Learn how to send a package from a Mexican post office
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| Mexican Post Office, Part 2: What’s in This Package? |
| In this lesson we're going to work on getting your package one step closer to its intended destination. |
| In the previous lesson, we discussed the phrase Quiero enviar este paquete a Estados Unidos, meaning "I want to send this package to the United States". |
| Let’s hear it one more time: |
| (slow) Qui-e-ro en-vi-ar es-te pa-que-te a Es-ta-dos U-ni-dos. |
| Quiero enviar este paquete a Estados Unidos. |
| Of course we can change ‘United States’ with the name of any other country. |
| When sending a package, you will be asked what is inside the package. In Spanish, "What's in the package?" is ¿Qué contiene el paquete? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) ¿Qué con-ti-e-ne el pa-que-te? |
| Once more: |
| ¿Qué contiene el paquete? |
| The first word qué means “what”. |
| (slow) qué. |
| qué. |
| After this comes the word contiene, which is a form of the verb “to contain”. |
| (slow) con-ti-e-ne. |
| contiene. |
| At the end, we have el paquete, meaning “the package”. |
| (slow) el pa-que-te. |
| el paquete. |
| All together, it’s |
| ¿Qué contiene el paquete? |
| If you are in a tourist area in Mexico, English is perfectly acceptable for naming all the things you want to send. |
| Another question that you will be asked is “Do you want to send it express or normal?” In Mexico, “express” is also called express. |
| ¿Quiere enviarlo express o normal? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) ¿Qui-e-re en-vi-ar-lo ex-press o nor-mal? |
| Once more: |
| ¿Quiere enviarlo express o normal? |
| The first word, Quiere, is a form of the verb translated as “to want." |
| (slow) quiere |
| quiere |
| Then you have enviarlo, which is the verb “to send” and it includes the subject “it”. Literally it would be translated as “to send it”. |
| (slow) en-vi-ar-lo. |
| enviarlo. |
| Next you have the first option: express, “express”. |
| (slow) ex-press. |
| express. |
| After that we have o which means “or” |
| (slow) o. |
| o. |
| At the end we have the second option normal, which means “normal”. |
| (slow) nor-mal. |
| normal. |
| Altogether, we have: |
| ¿Quiere enviarlo express o normal? |
| Another useful question that you should know how to answer is “Is it a national or international service?”. That in Spanish is: ¿Es un envío nacional o internacional? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) ¿Es un en-ví-o na-cio-nal o in-ter-na-cio-nal? |
| Once more: |
| ¿Es un envío nacional o internacional? |
| The first word Es is a form of the verb “to be" |
| (slow) es |
| es |
| Then you have un envío which is translated as “a service” |
| (slow) un en-ví-o |
| un envío. |
| Next you have the first option: nacional, or “national” |
| (slow) na-ci-o-nal. |
| nacional. |
| After that we have o which means “or” |
| At the end we have the second option, internacional, which means “international”. |
| (slow) in-ter-na-ci-o-nal. |
| internacional. |
| Once more: |
| ¿Es un envío nacional o internacional? |
| For the rules regarding which things you cannot send abroad, check the website, or ask the post office directly. |
| 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. |
| “What's in the package?” - ¿Qué contiene el paquete? |
| “Do you want to send it express or normal?” - ¿Quiere enviarlo express o normal? |
| “Is it a national or international service?” - ¿Es un envío nacional o internacional? |
| Alright! That's going to do it for this lesson. Hasta luego. |
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