combine con estos jeans. Mmm…i want to find a top that would go well with these jeans
-Tengo una camisa, mangas cortas que están llevando mucho, mira…están por allí colgadas, hay en varios colores y talles, para tí seria un small. I have a short sleeve shirt that everyone is wearing these days, look on these hangers, there is a variety of different colors and sizes, you would be a small.
-¿Cuánto es todo? How much is all of this?
-En efectivo $310. También podes pagar en 3 cuotas sin interés con tarjeta. Cash 310, and also you can pay for them in three installments with no interest using your credit card.
-No, no, efectivo, ¿La ropa tiene cambio? No, I will pay with cash. Will I be able to bring the clothes back if I change my mind?
-Sí, con la boleta, cualquier día menos el sábado. Yes, with the receipt, any day with exception of Saturday
Anna Rivera
Hola Anna! I love your lessons, and I\’ve recommended them to MANY of my students, as well as LSLC to many of their parents. I\’d like to send you a sample of Flip Flop Spanish, to see what you think about the lessons for youngsters. I don\’t think I\’ve ever seen that you have children yourself, but I think you\’d agree with me that the USE of Spanish is the greatest gift and ability we have, which is why I always recommend workbooks and flashcards to the parents of my students, rather than DVD\’s or Computer programs for the younger learners in our lives. How do I go about sending the samples to you?
I often use the conversation/translation exercise in my classes, so students can make their own connections. Thank you for the phrases included in the this one – some times, we teachers can get so caught up in grammar explanations, it\’s difficult to add the practical use to class time.
Gracias,
“Señora” Suzanne Gose
Morning Anna, Enjoyed this lesson. I wanted to ask a question. Near the end of the story you said La ropa tiene cambio? You said it means Will I be able to bring the clothes back if I change my mind? How did you get all of that from such few words. I would have read that to mean The clothes (shouldn’t ropa be ropas?) you have to exchange. Thanks ahead of time for explaining.
Hi Lynda: As I said in the beginning of the lesson, the translations are not literal. They are what one would most likely say in English or Spanish in that certain situation. In Spanish, the full sentence would be “la ropa tiene la posibilidad de cambio?” The very direct translation of this in English would be something along the lines of “do the clothes have the possibility to be exchanged?” In Spanish, “La ropa tiene cambio?” is a very common and shorter way of saying “la ropa tiene la posibilidad de cambio?”
Obviously in English we wouldn’t say something like “do the clothes have the possibility to be exchanged?” We would probably say it more casual like “can I bring these back if I don’t like them?” So the point of the exercise was not to provide direct translations as they would end up sounding like a robot, but rather what one would most likely say in that certain situation.
I hope that helps!!
Anna
Thanks Anna for the explanation. That does help. A lot of things we say in English would not sound correct if you were trying to learn English so it makes sense that other languages would be the same way. It is how regular people say things instead of text book correct. Thanks
Thank you for the easier lessons. How do I say this in Spanish without slaughtering it? Gracias para las lecones mas faciles? Mas facil? What is the difference between por and para? Gracias.
Hi Wendy, in the next couple of days i’m going to post a lesson about POR y PARA. In this case you should say “gracias por las lecciones fáciles”, because we use POR to speak about the reason of something. Whenever you say thank you “for” something, you use POR.
Cheers,
Anna
Gracias por la explicacion gentil.