Learn how to rent a car, scooter, or bike
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| Renting a Vehicle in Mexico |
| In this lesson, we’ll introduce you to a phrase that will help you get to any place you’d like to go! In some cities, like Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara, trains and subways are the best way to travel. But if you are going to any other part of Mexico, and you don't feel like exercising too much, we recommend that you rent a car. |
| In Spanish, “I want to rent a car” is |
| Quiero rentar un carro. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) Qui-e-ro ren-tar un ca-rro. |
| Once more: |
| Quiero rentar un carro. |
| The first word, quiero, is a form of the verb “to want”. |
| (slow) Qui-e-ro. |
| Quiero. |
| Next comes rentar, which is translated as “to rent” |
| (slow) ren-tar. |
| rentar. |
| Then we have un carro, which means “a car”. |
| (slow) un ca-rro. |
| un carro. |
| The whole sentence again is: |
| Quiero rentar un carro. |
| If you feel more intrepid and you would like to ride a motorcycle, you can just substitute un carro, or “a car”, for una motocicleta, “a motorcycle.” |
| (slow) una mo-to-ci-cle-ta. |
| una motocicleta. |
| It’s a feminine noun, so we need to change un for una. |
| Let’s use it in our sentence now, “I want to rent a motorcycle”: |
| Quiero rentar una motocicleta. |
| (slow) Qui-e-ro ren-tar una mo-to-ci-cle-ta. |
| Quiero rentar una motocicleta. |
| Now, if what you want is to stay in shape during your trip to Mexico, you should rent a bike. The word for “bike” in Spanish is bicicleta. |
| (slow) Bi-ci-cle-ta |
| Bicicleta |
| It’s also a feminine noun, so we use una. |
| The sentence “I want to rent a bike” in Spanish is: |
| Quiero rentar una bicicleta. |
| (slow) Qui-e-ro ren-tar una bi-ci-cle-ta. |
| Quiero rentar una bicicleta. |
| If you're renting something, it's also important to know when you have to return it! This is the phrase you can use to make sure you return it on time. |
| In Spanish, “When do I have to return it?” is: |
| ¿Cuándo tengo que devolverlo? |
| (slow) ¿Cu-án-do ten-go que de-vol-ver-lo? |
| ¿Cuándo tengo que devolverlo? |
| The first word, cuándo, means “when.” |
| (slow) cuándo |
| cuándo |
| Next we have tengo, which means “I have”. |
| (slow) ten-go. |
| tengo. |
| Then we have que which literally means “that”. |
| (slow) que. |
| que. |
| At the end, we have the word devolverlo, which means “return it”. |
| (slow) de-vol-ver-lo. |
| devolverlo. |
| Let’s hear the whole sentence one more time... |
| ¿Cuándo tengo que devolverlo? |
| You may want to return it at a different location. In Spanish, “Can I return it somewhere else?” is |
| ¿Podría devolverlo en otro lugar? |
| (slow) ¿Po-drí-a de-vol-ver-lo en o-tro lu-gar? |
| ¿Podría devolverlo en otro lugar? |
| The first word, podría, means “could I”. |
| (slow) po-drí-a |
| podría |
| Next we have devolverlo, translated as “to return it” |
| (slow) De-vol-ver-lo. |
| Devolverlo. |
| And then we have en, which means “in” |
| Next we have otro, which means “other” |
| (slow) O-tro. |
| Otro. |
| And at the end of the question, we have the word lugar which means “place”. |
| (slow) Lu-gar. |
| Lugar. |
| The entire sentence again: |
| ¿Podría devolverlo en otro lugar? |
| The answer could be sí meaning “yes”, or no meaning “no”. If the answer is yes, they will let you know the name of the location where you can return 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. |
| “I want to rent a car.” - Quiero rentar un carro. |
| “I want to rent a motorcycle.” - Quiero rentar una motocicleta. |
| “I want to rent a bike.” - Quiero rentar una bicicleta. |
| “When do I have to return it?” - ¿Cuándo tengo que devolverlo? |
| “Can I return it somewhere else?” - ¿Podría devolverlo en otro lugar? |
| Alright! That's going to do it for this lesson. Hasta luego. |
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