Survival Spanish Part 4: Eating at a Restaurant

So you're traveling to Latin America or Spain soon and you need to know some basic phrases in Spanish to help get you by! We'll go through a quick primer on survival Spanish to help you on your way! This tutorial will help you with Spanish when you eat at a restaurant.

First, let's start with some basic vocabulary. Remember again that in Spanish, a noun can be masculine or feminine so depending on the gender of the noun. "Un" and "una" in Spanish both mean "a" in English, but "un" is used with masculine nouns, and "una" is used with feminine nouns. Please study the vocabulary below:

Spanish	English	Comments
restaurante	restaurant	masculine noun
comida	food	feminine noun
bebida	drink, beverage	feminine noun
verdura	vegetable	feminine noun
carne de vaca	beef	feminine noun
pollo	chicken	masculine noun
cerdo	pork	masculine or feminine noun
camarero	waiter	masculine noun
camarera	waitress	feminine noun
pescado	fish	masculine noun
favor	favor
por	for, by, through	Por is a preposition that usually indicates cause or motive. It has many more uses than the English translaton "for."
por favor	please
tráigame	bring me
cuenta	check, bill	feminine noun
el menú	the menu	masculine noun
puedo	may l, can I
ver	to see
un	a, one	masculine, singular indefinite article
una	a, one	feminine, singular indefinite article
vaso	glass	masculine noun
agua	water	feminine noun
das	to give
tenedor	fork	masculine noun
traer	to bring
cuchillo	knife	masculine noun
cuchara	spoon	feminine noun

Great! Once you have mastered the basic vocabulary above, let's start with some simple Spanish phrases when you're at a restaurant:

English	Spanish	Comments
Can you bring me the bill, please?	¿Me trae la cuenta, por favor?	trae is the third person of the singular for the verb traer (present indicative)
Can I see the menu, please?	¿Puedo ver el menú, por favor?
May I have a glass of water, please?	¿Me das un vaso de agua, por favor?	da is third person of the singular of the verb dar (present indicative)
Can you bring me a fork, please?	¿Me traes un tenedor, por favor?
Can you bring me a knife, please?	¿Me traes un cuchillo, por favor?
Can you bring me a spoon, please?	¿Me traes una cuchara, por favor?

Please try part 5 of our Spanish survival guide.

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