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Lesson Transcript

Taking a Taxi in Mexico
In this lesson you’ll learn how to get to places by taxi. There are two options for taking a taxi in Mexico: to call the taxi-dispatch by phone so they can pick you up from your location; or you can take a taxi on the street.
If you are in Mexico for the first time, you might not know how to stop a taxi on the street, so it’s better if you call the taxi by phone. Let’s get it started.
Imagine you are in Mexico City. You want to go to Palacio de Bellas Artes, a historical building recommended by a friend. You are at your hotel in front of the Torre Latinoamericana. You call the taxi company, and the person who answers says “How may I help you?” In Spanish, this is:
¿Cómo lo puedo ayudar?
Let’s break it down:
(slow) ¿Có-mo lo pu-e-do a-yu-dar?
Once more:
¿Cómo lo puedo ayudar?
The first word, Cómo, means “how”.
(slow) Có-mo.
Cómo.
This is followed by the words lo puedo, which would be translated in English as “can I” or “may I”.
(slow) lo pu-e-do.
lo puedo.
Then we have ayudar, which literally means “help”.
(slow) a-yu-dar.
ayudar.
Once again, it is:
¿Cómo lo puedo ayudar?
Answer back by saying that you want a taxi, and giving your location. Say Un taxi a then say your location, and add por favor at the end.
In our case, the phrase will sound like this:
Un taxi a la Torre Latinoamericana, por favor.
(slow) Un ta-xi a la To-rre La-ti-no-a-me-ri-ca-na, por fa-vor.
Un taxi a la Torre Latinoamericana, por favor.
“A taxi to the Torre Latinoamericana, please.”
Un taxi means “a taxi”.
(slow) Un ta-xi.
Un taxi.
A la means “to the”.
(slow) A la.
A la.
Torre Latinoamericana is a famous building in midtown Mexico City, and in this example is where you would wait for the taxi to come to pick you up.
Then to sound polite, we just add por favor, “please”.
Once more altogether, that’s
(slow) Un ta-xi a la To-rre La-ti-no-a-me-ri-ca-na, por fa-vor.
Un taxi a la Torre Latinoamericana, por favor.
In English, the whole sentence will be literally translated as “A taxi to the Torre Latinoamericana, please.”
The person on the phone will then ask you where you want to go. That will sound like this:
¿A dónde va? This means "Where are you going?"
(slow) ¿A dón-de va?
¿A dónde va?
You would answer by simply stating the name of the place you're going, or some nearby landmark. In our case, it would be - Al Palacio de Bellas Artes.
(slow) Al Pa-la-cio de Be-llas Ar-tes.
Al Palacio de Bellas Artes.
Al means “to the”
(slow) Al
Al
Palacio de Bellas Artes is another famous tourist destination in Mexico City. And in this example, it is our desired destination.
So altogether, that’s
Al Palacio de Bellas Artes.
Next, the person will ask you in whose name to request the taxi. That will sound like this:
¿A nombre de quién?
(slow) ¿A nom-bre de qui-én?
¿A nombre de quién?
A nombre means literally "to name"
de means "of."
And quién means "who" or "whom".
(slow) Qui-én.
Quién.
As you can see the literal translation of this phrase in English, doesn't really make sense. But it means “Under whose name?”
Let's hear that all together: ¿A nombre de quién?
Next, the person will tell you an estimate of when the taxi will arrive. It will be something similar to this:
En cinco minutos.
(slow) En cin-co mi-nu-tos.
En cinco minutos.
This means “In five minutes.”
En means “in”.
(slow) En.
En.
Cinco means “five”.
(slow) Cin-co.
Cinco.
Minutos means “minutes”.
(slow) Mi-nu-tos.
Minutos.
Let’s hear the whole phrase one more time:
En cinco minutos.
After waiting, you will go out, see your taxi, greet the driver of course, and say the address again. At the end of the drive, you will need to ask how much you have to pay. In Spanish that sounds like this:
¿Cuánto es?
Let’s break it down:
(slow) ¿Cu-án-to es?
¿Cuánto es?
The first word, cuánto, means "how much"
(slow) cu-án-to.
cuánto.
Next we have es, which means “is”
(slow) es.
es.
The entire question is:
¿Cuánto es?
And it would be translated as “How much is it?”
To close out today's lessons, we’d like you to practice what you have just learned. I’ll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you’re responsible for shouting it out loud. You’ll have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so !buena suerte! which means “Good luck!” in Spanish.
“How may I help you?” - ¿Cómo lo puedo ayudar?
“A taxi to the Torre Latinoamericana, please.” - Un taxi a la Torre Latinoamericana, por favor.
“Where are you going?” - ¿A dónde va?
“To the Palacio de Bellas Artes.” - Al Palacio de Bellas Artes.
“In five minutes.” - En cinco minutos.
“How much is it?” - ¿Cuánto es?
Alright! That's going to do it for this lesson. Hasta luego.

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