Basic prices, weather, and discoveries | Learn Spanish in English

About This Lesson

Use Basic prices, weather, and discoveries to practice Spanish conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

¿Cuánto cuesta esto?

KWAHN-toh KWEHS-tah EHS-toh How much is this?

¿Dónde vives?

DOHN-deh BEE-bes Where do you live?

Hace buen tiempo.

AH-seh BWEHN TYEHM-poh The weather is nice.

Ahora está lloviendo.

ah-OH-rah es-TAH yoh-BYAN-doh It is raining now.

Olvidé mi teléfono.

ol-bee-DEH mee teh-LEH-foh-noh I forgot my phone.

Lo encontré.

loh en-kohn-TREH I found it.

Word by Word

Cuánto Cuánto asks for the price or amount in ¿Cuánto cuesta esto? It appears at the beginning of a question about how much something costs. Reuse it in a price question with the item named after cuesta, as in this dialogue.

cuesta cuesta means “costs” in ¿Cuánto cuesta esto? It is a form of costar used here to ask about the price of something. The reusable pattern is ¿Cuánto cuesta + item?, with the item after cuesta.

esto esto means “this” and refers to the item whose price is being asked about in ¿Cuánto cuesta esto? It is useful when pointing to or indicating a thing without naming it. In this dialogue, it comes after cuesta.

Dónde Dónde asks where someone lives in ¿Dónde vives? It introduces a question about location. Reuse it before the verb when asking one person about a place, as in this dialogue.

vives vives means “live” in ¿Dónde vives? It is a form of vivir used when asking one person about their place of residence. A common reuse pattern is ¿Dónde vives? when making friendly conversation.

Hace Hace helps express the weather in Hace buen tiempo. Here, it is a form of hacer used in a weather expression rather than as a direct translation of “does.” Use Hace with a weather description when making small talk about conditions outside.

buen buen means “good” or “nice” in Hace buen tiempo, describing favorable weather. It is the form of bueno used before tiempo here. Reuse buen tiempo to say that the weather is pleasant.

tiempo tiempo means “weather” in Hace buen tiempo. Its meaning here comes from the weather expression Hace buen tiempo. Use tiempo in this kind of phrase when commenting on outdoor conditions.

Ahora Ahora means “now” and marks the current moment in Ahora está lloviendo. It shows that the rain is happening at the time of speaking. Use it with a current situation or action, as in this dialogue.

está está combines with lloviendo in está lloviendo to say that rain is happening now. It is a form of estar used here as part of an action-in-progress expression. Use está with a suitable verb form when describing an action currently taking place.

lloviendo lloviendo means “raining” in Ahora está lloviendo. Together with está, it describes rain happening at the present moment. Use it in a weather situation when rain is falling now.

Olvidé Olvidé means “I forgot” in Olvidé mi teléfono. It is a form of olvidar used by the speaker to report forgetting something. A useful reuse pattern is Olvidé + possessive + noun when explaining that a personal item was left behind.

mi mi means “my” and identifies the phone as belonging to the speaker in mi teléfono. It comes directly before the noun it describes. Use mi + noun when referring to one of your belongings.

teléfono teléfono means “phone” in mi teléfono. Here it names the personal item that the speaker forgot. Use it after a possessive such as mi when identifying your phone.

Lo Lo means “it” as the object found in Lo encontré, referring here to teléfono. It is placed before encontré to show what the speaker found. Use an object pronoun before the verb when referring back to an already mentioned thing.

encontré encontré means “found” in Lo encontré. It is a form of encontrar used by the speaker to say that the phone was located. This is useful when responding to someone who has lost or was looking for an item.

Grammar Points

¿Cuánto + verbo?

¿Cuánto cuesta esto?

KWAHN-toh KWEHS-tah EHS-toh

How much does this cost?

Cuánto asks about an amount, and the verb cuesta agrees with the thing being priced.

Hace buen tiempo

Hace buen tiempo.

AH-seh BWEHN TYEHM-poh

The weather is nice.

Spanish uses hace in this fixed weather expression; buen comes before the noun tiempo.

Spanish Vocabulary

ahora adv

ah-OH-rah now

Ahora está lloviendo.

buen adj

BWEHN nice; good

Hace buen tiempo.

cuánto adv

KWAHN-toh how much

¿Cuánto cuesta esto?

cuesta verb

KWEHS-tah costs

¿Cuánto cuesta esto?

dónde adv

DOHN-deh where

¿Dónde vives?

está lloviendo phrase

es-TAH yoh-BYAN-doh it is raining

Ahora está lloviendo.

esto pron

EHS-toh this

¿Cuánto cuesta esto?

hace verb

AH-seh makes; is (used for weather)

Hace buen tiempo.

hace buen tiempo phrase

AH-seh BWEHN TYEHM-poh the weather is nice

Hace buen tiempo.

olvidé verb

ol-bee-DEH I forgot

Olvidé mi teléfono.

tiempo noun

TYEHM-poh weather

Hace buen tiempo.

vives verb

BEE-bes you live

¿Dónde vives?

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

How much is this?

Show Answer

¿Cuánto cuesta esto?

Where do you live?

Show Answer

¿Dónde vives?

The weather is nice.

Show Answer

Hace buen tiempo.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

costs

Show Answer

cuesta

nice; good

Show Answer

buen

makes; is (used for weather)

Show Answer

hace

this

Show Answer

esto