Preparing drinks and snacks for a guest | Learn Spanish in English

Spanish lesson set in a contemporary Madrid everyday setting: At home, two adults prepare tea and snacks before a visitor arrives..

EN → ES / Level: A2

About This Lesson

Use Preparing drinks and snacks for a guest to practice Spanish conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

A

Nuestro invitado llegará pronto.

NWEHS-troh een-bee-TAH-doh yeh-gah-RAH PROHN-toh. Our guest will arrive soon.
B

¿Servimos café o té?

sehr-BEE-mohs kah-FEH oh TEH? Should we serve coffee or tea?
A

Probablemente sea mejor el té esta tarde.

proh-bah-bleh-MEN-teh SEH-ah meh-HOR el TEH EH-stah TAR-deh. Tea is probably better this evening.
B

Voy a hervir un poco de agua en el hervidor.

boy ah ehr-BEER oon POH-koh deh AH-gwah en el ehr-bee-DOR. I'll boil some water in the kettle.
A

Por favor, usa la taza grande para nuestro invitado.

por fah-BOR, OO-sah lah TAH-sah GRAHN-deh pah-rah NWEHS-troh een-bee-TAH-doh. Please use the large mug for our guest.
B

¿Quieres que prepare también unos aperitivos?

KYEH-rehs keh preh-PAH-reh tahm-BYEHN OO-nohs ah-peh-ree-TEE-bohs? Would you like me to prepare snacks too?
A

Pon unas galletas en el plato pequeño, por favor.

pohn OO-nahs gah-YEH-tahs en el PLAH-toh peh-KEH-nyoh, por fah-BOR. Put some biscuits on the small plate, please.
B

Todo estará listo antes de que llegue.

TOH-doh eh-stah-RAH LEES-toh AHN-tehs deh keh YEH-gheh. Everything will be ready before they arrive.

Word by Word

Nuestro In “Nuestro invitado llegará pronto”, “Nuestro” means “our” and identifies the guest as belonging to the speakers’ shared situation. It is used before a masculine singular noun, as in “Nuestro invitado”.
invitado “Invitado” means “guest” here, the person expected to arrive. It is useful for referring to someone welcomed into a home or event, as in “Nuestro invitado”.
llegará “Llegará” means “will arrive” in “Nuestro invitado llegará pronto”. It is a future form of “llegar” and is used to say that an arrival is expected later.
pronto “Pronto” means “soon” here, indicating that the guest’s arrival is near in time. It commonly appears after a verb, as in “llegará pronto”.
Servimos In “¿Servimos café o té?”, “Servimos” asks whether the speakers should serve something. This form is useful in a question when suggesting a shared action or choice.
café “Café” means “coffee” in “¿Servimos café o té?”. It is used when choosing or talking about this drink, often after a verb such as “servimos”.
o “O” means “or” and presents the choice between “café” and “té”. It connects alternatives in a question or statement.
té “Té” means “tea” in “¿Servimos café o té?”. It is used here as the second drink option being considered for the guest.
Probablemente “Probablemente” means “probably” and shows that the speaker is giving a likely judgment rather than complete certainty. In “Probablemente sea mejor el té esta tarde”, it introduces the speaker’s suggestion.
sea “Sea” means “is” or “may be” in the tentative opinion “Probablemente sea mejor el té esta tarde”. It is a form of “ser” used here to present the judgment as a possibility.
mejor “Mejor” means “better” in the comparison “sea mejor el té”. It helps express a preference or recommendation between the drink options.
el “El” means “the” before “té” in “el té”. It is used with this masculine singular noun when referring to the tea being considered.
esta “Esta” means “this” in “esta tarde”, pointing to the current or relevant evening. It appears before the feminine singular time expression “tarde”.
tarde “Tarde” refers to the evening in “esta tarde”. Together with “esta”, it identifies the time when tea is considered better.
Voy “Voy” means “I am going” in “Voy a hervir un poco de agua”. With “a” and an infinitive, it forms a plan or immediate intention to do something.
a In “Voy a hervir”, “a” is part of the construction used to express what someone is going to do. It links “Voy” with the infinitive “hervir”.
hervir “Hervir” means “to boil” in “Voy a hervir un poco de agua”. It is the infinitive used after “Voy a” to name the planned action.
un In “un poco de agua”, “un” helps form the quantity expression meaning “a little” or “some”. It appears before the masculine singular noun “poco”.
poco “Poco” means “little” in the quantity expression “un poco de agua”. This pattern is used before “de” and a substance or uncountable amount.
de In “un poco de agua”, “de” links the quantity “un poco” to what is being measured, namely “agua”. The reusable pattern is “un poco de” plus a substance or amount.
agua “Agua” means “water” in “un poco de agua”. It is the substance that the speaker plans to boil.
en In “en el hervidor”, “en” means “in” and indicates where the water will be boiled. It commonly introduces the container or place where an action happens.
hervidor “Hervidor” means “kettle” in “en el hervidor”. It names the appliance or container used for boiling the water.
Por In “Por favor”, “Por” contributes to the fixed polite expression meaning “please”. It is used together with “favor” when making a courteous request.
favor In “Por favor”, “favor” contributes the word “favor” to the polite request formula meaning “please”. The complete expression is used before or after a request, such as “usa la taza grande”.
usa “Usa” means “use” in the polite request “Por favor, usa la taza grande”. It is used to tell one person to use a particular object.
la “La” means “the” before “taza” in “la taza grande”. It marks the specific feminine singular cup or mug being requested.
taza “Taza” means “mug” or “cup” in “la taza grande”. It refers to the drinking vessel intended for the guest.
grande “Grande” means “large” in “la taza grande”. It describes the size of “taza” and comes after the noun here.
para “Para” means “for” in “para nuestro invitado” and identifies the intended person. It commonly introduces the recipient or intended user of something.
Quieres “Quieres” means “do you want” and is used as “Would you like” in “¿Quieres que prepare también unos aperitivos?”. It opens a polite offer about whether the speaker should do the following action.
que In “¿Quieres que prepare...?”, “que” links the question about wanting something with the action “prepare”. It introduces the clause describing what the speaker may do.
prepare “Prepare” means “prepare” in “¿Quieres que prepare también unos aperitivos?”. It names the action the speaker offers to do, and it follows “¿Quieres que” in this request pattern.
también “También” means “also” or “too” in “prepare también unos aperitivos”. It adds the snacks to the other preparation already being discussed.
unos “Unos” means “some” in “unos aperitivos”. It comes before the masculine plural noun “aperitivos” to indicate an unspecified amount.
aperitivos “Aperitivos” means “snacks” in “unos aperitivos”. It refers to the food prepared to accompany the drinks when a guest visits.
Pon “Pon” means “put” in “Pon unas galletas en el plato pequeño”. It is used as a direct request to place something somewhere.
unas “Unas” means “some” in “unas galletas”. It comes before the feminine plural noun “galletas” to indicate an unspecified number.
galletas “Galletas” means “biscuits” in “unas galletas”. It names the food that should be placed on the small plate.
plato “Plato” means “plate” in “el plato pequeño”. It is the surface on which the biscuits should be placed.
pequeño “Pequeño” means “small” in “el plato pequeño”. It describes the size of “plato” and comes after the noun here.
Todo “Todo” means “everything” in “Todo estará listo antes de que llegue”. It refers collectively to all the preparations mentioned in the conversation.
estará “Estará” means “will be” in “Todo estará listo”. It is a future form of “estar” used to describe the expected state of the preparations.
listo “Listo” means “ready” in “Todo estará listo”. It describes the condition of the preparations before the guest arrives.
antes “Antes” means “before” in “antes de que llegue”. It places the preparation of everything earlier than the arrival mentioned in the following clause.
llegue “Llegue” means “arrive” in “antes de que llegue”. It is a form of “llegar” used in the clause after “antes de que” to refer to the expected arrival.

Grammar Points

antes de que + subjuntivo

Antes de que sea tarde, prepare.

AHN-tehs deh keh SEH-ah TAR-deh, preh-PAH-reh.

Before it is late, prepare.

After «antes de que», Spanish uses the subjunctive. Here, «sea» is the subjunctive form of «ser».

probablemente + futuro

Probablemente llegará pronto.

proh-bah-bleh-MEN-teh yeh-gah-RAH PROHN-toh.

He/She will probably arrive soon.

«Probablemente» can introduce a future prediction, followed here by «llegará», the future form of «llegar».

Spanish Vocabulary

agua noun
AH-gwah water

Voy a hervir un poco de agua en el hervidor.

café noun
kah-FEH coffee

¿Servimos café o té?

hervir verb
ehr-BEER to boil

Voy a hervir un poco de agua en el hervidor.

invitado noun
een-bee-TAH-doh guest

Nuestro invitado llegará pronto.

llegar verb
yeh-GAHR to arrive llegará

Nuestro invitado llegará pronto.

mejor adj
meh-HOR better

Probablemente sea mejor el té esta tarde.

probablemente adv
proh-bah-bleh-MEN-teh probably

Probablemente sea mejor el té esta tarde.

pronto adv
PROHN-toh soon

Nuestro invitado llegará pronto.

ser verb
sehr to be sea

Probablemente sea mejor el té esta tarde.

servir verb
sehr-BEER to serve servimos

¿Servimos café o té?

tarde noun
TAR-deh afternoon; evening

Probablemente sea mejor el té esta tarde.

té noun
TEH tea

¿Servimos café o té?

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

Our guest will arrive soon.

Show AnswerNuestro invitado llegará pronto.

Should we serve coffee or tea?

Show Answer¿Servimos café o té?

Would you like me to prepare snacks too?

Show Answer¿Quieres que prepare también unos aperitivos?

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

to serve

Show Answerservimos

guest

Show Answerinvitado

soon

Show Answerpronto

better

Show Answermejor