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Looking for some of the more common words and phrases that Spanish people use. Basically the words you need to communicate with a Spanish housekeeper or a Spanish worker in a store that doesnt speak English or Yiddish (many do speak Yiddish lol!)
Thanks guys/gals.
Here’s some stuff I picked up on a trip:
Necesito medicamento contra la diarrea.
i went into a teacher store and bought a full-size poster of the most common words and phrases.i have it on a wall at home and pass by it often.so when i heard a lady say “pork”and i hoped she wasn’t referring to me(!),i went home,checked the chart,and saw:”porque”-because.whew!that was a relief.
Uno dwa tress quadro cinko shess (one two three four five six)
Manyana- tomorrow!
Gracias. Thank you
De nada. Its nothing (used in response to thanks the way one says in english “no problem”).
Agua. Water
Feliz navidad. Happy holiday (you’ll need it next month).
Hola. Hello
Si. Yes.
Buenos dias. Good morning
Buenos noches. Good night
Buenos tardes (tadres?) Good afternoon
Muy bien. Very well (usually goes together with gracias as a response to comas estes (I’m spelling it how I pronounce it, which is probably wrong) how are you, muy bien gracias – very well, thank you.
There is a book you can buy on Amazon called “Maid in Spanish” very easy to use for housekeeping spanish translations.
And be very generous with
– por favor
– gracias
– the universal smile, same in every language.
apushatayid, I am guessing you were not kidding with your post as I was with part of mine. “Feliz Navidad” does not mean “Happy Holiday” but rather “Merry Christmas.” I mention this because I know that many here would not say that in English. http://translate.google.com/#es|en|Feliz%20navidad
Poster #4; (Deyezooger) You unwittingly mixed in Polish and Russian words, too. There’s a joke about someone who went in front of a Judge to receive Canadian Citizenship. The Judge asked the Zaidy (or Bubby) “Do you speak English?” The candidate answers, “Oui”. Judge says. “That’s French”. Candidate says to spouse. “I didn’t know I speak French, too”…!
Homeowner, I think you’d most likely need those phrases when you’re actually IN Mexico!
eclipse – it’s pronounced “porkay” and can also mean “why?” Example: “Por que?” (Why?) – would be answered with “porque…” (because…”) Confusing.
deiyezooger, not quite… It’s uno (or un), dos, tres, quatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez.
And the phrase I get the most use out of these days: “numero equivocado” (wrong number).
Dinero – money;
cosina – kitchen;
banyo- bath;
leche – dairy;
carne- meat;
limpia – clean;
lave- wash;
luz- light;
planche- iron;
towala- towel;
papier- paper;
madre-mother;
bambino – baby;
linen – ropa
tablecloth – mapa
Sunday – domingo
Monday – Lunas
Saturday – Sabato
aries, do you by any chance have a Spanish-speaking housekeeper? 🙂
Just a couple of corrections – ropa is clothing, and towel is toalla, pronounced “toe-ai-ah.”
The rest of the days of the week (Monday-Sunday) are: Lunes, Martes, Miercoles, Jueves, Viernes, Sabado, Domingo
The “j” is pronounced like an “h”, and the “v” like a “b.” So Thursday and Friday would be “Huebes” and “Biernes.”
FWIW, navidad means nativity. Not the same issues as xmas.
You can send a text to google and get english translated into spanish.
Let’s say I want to ask how to say “good morning” in spanish:
Send text message to 46645
Type (without the quotes)
“Translate good morning to spanish”
You’ll receive a text message back with the translation.
There are a lot of translator sites on the web as well.
I don’t know how to spell in spanish but…
bed – dormi
here – aqui
where – donde
time – hora
black – negra
white- blanca
red – rosa
tzippi, that is literally true but seriously misleading. The issue is what phrase people use in another language to be the functional equivalent of the English phrase “Merry Christmas.” You would have us believe that “Feliz Navidad” means “Happy Nativity.” I’m sorry, but that’s nonsense.
Look up “navidad” in a Spanish-English dictionary. Here, I did it for you:
http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=navidad
“Navidad” is the Spanish word for “Christmas.”
Mir darf vissen vie azoi tzu redden. How’s that for an explanation?
Aries2756; Some minor corrections are in place for your translations from Spanish, (which are greatly appreciated.)
Paper = Papel (Not Papier, which is French.); Monday = Lunes. (Not Lunas); Saturday = Sabado (Not Sabato.)
Laer; Your comment about the pronunciation of “J” needs some modification; In some South American Countries, it’s pronounced exactly like a Hebrew ???. For example “Jaime” is pronounced like ????. And “ll” is vowelized as a light (English “J”) Calle or llama are pronounced “Kazhe” and “Zhama”, respectively, (If not respectfully.)
Homeowner; You are 100% correct in your reply to tzippy. (About the meaning of “Navidad”. That is the trick of Language Translation. You can’t just narrowly transliterate. You have to capture the true and practical meaning of the word/phrase you are using.
ropa – laundry
ropa de cama – bed linen
gracias..buenas noches
Aries -Where did you learn Spanish? Better recheck your words. Dormi -I think is either bedroom or dormitory. The word for bed is cama. Ahora yo muy cansado y voy al mi cama para duermo! Comprenden? Buenos noche amigos!
Yes, bed is cama and dormi is bedroom. Do you really need to know where I learned Spanish? Read the thread from the top down.
Health; Your Spanish sentence needs some polishing. First of all, we distinguish between Male and Female forms of address. Buenas Noches is thusly spelled. (A/O Buenos Noches); “Ahora, Yo “ESTOY” (Missing in your sentence. Without the (Missing) word, your sentence would come out like ; “I very tired”.; “Y voy al mi cama para duermo” is also incorrect. “Y Voy A mi Cama para Dormir”. Additionally. “Canzado”, I believe is spelled with a “Z”, instead of an “S”.
(I apologize for giving you a public lesson in Spanish, in front of all the readers/posters of “Coffee Room”.
So WE speak spanish like THEY speak ENGLISH and that my friends is the language of communication!
Metrodriver- Adonde naciste? En Mexico? Soy Americano. And BTW, CANSADO is spelled with a “S”. Make sure you’re right before you correct others!
Health; I was born in Israel. I had the good fortune of living in a South American country for about 3 1/2 years. You may be right about the spelling of “Cansado”. Sitting in front of the computer, I did not have the privilege of a Spanish Dictionary. Your admonition is well taken.
lunes-monday,martes-tuesday,miercoles-wednesday,jueves-thursday, viernes-friday ,sabado-saturday ,domingo- sunday
el chico-boy
la chica-girl
el punto – ‘o clock
uno 1 dos 2 tres 3 cuatro 4 cinco 5 seis 6 siete 7 ocho 8 nueve 9 diez 10 once 11(pronounced un-say) doce 12
trabajar – 2 work
Yo soy – I am
Tu (you informal)eres – You are
Ella (she) Ello (he) usted (you formal)es – she/he is
nosostros/as somos – we are
Ellos (they guys) Ellas (they girls) son
fold the laundry – doble el lavadero
numbers:
1. uno 2. dos 3. tres. 4. cuatro 5. cinco 6. seis 7. siete 8. ocho 9. nuevo 10. diez 11. once 12. doce
12:30 (or any hour) is doce y media
12:15 (” ” “) is doce y cuarto
12:45 or wtvr hour is doce minus cuarto or doce y cuarenta y cinco
______ y _____ – the y is pronounced ee and it means and
como estas? how are you?
muy bein! very good
como estas su familia – how is your family?
mucho gusto – pleased to meet you
enfermo – sick
donde estas – where is it?
Don’t fault me on my spelling!
Esposa – husband
Aries 2756; (I-We) do mind your spelling. Because it means a world of difference and conveys just the opposite message that you intended; In Spanish, “Esposo” means Husband; “Esposa” means Wife.
Shalom means peace, in Hebrew. In Sapnish it’s Spelled “Paz” Or; “La Paz” (The) Peace.
TRR
“el chico-boy
la chica-girl”
Isn’t this slang?
Homeowner -It is slang. We have a similar word in English almost the exact same spelling. Nino & nina is more for a small child. Muchacho & muchacha means boy and girl.
El Chico; The Little one (Boy); La Chica; The Little one (Girl):
No tocar esta- Don’t touch this.
metrodriver, shall we test you on your yiddish? You are really rude and nasty! You can make a spelling correction without the attitude!
There is nothing wrong with what metrodriver posted. This is not high school. If you are disagreed with that doesn’t mean you were shamed in public.
I found nothing metrodriver even remotely fitting the description of “rude and nasty.”
aries2756: If I offended you (Haven’t a clue, how.) I apologize. Sometimes, I like to inject a little humor in the most serious subjects. I haven’t attended any heart surgery sessions, yet. But I’m sure the chief surgeon cracks a few jokes during the operation. As far as testing me on my Yiddish, you’re welcome to do so. While you’re at it, you can test my Hungarian, Hebrew (Loosh’n Koydesh)French. I’ll (probably) fail miserably. But it must all be taken with a grain (In my case, a clump) of salt and a big smile.
metrodriver, I prefaced my post with “don’t fault me on my spelling” and I contributed a word. All you had to do was post, the correction without the attitude. Yes, it was rude and yes I was insulted because I specifically asked that you don’t do that. What was so difficult to understand? I was involved in the thread from the beginning and read all your other posts and you were very harsh all the way through.
Homeowner, correct, this is NOT high school, I am NOT a student and Metrodriver is NOT the Teacher!
You are making a mountain out of a molehill. Spanish is NOT my foreign langugage and I am learning a few phrases here to supplement the tourist Spanish I picked up on some trips.
No one compels anyone to contribute anything here. If you contribute something, it’s just plain wrong to try and pre-empt a correction When someone who is knowledgable makes a correction, accept it gracefully especially when what you classify as mere spelling is actually a crucial difference.
Can anyone imagine a frum guy pointing to a closet in his house, and intending to say it’s his wife’s inadvertently says it’s his husband’s?
Homeowner, maybe it is you who is making a mountain out of a molehill. Anyone and everyone here contributing to any thread should do so graciously. In the Hungarian thread, there were many corrections without the attitude.
Aries2756; I can see that your honor is still hurt. Please accept my sincerest apologies. The reason we post here on this Honorable thread and website is to express an opinion and have fun. Not to be upset or cause someone else to be upset. The reason I’m a little more proficient in Spanish than some other posters here, is, that I used to live in a South American Country for 3-years+ as a child. As far as the importance of correct Spelling and pronunciation, I personally witnessed a very embarrassing moment where someone was trying to compliment a lady in Spanish and he mispronounced the word, ending up saying something not very nice.
metrodriver, Thank you, I appreciate that AND I appreciate the correction. However, I don’t appreciate being put down. I have taken many unwarranted hits here lately and so it is not funny to me it is quite hurtful. I apologize to you as well. I didn’t mean to come down on you like a ton of bricks, I am just asking that everyone realize that we should maintain a certain level of decorum and understand the age differences as well as the gender differences. And when it is appropriate to poke fun and when to pull back.
Please, some corrections, as someone living in South American right now.
boy= ninio or chico (not bambino, that’s italian)
Esposo= husband
Esposa= wife
No toque esto- Don’t touch this
fold the laundry – doble el lavadero YOU ARE TELLING HER TO FOLD THE LAUNDRY ROOM! LOL. It should say DOBLE LA ROPA LAVADA.
And a last but very important word:
Por favor= Please.
no comprenda espanol no clue how to spell it!
fold the laundry – doble el lavadero YOU ARE TELLING HER TO FOLD THE LAUNDRY ROOM! LOL. It should say DOBLE LA ROPA LAVADA.
That’s a translation website for you 🙂
We figured out that whenever we need to tell our cleaning lady something we type it up in google translate and then copy and paste it onto word and print it up. Even if the Spanish isn’t perfect, it’s pretty good. And then if she needs to tell us something lengthy she types it in Spanish and then translates it to English (although, I must admit that the translation is almost impossible to understand :))
Aries2756; Thank you for your (latest) post. Makes me feel (much) better:)
no fuma- no smoking for a girl. no fumo- no smoking for a man
necesito medico- i need a dr. and something like un fervesa is beer!
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