Breakfast shopping | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. ¿Qué debemos comprar hoy?

   What should we buy today?

   Qué

   what

   debemos

   should

   comprar

   buy

   hoy

   today

   More detail

   Qué is the accented interrogative word meaning “what” when asking about an unspecified thing or things. The accent distinguishes this question use from the unaccented relative form que in contexts such as el libro que compré (“the book that I bought”). Example: ¿Qué necesitas? — “What do you need?” debemos is the first-person plural present form of deber, used here for “should” or “ought to.” Its subject is nosotros (“we”), whether or not that pronoun is stated. Deber + infinitive expresses what someone should or must do: Debemos salir — “We should leave.” The exact strength can depend on context; here the translation supports a recommendation about what we should buy. comprar is the infinitive “to buy.” After the conjugated form debemos, the verb remains in the infinitive: debemos comprar = “we should buy.” The same infinitive can follow other forms of deber, for example debes comprar — “you should buy.” hoy means “today,” the day of speaking. It is an adverb, so it does not change form for number or gender. Example: Trabajamos hoy — “We work today.” Together, ¿Qué debemos comprar hoy? asks which thing or things the speaker and the other person should buy on the current day. Qué asks for the item or items, debemos comprar expresses the shared “we should buy” action, and hoy specifies when. The complete meaning is: “What should we buy today?”

2. Necesitamos cosas para el desayuno de mañana.

   We need things for tomorrow's breakfast.

   Necesitamos

   we need

   cosas

   things

   desayuno

   breakfast

   mañana

   tomorrow

   More detail

   Necesitamos comes from necesitar (“to need”). It is the present-tense first-person plural form: “we need.” The ending -amos here marks nosotros/nosotras; compare necesito (“I need”) and necesitan (“they/you plural need”). Cosas means “things” in this sentence. Its singular base form is cosa; cosas is the plural form, marked by -s. The noun is feminine, as shown by la cosa, but the -s ending marks number, not gender. The word is broad, so the sentence does not specify which things. Example: Necesito dos cosas. — “I need two things.” Desayuno means “breakfast.” Its base form is the same noun in the singular; its usual grammatical gender is masculine, as shown by el desayuno. Example: El desayuno está listo. — “Breakfast is ready.” Mañana means “tomorrow” here, referring to the day after today. It can also mean “morning” in other contexts, but in this sentence de mañana attaches to desayuno and identifies which breakfast is intended: tomorrow’s breakfast. The whole pattern is Necesitamos [noun] para el [occasion] de mañana: “We need [things] for tomorrow’s [occasion].” Para introduces the intended purpose or occasion, while el desayuno de mañana means “tomorrow’s breakfast.” Thus Necesitamos cosas para el desayuno de mañana. means “We need things for tomorrow’s breakfast.”

3. Entonces necesitamos pan y mantequilla.

   Then we need bread and butter.

   Entonces

   then

   necesitamos

   we need

   pan

   bread

   mantequilla

   butter

   More detail

   Entonces means “then” here and links this statement to what has just been established. It can also introduce a consequence: Entonces, vamos. — “Then, let’s go.” necesitamos is the first-person plural present form of necesitar, “to need”: necesito = “I need,” necesitamos = “we need.” The form identifies a “we” subject, while the things needed follow it. Example: Necesitamos agua. — “We need water.” pan means “bread.” It is a masculine noun, but the sentence uses it without an article because it names an unquantified food item in this coordinated list. Example: Compramos pan. — “We buy bread.” mantequilla means “butter.” It is a feminine noun: la mantequilla — “the butter.” As with pan, it appears without an article here because the sentence refers generally to the food needed, not to a specifically identified portion. Example: Necesito mantequilla. — “I need butter.” Together, necesitamos pan y mantequilla means “we need bread and butter.” y joins the two things needed, and Entonces adds the meaning “then,” giving the complete utterance: “Then we need bread and butter.”

4. ¿También necesitamos yogur?

   Do we need yogurt too?

   También

   also; too

   necesitamos

   we need

   yogur

   yogurt

   More detail

   También means “also” or “too.” Here it adds yogurt to something already being considered, rather than replacing the earlier items. It commonly appears before the verb: También necesitamos... = “We also need...” It can also follow the verb: Necesitamos yogur también = “We need yogurt too.” necesitamos is the first-person plural present form of necesitar, “to need”: necesitar → necesitamos. The ending -amos here identifies “we”; the same form can also mean “we need” or “we do need” depending on context. Do not confuse it with queremos, from querer, “we want”: Necesitamos agua = “We need water.” yogur is the noun “yogurt.” It is normally masculine, so a definite form is el yogur (“the yogurt”) and an indefinite form is un yogur (“a yogurt” or “one yogurt,” depending on context). With no article here, yogur refers generally to yogurt as the item being considered; the sentence does not state a specific quantity. Together, También necesitamos yogur means “We also need yogurt.” Spanish places the question marks around the whole question: ¿También necesitamos yogur? The question asks whether yogurt is additionally needed, and the fixed translation makes “we” the subject and “yogurt” the thing needed.

5. Quiero comerlo con mermelada de fresa.

   I want to eat it with strawberry jam.

   Quiero

   I want

   comerlo

   eat it

   con

   with

   mermelada

   jam

   fresa

   strawberry

   More detail

   Quiero is the first-person singular present form of querer (“to want”): quiero = “I want.” The subject is built into the verb, so Spanish does not need a separate subject pronoun here. Example: Quiero agua. — “I want water.” comerlo combines the infinitive comer (“to eat”) with the direct-object clitic lo (“it”). The clitic is attached to the infinitive, giving comerlo. Here, lo is singular and can represent a masculine singular or neuter direct object; the fixed texts do not identify the specific thing referred to by “it.” With a feminine singular direct object, Spanish uses la: Quiero comerla. — “I want to eat it.” con means “with” and introduces what accompanies an action or food. Example: Café con leche. — “Coffee with milk.” mermelada is a feminine noun meaning “jam.” Its feminine gender is a grammatical property of the noun; it does not by itself indicate a quantity. Example: La mermelada está en la mesa. — “The jam is on the table.” fresa is the noun “strawberry.” In de fresa, it specifies the flavor or type of the jam: “strawberry.” The preposition de can connect a food with its ingredient or flavor. Example: yogur de fresa — “strawberry yogurt.” Together, Quiero expresses the speaker’s desire, comerlo expresses eating the singular direct object referred to as “it,” and con mermelada de fresa adds strawberry jam as the accompaniment. The whole utterance means: “I want to eat it with strawberry jam.”

6. Entonces, vamos a comprar yogur y mermelada.

   Then let's get yogurt and jam.

   Entonces

   then

   vamos a

   let’s

   comprar

   to buy; to get

   yogur

   yogurt

   mermelada

   jam

   More detail

   Entonces means “then” here and can also connect a conclusion as “so.” Example: Entonces, empezamos. — “Then, we’ll start.” vamos a is the first-person plural form of ir (“to go”) followed by a. With an infinitive, ir a + infinitive expresses a planned or imminent action; in this utterance it is also a proposal: “let’s …”. The subject is nosotros (“we”), understood from vamos. Example: Vamos a estudiar. — “We’re going to study.” comprar is the infinitive “to buy.” After vamos a, the verb remains in the infinitive: vamos a comprar — “we are going to buy” or, in this context, “let’s buy/get.” Example: Quiero comprar pan. — “I want to buy bread.” yogur is the noun “yogurt.” In this sentence it is one of the things included in the proposed purchase. Example: Compro yogur. — “I buy yogurt.” mermelada is the feminine noun “jam.” The previous context specifically mentions strawberry jam, but this utterance itself names jam without specifying its flavor. Example: La mermelada está en la mesa. — “The jam is on the table.” The connector y means “and,” joining the two purchase items: yogur y mermelada. Together, vamos a comprar introduces the proposed action, and Entonces links it to what came before. The complete meaning is: “Then let’s get yogurt and jam.”