Trying on a shirt | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Necesito una camisa nueva.

   I need a new shirt.

   Necesito

   I need

   camisa

   shirt

   nueva

   new

   More detail

   Necesito is the first-person singular present form of necesitar (“to need”): necesito = “I need.” The ending -o identifies the speaker as “I” in this form. Example: Necesito ayuda. — “I need help.” camisa means “shirt.” It is a feminine noun, so the indefinite article before it is una: una camisa = “a shirt.” The article agrees with the noun in gender and number; una does not by itself assert a particular numeric count beyond presenting one unspecified item in this expression. Example: Busco una camisa. — “I’m looking for a shirt.” nueva means “new.” It is the feminine singular form of the adjective nuevo, chosen to agree with feminine singular camisa. The masculine singular form is nuevo, as in un libro nuevo (“a new book”); with camisa, the form is nueva. Together, Necesito + una camisa nueva means “I need a new shirt.” The sentence presents the speaker’s need and identifies the needed item as a new shirt. Spanish commonly places this descriptive adjective after the noun here: una camisa nueva.

2. ¿Qué color busca?

   What color are you looking for?

   ¿Qué

   what

   color

   color

   busca

   are looking for

   More detail

   ¿Qué asks for information about which thing or choice. It is used before a noun in questions: ¿Qué color...? means “What color...?” Compare ¿Cuál...?, which often asks “Which one...?” when the options or identity are already more clearly delimited. color is the noun meaning “color.” Its plural is colores. In this sentence it is singular because the question asks for one color choice. busca comes from buscar, “to look for” or “to seek.” Here it is the present-tense form used with usted, matching the translation’s “you”: usted busca. The same form can also agree with él or ella, but that is not the intended reading here. A useful contrast is buscas for informal singular tú: ¿Qué color buscas? — “What color are you looking for?” Together, ¿Qué color asks which color is wanted, and busca asks what the listener is looking for. The complete utterance is therefore “What color are you looking for?”

3. Algo azul, si lo tiene.

   Something blue, if you have it.

   Algo

   something

   azul

   blue

   si

   if

   lo

   it

   tiene

   have

   More detail

   Algo means “something” and is an indefinite pronoun: it refers to an unspecified thing rather than naming a particular item. In this phrase it introduces the requested item. Example: Quiero algo nuevo. — “I want something new.” Azul means “blue.” Here it describes the unspecified thing in algo azul. The form azul is also the singular form used with nouns of either grammatical gender; its plural is azules. Example: Busco una camisa azul. — “I’m looking for a blue shirt.” Si introduces a condition and means “if.” The pattern si + clause expresses a condition: Si lo tiene... — “If you have it...” Do not confuse this conjunction with sí, which means “yes” or “oneself” in other uses. Lo is a third-person singular direct-object pronoun. In this sentence it means “it,” referring to an item understood from the situation; the supplied wording does not identify that item more specifically. As a direct object, lo normally corresponds to a singular masculine noun, and it can also have a neuter use for an unspecified matter or idea. Example: ¿Tiene el libro? Sí, lo tengo. — “Do you have the book? Yes, I have it.” Tiene comes from tener, “to have.” Tener is irregular in the present: tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, tenéis, tienen. The form tiene can be third-person singular or the formal second-person singular form usted; here the fixed translation identifies the subject as “you,” so it is understood as usted in this context. The subject pronoun is normally omitted in Spanish. Example: ¿Tiene algo azul? — “Do you have something blue?” Together, algo azul names an unspecified blue item, and si lo tiene adds the condition “if you have it.” The complete utterance is an elliptical request: “Something blue, if you have it.” It does not state that the speaker has a particular item in mind beyond wanting something blue, nor does it assert that the listener actually has one.

4. Aquí tiene una de su talla.

   Here is one in your size.

   Aquí tiene

   Here is/Here you have

   su

   your

   talla

   size

   More detail

   Aquí tiene is a common way to offer or hand something to someone. Literally, it contains tiene, the present form of tener for él/ella/usted; here the fixed translation establishes the polite “you” meaning: “Here you have” or naturally “Here is.” The form tiene is not the informal tienes (“you have” with tú). Example: Aquí tiene el formulario. — “Here is the form.” su means “your” here, as established by the fixed translation. Spanish su is a possessive form that can also mean “his,” “her,” or “their” in other contexts, so the surrounding context identifies the possessor. It agrees with the possessed noun in number, not with the possessor’s gender. In su talla, it is singular because talla is singular. Example: su camisa — “your shirt.” Talla means “size,” especially a clothing or footwear size. It is a feminine noun: la talla. The phrase de su talla means “in your size” or “of your size”; de links the item to the relevant size. Example: Busco una camisa de mi talla. — “I’m looking for a shirt in my size.” The remaining words complete the pattern. Una is a feminine singular form meaning “one” or “one item”; the item itself is understood from the situation rather than named in this sentence. Thus una de su talla means “one in your size.” Together, Aquí tiene una de su talla presents or offers one item that matches the addressee’s size: “Here is one in your size.”

5. ¿Puedo probármela?

   Can I try it on?

   Puedo

   I can; may I

   probármela

   try it on

   More detail

   Puedo is the first-person singular present form of poder, “to be able to / can.” In a question, ¿Puedo ...? commonly asks for permission: “May I ...?” Other present forms include puedes “you can” and puede “he/she/you formal can”; the form changes with the subject. probármela combines the infinitive probar (“to try”) with the attached clitics me and la. With clothing, the pronominal construction probarse means “to try on”; here me shows that the speaker is trying the item on themself, while la is the feminine singular direct-object pronoun for “it.” The item’s specific identity is not stated, but the feminine form is compatible with the item referred to in the context. The structure is probar + me + la → probármela. The accent preserves the stress of probar when the pronouns are attached. In other contexts, probar can mean simply “to try” or “to taste,” but the clothing context supports “try on.” Example: Quiero probármela. — “I want to try it on.” This uses the same attached-pronoun pattern. Together, ¿Puedo and probármela form a permission question: “Can I try it on?”

6. El probador está justo aquí.

   The changing room is just over here.

   probador

   changing room

   está

   is located

   justo

   just; right

   aquí

   here

   More detail

   probador means “changing room” here. It is a masculine singular noun; the ending belongs to the noun itself, not to the nearby verb. The related feminine form probadora normally refers to a woman who tries or tests something, so it is not the form used for the room. Example: El probador está al fondo. — “The changing room is at the back.” está is the third-person singular present form of estar. Here estar expresses location: the changing room is situated in a particular place. The subject is singular, so está agrees with El probador; it is not the form for a plural subject. Example: La tienda está aquí. — “The shop is here.” justo is an adverb here meaning “right” or “exactly,” adding precision to the location. In this use it modifies the location expressed by aquí; it is not describing the changing room as an object. Example: Está justo allí. — “It is right there.” aquí is a location adverb meaning “here,” referring to the speaker’s indicated nearby place. It does not change for number or gender. Example: El baño está aquí. — “The bathroom is here.” Together, El probador identifies the place, está states its location, and justo aquí points to the precise nearby spot. The whole utterance therefore means “The changing room is just over here.”

7. Me queda muy bien.

   It fits really well.

   Me

   to me

   queda

   fits

   muy

   really

   bien

   well

   More detail

   Me is an unstressed indirect-object pronoun: it marks the person for whom something fits. Here, the target sentence itself identifies that person as the speaker. The same form is used with singular or plural subjects; the verb, not me, shows the subject’s number. queda is the third-person singular present form of quedar. Here, quedar bien means “to fit well.” In this pattern, the thing that fits is the grammatical subject, while the person it fits is introduced by me, te, le, nos, or les. Example: La camisa me queda bien. — “The shirt fits me well.” muy intensifies the following word: muy bien means “really well” or “very well.” It does not mean “much” by itself in this sentence. Example: Estos zapatos me quedan muy bien. — “These shoes fit me really well.” bien describes the quality of the fit in quedar bien. Its opposite in this use is mal: Me queda mal. — “It fits me badly.” Together, Me + queda + muy bien expresses that the relevant item fits the speaker really well: “It fits really well.”

8. Le queda muy bien.

   It looks nice on you.

   Le

   on you

   queda

   looks / suits

   muy bien

   very nicely

   More detail

   Le is the indirect-object pronoun used here for the person on whom something looks good. In this sentence, the fixed translation identifies that person as “you.” Le is the third-person singular form used with usted and also with a single person referred to in the third person; Spanish does not use the gender of that person to change le. Compare the context’s me queda: me means “on me/to me,” while le refers to the person addressed here. Example: A Ana le queda bien. — “It looks good on Ana.” queda is the present-tense, third-person singular form of quedar. In the pattern algo le queda bien, the item being evaluated is the grammatical subject, and le marks the person it suits. The item is omitted in the fixed sentence because it is understood from the situation. In this use, quedar means “to look/suit someone,” not simply “to remain.” Example: La chaqueta le queda bien. — “The jacket looks good on you/them.” Muy bien intensifies the positive evaluation: bien means “well,” and muy means “very.” Together they mean “very nicely” here. Muy normally comes directly before the word or phrase it intensifies; compare bien “well” with muy bien “very well.” Together, Le queda muy bien uses the reusable pattern [item] le queda muy bien to say that an item looks very nice on the person addressed. Because the item is not stated, the sentence can be used while looking at or discussing an understood item: “It looks very nice on you.”