Spanish · CEFR Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 19
En el restauranteAt the restaurant
Meals and ordering in a restaurant. Here the regular -er/-ir verbs appear: comer (como, comes, come) and beber (bebo, bebes, bebe) — conjugated like the -ar ones but with "e" in the endings. To order you use "querer" (quiero, quieres, quiere), a verb with an e→ie stem change: Quiero un café. New vocabulary: comida, desayuno, cena, comer, beber, restaurante, camarero, menú, cuenta, querer.
Dialogue
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¿Quero o quiero?— quero or quiero?
- CarlosMike, ¿qué quieres comer?Mike, what do you want to eat?
- MikeQuero comer ahora.I want to eat now. (slip: querer changes e→ie — say "quiero", not "quero")
- CarlosSe dice "quiero", con ie: yo quiero, tú quieres.You say "quiero", with ie: yo quiero, tú quieres.
- MikeVale. Quiero comer. ¿Y el menú?Okay. I want to eat. And the menu?
Dialogue
i
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La cuenta, por favor— The Bill, Please
- CamareroBuenas tardes. ¿Qué quiere comer?Good afternoon. What would you like to eat?
- LucíaQuiero comer, y quiero beber agua.I want to eat, and I want to drink water.
- CamareroMuy bien. Aquí tiene el menú.Very good. Here is the menu.
- LucíaGracias. Y luego, la cuenta, por favor.Thank you. And then, the bill, please.
Vocabulary
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- comida
n.f.food; lunch (f)
- desayuno
n.m.breakfast (m)
- cena
n.f.dinner (f)
- comer
verbto eat
- beber
verbto drink
- restaurante
n.m.restaurant (m)
- camarero
n.m.waiter (m)
- menú
n.m.menu (m)
- cuenta
n.f.bill, check (f)
Grammar
i
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-er/-ir verbs and "quiero"
Explanation
You already know the -ar verbs (trabajo, escuchas). The -er/-ir verbs conjugate the same, but with "e/i" in the endings: comer → como, comes, come, comemos, comen; beber → bebo, bebes, bebe. (-ir is nearly identical: vivir → vivo, vives, vive.) To order in the restaurant you use "querer" (to want). Note: "querer" changes its stem e→ie in almost every form: quiero, quieres, quiere, BUT queremos (nosotros doesn't change). The English mistake is to say "quero" instead of "quiero". Useful phrases: Quiero un café. ¿Qué quieres comer? La cuenta, por favor.
Examples
- Quiero el menú, por favor.I want the menu, please.
- ¿Qué quieres beber? — Quiero agua.What do you want to drink? — I want water.
- Como en el restaurante y bebo agua.I eat at the restaurant and drink water.
- La cuenta, por favor.The bill, please.
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