Let's take a closer look at Ben's request. |
Do you remember how Ben says, |
"This, please." |
Esto, por favor. |
This standard way of asking for something follows a simple pattern. |
First is the word, esto. "This." Esto (enunciated). Esto. |
If you don’t know the name of an item and consequently its gender, you can point and use esto. |
It refers to something which is near the speaker. Ben uses it because he’s pointing at something which is near to him. |
Next is por favor. "Please." Por favor (enunciated). Por favor. |
All together, it’s Esto, por favor. "This, please." |
Esto, por favor. |
Do you remember how the clerk says, |
"Here you are." |
Aquí tiene. |
First is aquí, which means "here." Aquí (enunciated). Aquí. |
Then it's tiene. "[You] have" in the formal register. Tiene (enunciated). Tiene. |
Tiene is the shortened form of usted tiene. Usted, a formal word meaning “you,” is omitted as it’s understood from the conjugated form of the verb |
All together, it's Aquí tiene, "Here you are," in the formal register. Because Ben is a customer, Gabriel Molina uses formal language with him. |
Tiene is from the verb, tener, meaning "to have." tener. |
Aquí tiene. "Here you are." |
Aquí tiene. |
The pattern is |
ITEM por favor. |
ITEM "please." |
ITEM por favor. |
To use this pattern, simply replace the ITEM placeholder with the thing you want. |
Note: This pattern requires a demonstrative pronoun, which is determined by the location, gender and the number of the desired item. |
If you want an object somewhat out of your reach, you can use eso, “that”. Eso (enunciated). Eso. |
Imagine you’d like something beyond reach. In this case, use eso, "that." Eso (enunciated). Eso. |
Say |
"That, please." |
Ready? |
Eso, por favor. |
"That, please." |
Eso, por favor. |
The phrases, Esto, por favor, and Eso, por favor, can be used to refer to an item without knowing its name in Spanish. |
Note: for an item quite far from the speaker and listener, use aquello, “that,” as in that over there. Aquello. Aquello. |
Aquello, por favor. That (way over there), please. Aquello, por favor. |
If you don’t know the name of an item and consequently its gender, you can use these pronouns. |
To recap: |
Close to the speaker, esto, “this.” |
Close to the listener, eso, “that.” |
Far from both, aquello, “that (over there).” |
All these pronouns can be used to refer to an item without knowing its name in Spanish. |
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