Learn how to use the Spanish expression "por favor"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Jessi: Hi, everyone. I’m Jessi and joining me is? |
| Karen: Karen. I have a Spanish request for you. Hola Jessi, ¿Cómo estás? |
| Jessi: Muy bien Karen, ¿y tú? |
| Karen: Muy bien, gracias. |
| Jessi: So, Karen, what are we going to learn in this lesson? |
| Karen: In this lesson, we are going to learn how to ask for something. |
| Jessi: Where does this conversation take place and who is it between? |
| Karen: The conversation takes place at Manuel’s house and it’s between Manuel and a representative at a taxi company. |
| Jessi: So, the conversation is between two strangers which means they’ll be speaking formal Spanish. |
| Karen: Okay, let’s listen to the dialogue. |
| DIALOGUES |
| Manuel: Buenas tardes. Un taxi a la avenida Sierra, número 732, por favor. |
| Taxista: Claro que sí. En quince minutos llega. |
| Manuel: Gracias. ¿Aceptan tarjeta de crédito? |
| Taxista: Por supuesto. |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Manuel: Buenas tardes. Un taxi a la avenida Sierra, número 732, por favor. |
| Taxista: Claro que sí. En quince minutos llega. |
| Manuel: Gracias. ¿Aceptan tarjeta de crédito? |
| Taxista: Por supuesto. |
| English Host: And now, with the translation. |
| Manuel: Buenas tardes. Un taxi a la avenida Sierra, número 732, por favor. |
| Jessi: Good afternoon. A taxi to 732 Sierra Avenue, please. |
| Taxista: Claro que sí. En quince minutos llega. |
| Jessi: Certainly. It will arrive in 15 minutes. |
| Manuel: Gracias. ¿Aceptan tarjeta de crédito? |
| Jessi: Do you accept credit cards? |
| Taxista: Por supuesto. |
| Jessi: Of course. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Jessi: Karen, speaking of taxis, it’s pretty common to take taxis in Spanish speaking countries, right? |
| Karen: Yes, it is actually. I’d say, it’s very common to take taxis. |
| Jessi: I remember when I went to Mexico, there were taxis everywhere like these little green beetle bee bugs. How about the cost? Are they expensive? I mean, I’ve been into a lot of places and it can add up. |
| Karen: Actually, for the most part, taxis are very cheap compared to other countries. I remember when I went to Peru, I was shocked by it. The taxi rides were just a couple of dollars. |
| Jessi: That is really cheap, actually. And in the dialogue, Manuel made a phone call for a taxi. |
| Karen: Yes, that’s right. This is actually recommended. There are countries that allow anyone to use their car to work as taxi drivers, meaning that those people are really working on their own. |
| Jessi: The ones that you might just flag down on the street? |
| Karen: Yes, that’s right. They usually just drive around until someone stops them on the streets. |
| Jessi: So, there might not be any problem, but if you make a phone call for a taxi, then you’re actually getting someone who works for a taxi company? |
| Karen: Yes, that’s right. |
| Jessi: Another thing too that I’ve heard is that if the taxi doesn’t have a meter, you should negotiate your price beforehand. |
| Karen: That’s correct. In the larger cities, they almost all should be metered, but in other places where they don’t, you should decide on a price before you get in. |
| Jessi: Just some good tips to remember. Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Jessi:The first word is… |
| Karen: por favor [natural native speed] |
| Jessi: please |
| Karen: por favor [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Karen: por favor [natural native speed] |
| Jessi: Next is… |
| Karen: Claro que sí. [natural native speed] |
| Jessi: Yes, of course. |
| Karen: Claro que sí. [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Karen: Claro que sí. [natural native speed] |
| Jessi: Next is… |
| Karen: llegar [natural native speed] |
| Jessi: to arrive |
| Karen: llegar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Karen: llegar [natural native speed] |
| Jessi: Next is… |
| Karen: aceptar [natural native speed] |
| Jessi: to accept |
| Karen: aceptar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Karen: aceptar [natural native speed] |
| Karen: por supuesto [natural native speed] |
| Jessi: Of course |
| Karen: por supuesto [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Karen: por supuesto [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Jessi: Let’s take a look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first one is? |
| Karen: por favor |
| Jessi: And this means “please.” This one is pretty easy. |
| Karen: That’s right. It always means “please.” Just note that favor means “favor” in English. So, basically, you’re asking someone to do you a favor. |
| Jessi: Right, and that’s a pretty good way to remember it. And the next phrase? |
| Karen: Claro que sí, of course, certainly. In the dialogue, the person at the taxi company says claro que sí after Manuel requested a taxi. |
| Karen: As in, certainly. I think claro que sí is a very useful one to know. |
| Jessi: Yes, it is. And here’s a useful tip. |
| Karen: Oh, what’s that? |
| Jessi: Okay, well, claro que sí means “of course, yes,” but what about if we want to say, “of course, not”? |
| Karen: Ah, you could just change the sí for a no, am I right? |
| Jessi: Yes, that’s exactly how to say it, claro que no “of course, not.” And our next phrase? |
| Karen: Por supuesto. |
| Jessi: "Of course." Now, we just look at claro que sí which we also said means “of course.” |
| Karen: Yes, that’s right. Their meanings are the same. |
| Jessi: So we can use either one if we want to say, “Of course”? |
| Karen: Yes, both are fine. Also, if we want to say, “Of course not,” but using “por supuesto,” we say - por supuesto que no. |
| Jessi: Okay, so just add up que and then no. Por supuesto que no, like, “of course not.” That’s interesting. They both mean the same thing and they were both used in the dialogue. And the next word? |
| Karen: Llegar |
| Jessi: To arrive. And this is an AR verb. How did we see it used in the dialogue? |
| Karen: When the person on the phone says - En quince minutos llega, they’re talking about the taxi. |
| Jessi: Right. En quince minutos llega, so llega, this is in the third person singular because it’s talking about the taxi specifically that’s on the way. And the last word? |
| Karen: aceptar |
| Jessi: To accept. And this is a cognate meaning it’s very similar to its English counterpart, “accept,” aceptar. |
| Karen: That’s exactly right. And like you said, it means to accept. |
| Jessi: How did they use it in the dialogue? |
| Karen: Manuel asks - ¿Aceptan tarjeta de credito? |
| Jessi: “Do you accept credit cards?” |
| Karen: Like “llegar,” it’s used in the third person. But in this case, it’s plural, aceptan because he’s talking about all the taxis in the company and not just one taxi. |
| Jessi: Kind of like, do they all take credit cards? |
| Karen: That’s right. |
| Jessi: Okay. Onto the grammar point. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Jessi: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask for something. |
| Karen: Yes. |
| Jessi: It sounds simple, and really, it is. All you have to do is use the phrase, por favor, so it’s like this: item + por favor. Really simple. Let’s here how it was used in the dialogue. |
| Karen: Un taxi a la avenida Sierra, número 732, por favor. |
| Jessi: “A taxi to 732 Sierra Avenue, please.” |
| Karen: There’s a lot of extra information in that sentence, but really, it all comes down to: Un taxi, por favor. |
| Jessi: Right, Un taxi, por favor. Taxi, please. How about some other examples? |
| Karen: Sure. You can put a lot of things before por favor. For example, Un pan, por favor. |
| Jessi: Pan is “bread” and un means “a” or “one.” So you’re basically just asking for a piece of bread: Un pan, por favor. Another one? |
| Karen: Una caja, por favor. |
| Jessi: Caja is “box,” so, “A box, please” or “One box, please.” By the way, caja is feminine, so we need una in front of it - una caja. |
| Karen: That’s right. |
| Jessi: Any others? |
| Karen: How about, Un momento, por favor. |
| Jessi: Ah, you hear this one a lot, “One moment please.” Now, you’re not asking for an actual item this time, but you’re still asking for something, right? |
| Karen: That’s right. Un momento, por favor. |
| Jessi: Okay, I think this point, using por favor, is pretty easy to understand. So to go a step further, what are some other ways we can ask for something? |
| Karen: Good question. Another common way to ask for something would be: Me da + [the item]. |
| Jessi: Me da, so that uses the reflexive verb darse, “to give (someone).” |
| Karen: That’s right. |
| Jessi: So, it’s like, you’re asking, “Can you give me (blank)?” Can we hear an example? |
| Karen: Sure. For example, at a restaurant, you could say, “Me da una servilleta.” |
| Jessi: “Could you give me a napkin?” |
| Karen: That form is used for strangers. If you were to ask a friend, you would use tú form, das. Me das una servilleta. |
| Jessi: Great! So in this lesson, we learned a few different ways to ask someone for something. |
| Karen: Listeners, try practicing this the next time you have to ask for something in Spanish. |
| Jessi: Yes, and you’re sure to get what you want. |
Outro |
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| Jessi: Well, that’s going to wrap it up for this lesson. Until next time. |
| Karen: Hasta luego. |
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