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

Sentence explanations

1. Nuestro invitado llegará pronto.

   Our guest will arrive soon.

   Nuestro

   our

   invitado

   guest

   llegará

   will arrive

   pronto

   soon

   More detail

   Nuestro means “our” here and agrees with the noun it modifies: invitado is masculine singular, so the form is nuestro. The related forms are nuestra with a feminine singular noun, and nuestros/nuestras with plural nouns. This possessive identifies a relationship to the speaker or speakers; it does not by itself specify how many owners there are. invitado means “guest” here. Its base form is the masculine singular noun invitado; invitada is the feminine singular form, and invitados/invitadas are plural forms. For example: La invitada llegará pronto. — “The female guest will arrive soon.” llegará is the third-person singular future form of llegar, “to arrive.” The ending and accent mark this future form: llegar → llegará. It matches the singular subject nuestro invitado. For example: El tren llegará pronto. — “The train will arrive soon.” pronto is an adverb meaning “soon” in this sentence. It describes when the arrival will happen and does not change for masculine, feminine, singular, or plural forms. Together, Nuestro invitado is “our guest,” llegará states that this singular guest will arrive in the future, and pronto adds the time. The complete meaning is: “Our guest will arrive soon.”

2. ¿Servimos café o té?

   Should we serve coffee or tea?

   Servimos

   we serve

   café

   coffee

   té

   tea

   More detail

   Servimos comes from servir, “to serve.” The form servimos is the first-person plural present form: “we serve.” In this question, the present form is used to propose or ask about a shared action, so ¿Servimos ...? means “Shall we serve ...?” or “Should we serve ...?” It agrees with the understood subject nosotros/nosotras (“we”). café means “coffee.” It is a masculine noun; for example, el café means “the coffee.” té means “tea.” The accent distinguishes the noun té from the conjunction te, which is an unstressed pronoun meaning “you” in certain constructions. The pattern ¿Servimos X o Y? asks whether “we” should serve one option or the other. Here, o means “or,” and the two options are café and té. Together, ¿Servimos café o té? means “Should we serve coffee or tea?”

3. Probablemente sea mejor el té esta tarde.

   Tea is probably better this evening.

   Probablemente

   probably

   sea

   be / is

   mejor

   better

   té

   tea

   esta tarde

   this afternoon/evening

   More detail

   Probablemente means “probably” and marks the statement as likely but not certain. It can occur with either the indicative or the subjunctive; here it accompanies the subjunctive form sea. Sea is the present subjunctive form of ser for yo, él, ella, and usted; this form does not distinguish those persons. Here, probablemente sea presents the assessment as a possibility. The indicative counterpart is es, as in Probablemente es mejor, when the speaker uses the indicative. Mejor means “better” here. It is the comparative form related to bueno (“good”): bueno → mejor. It expresses a comparison, while the thing being compared with may be supplied by context or left unstated. Example: Este té es mejor. — “This tea is better.” Té means “tea.” Its accent distinguishes this noun from te, an unstressed pronoun meaning “you” in some constructions. Example: Prefiero el té. — “I prefer tea.” Esta tarde is a time expression meaning “this afternoon” or “this evening.” In the fixed translation, it is intended as “this evening.” Esta agrees with the feminine singular noun tarde; the demonstrative identifies the relevant part of the current day. Example: Trabajo esta tarde. — “I’m working this afternoon.” Together, Probablemente sea mejor means “is probably better,” el té identifies tea as the thing being assessed, and esta tarde places the assessment in the evening. The complete meaning is: “Tea is probably better this evening.”

4. Voy a hervir un poco de agua en el hervidor.

   I'll boil some water in the kettle.

   Voy a

   I’m going to

   hervir

   to boil

   un poco de

   some / a little of

   agua

   water

   hervidor

   kettle

   More detail

   Voy a uses the present-tense first-person singular form voy of ir plus a and an infinitive to express a planned or imminent action: “I’m going to …”. The subject is the speaker, and the following infinitive names the action. hervir means “to boil” here. It is the infinitive, so it does not itself show person or number. Useful forms include hiervo (“I boil / I am boiling”) and herví (“I boiled”). Example: Voy a hervir leche. — “I’m going to boil milk.” un poco de indicates a small amount of something. The article un does not by itself assert a count of one here; the whole construction expresses “some” or “a little of.” The preposition de links the amount to what is measured. agua means “water.” Although this noun is feminine, singular agua commonly takes el rather than la when the stressed first syllable begins with /a/; this is why standard Spanish says el agua. Its feminine gender remains relevant with other agreeing forms, for example agua fría (“cold water”). hervidor means “kettle,” the container or appliance used for boiling water. It is a masculine noun, as shown by forms such as el hervidor and un hervidor. Together, Voy a hervir says “I’m going to boil,” un poco de agua specifies a small amount of water, and en el hervidor means “in the kettle.” The complete utterance is therefore: “I’ll boil some water in the kettle.”

5. Por favor, usa la taza grande para nuestro invitado.

   Please use the large mug for our guest.

   Por favor

   please

   usa

   use

   taza

   mug

   grande

   large

   nuestro

   our

   invitado

   guest

   More detail

   Por favor is a polite way to make the request. It softens the command but does not change who the command addresses. usa means “use” here. It is the affirmative imperative of usar for tú, one person addressed informally: usar → usa. Do not confuse it with use, which addresses one person formally as usted. taza means “mug” here. It is a feminine singular noun. Its plural is tazas. The noun identifies the item to be used; the sentence does not say that there is a particular number of mugs beyond the singular form. grande means “large”. It describes taza and comes after it. In the singular, grande has the same form with masculine and feminine nouns; in the plural it becomes grandes. nuestro means “our” here. It is a possessive adjective modifying invitado, so it is masculine singular. Its form changes with the noun it modifies: nuestra with a feminine singular noun, and nuestros/nuestras with masculine/feminine plural nouns. invitado means “guest” here. It is a masculine singular noun. A feminine singular form is invitada, and the plural forms are invitados and invitadas, according to the referents. Together, usa la taza grande means “use the large mug”: the command usa is followed by the direct object la taza, with grande specifying its size. para nuestro invitado means “for our guest”; para marks the intended recipient or beneficiary, and nuestro agrees with masculine singular invitado. The complete utterance is therefore: “Please use the large mug for our guest.”

6. ¿Quieres que prepare también unos aperitivos?

   Would you like me to prepare snacks too?

   ¿Quieres

   do you want

   prepare

   prepare

   también

   also; too

   aperitivos

   snacks; appetizers

   More detail

   ¿Quieres is the present-tense, second-person singular form of querer (“to want”). Here it asks one person whether they want something. The question pattern is ¿Quieres ...?; for example, ¿Quieres café? means “Do you want coffee?” prepare is the first-person singular present subjunctive form of preparar (“to prepare”). It refers to the speaker as the person who would prepare the food. With ¿Quieres que, Spanish uses this subjunctive pattern to ask whether the listener wants the speaker to do something: ¿Quieres que prepare la cena? means “Would you like me to prepare dinner?” también means “also” or “too”. Here it adds this preparation to something already relevant; it does not replace the earlier item. Its position after prepare supports the meaning “prepare ... too.” aperitivos is the plural of the noun aperitivo, meaning “snacks” or “appetizers” here. The ending -s marks the plural. unos is the plural indefinite article agreeing with aperitivos; together, unos aperitivos means “some snacks” and does not state an exact number. For example, Compré unos aperitivos means “I bought some snacks.” Together, ¿Quieres que prepare también unos aperitivos? asks whether the addressed person would like the speaker to prepare some snacks too. The reusable pattern is ¿Quieres que + first-person singular subjunctive verb ...?, meaning “Would you like me to ...?”

7. Pon unas galletas en el plato pequeño, por favor.

   Put some biscuits on the small plate, please.

   Pon

   put

   unas

   some

   galletas

   biscuits

   plato

   plate

   pequeño

   small

   por favor

   please

   More detail

   Pon is the affirmative command form of poner for tú (one person addressed informally). Poner means “to put” or “to place”; its command is irregular: pon, not a form built by simply adding a regular ending. Example: Pon el libro aquí. — “Put the book here.” Unas is the feminine plural indefinite article. Here it combines with galletas to mean “some biscuits”; it does not by itself assert a particular numerical count. Compare una galleta — “a biscuit” — and unas galletas — “some biscuits.” Galletas is the plural of the feminine noun galleta, “biscuit” or “cookie.” The plural ending -s is used because the sentence refers to more than one. Example: Compré unas galletas. — “I bought some biscuits.” Plato is the masculine singular noun “plate” (also “dish” in other contexts). With the article, el plato means “the plate.” Its plural is platos. Pequeño is the masculine singular adjective “small.” It agrees with plato, so the phrase is el plato pequeño. The feminine form is pequeña, and the plural forms are pequeños and pequeñas. Example: La taza pequeña está aquí. — “The small cup is here.” Por favor is the polite expression “please.” It can be added to a command to make the request courteous, without changing the command’s person: Pon las llaves aquí, por favor. — “Put the keys here, please.” Together, Pon unas galletas gives the command “Put some biscuits,” and en el plato pequeño specifies the location, “on the small plate.” Por favor marks the request as polite. The complete utterance therefore means: “Put some biscuits on the small plate, please.”

8. Todo estará listo antes de que llegue.

   Everything will be ready before they arrive.

   Todo

   everything

   estará

   will be

   listo

   ready

   antes de que

   before

   llegue

   arrives

   More detail

   Todo means “everything” here and is used as a pronoun, not as a noun naming a particular thing. In this use it is masculine singular in form, which matches the singular masculine form of listo later in the sentence. A reusable example is Todo está preparado — “Everything is prepared.” estará is the third-person singular future form of estar, “to be” for a temporary state or condition. The useful form chain is estar → está (is) → estará (will be). The future marking is on estará, not on listo. Example: La puerta estará abierta — “The door will be open.” listo is the adjective “ready.” In this sentence it is masculine singular to agree with Todo; it is not the base form of the nearby verb. The feminine singular form is lista, as in La mesa estará lista — “The table will be ready.” antes de que introduces an event that is expected to occur later than the condition being described: “before.” In Spanish, this expression normally takes the subjunctive when the later event is viewed as pending or not yet realized. It does not mean that the first event replaces the second one. llegue is the third-person singular present subjunctive form of llegar, “to arrive.” The subjunctive is required here after antes de que for the pending arrival. The form itself does not identify the person’s gender or a specific referent; the fixed translation gives the intended meaning as “they arrive.” Example: Te llamaré antes de que llegue — “I will call you before they arrive.” Together, Todo estará listo says “Everything will be ready,” and antes de que llegue adds the time boundary “before they arrive.” The complete utterance therefore means: “Everything will be ready before they arrive.”