Choosing a Light Snack | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Quiero un tentempié.

   I want a snack.

   Quiero

   I want

   tentempié

   snack

   More detail

   Quiero is the first-person singular present form of querer, “to want” or “to love,” and here it means “I want.” The subject is understood as yo, so the verb form identifies the speaker. Other useful present forms are quieres (“you want”) and quiere (“he/she/you formal wants”). Example: Quiero agua. — “I want water.” tentempié is a masculine noun meaning a small snack or light bite. Its plural is tentempiés. In this sentence, un agrees with the masculine singular noun; it marks an indefinite noun, not necessarily a specific numerical count being emphasized. Example: El tentempié está listo. — “The snack is ready.” Together, Quiero un tentempié. means “I want a snack.” The verb expresses the speaker’s desire, and un tentempié names the indefinite thing desired. The phrase is a simple reusable pattern: Quiero + noun = “I want + noun.”

2. No tengo mucha hambre.

   I am not very hungry.

   No tengo

   I don't have

   mucha

   much

   hambre

   hunger

   More detail

   No tengo combines no with tengo, the first-person singular present form of tener (“to have”). Here, tener hambre is the reusable Spanish pattern for expressing hunger literally as “to have hunger”; with negation, no tengo hambre means “I am not hungry.” The subject is understood as “I” from tengo. Example: Tengo sueño. — “I am sleepy.” Spanish similarly uses tener with certain states, so this does not mean that the speaker possesses an object. mucha means “a lot of” or “much” and modifies hambre. It is the feminine singular form of mucho, agreeing with the feminine noun: mucho (masculine singular), mucha (feminine singular), muchos (masculine plural), muchas (feminine plural). In this sentence, mucha hambre means “a lot of hunger,” or naturally “very hungry.” Example: Tengo mucha sed. — “I am very thirsty.” hambre means “hunger.” Although singular hambre commonly appears with the article el (el hambre), it is feminine in agreement: mucha hambre and hambre intensa (“intense hunger”). The form hambre itself does not change for the speaker’s gender or number here. Together, No tengo mucha hambre literally presents the speaker as not having much hunger. In natural English, the fixed meaning is “I am not very hungry.” The sentence refers to the speaker’s current degree of hunger and does not say that the speaker wants no food at all.

3. Entonces elige algo ligero, como yogur.

   Then choose something light, like yogurt.

   Entonces

   Then

   elige

   choose

   algo

   something

   ligero

   light

   como

   like

   yogur

   yogurt

   More detail

   Entonces means “then” here and links this suggestion to what was just said. It can introduce a consequence or next step: Entonces, vamos. — “Then, let’s go.” elige is the affirmative command for tú singular of elegir (“to choose”): elige = “choose.” The command addresses one person informally. The same verb has the present form eliges for “you choose,” but elige gives an instruction. algo is an indefinite pronoun meaning “something.” It refers to an unspecified thing, rather than naming a particular item. For example, Quiero algo caliente. means “I want something hot.” ligero is an adjective meaning “light” in this sentence, describing algo as a light food choice. It is masculine singular here because algo is grammatically masculine singular; the adjective’s base form is ligero. Its feminine singular form is ligera, as in una comida ligera (“a light meal”). como means “like” or “such as” here: it introduces an example of the unspecified food. This is the preposition como, not the first-person form of the verb comer (“I eat”). For example, Frutas como la pera means “Fruits like the pear.” yogur is a masculine noun meaning “yogurt.” In this sentence it is the example of a light food introduced by como. A related phrase is un yogur — “a yogurt” or “a yogurt serving,” depending on context. Together, elige algo ligero means “choose something light,” and como yogur gives yogurt as an example of that choice. Thus the whole utterance means “Then choose something light, like yogurt.”

4. ¿También tenemos nueces?

   Do we have nuts too?

   También

   also; too

   tenemos

   have

   nueces

   nuts

   More detail

   También adds this item to something already under consideration. Here it means “too/also,” so the question asks whether nuts are included among the available foods; it does not exclude the earlier options. A useful contrast is también “also” versus tampoco “neither/not either.” Example: Yo también quiero yogur. — “I want yogurt too.” Tenemos is the present-tense nosotros form of tener (“to have”). Its ending identifies a “we” subject, which is not stated as a separate pronoun here. Tener can express possession or availability: Tenemos pan. — “We have bread.” Other present forms include tengo (“I have”) and tienen (“they/you plural have”). Nueces is the plural of the feminine noun nuez, “nut.” In the plural, the final z changes to c before -es: nuez → nueces. Example: Hay nueces. — “There are nuts.” Here the noun identifies nuts as the item whose availability is being asked about, consistent with the next sentence. Together, ¿También tenemos nueces? is a yes-or-no question: también adds nuts to the things being considered, tenemos expresses “we have,” and nueces names the item. The whole meaning is “Do we have nuts too?” The subject is understood from the -emos ending of tenemos, while nueces follows the verb as the item being asked about. The opening and closing question marks mark the sentence as a question.

5. Hay algunas en la alacena.

   There are some in the cupboard.

   Hay

   there are

   algunas

   some

   alacena

   cupboard

   More detail

   Hay is the present-tense existential form of haber, used to say that something exists or is present. It is impersonal, so it does not change to agree with what follows: Hay una nuez = “There is a nut,” and Hay algunas nueces = “There are some nuts.” algunas means “some” here and is the feminine plural form. It agrees with the omitted feminine plural noun understood from the context, nueces (“nuts”): alguna nuez = “some/a nut” and algunas nueces = “some nuts.” The masculine plural counterpart is algunos, as in algunos libros = “some books.” alacena means “cupboard” or “pantry cupboard.” Its plural is alacenas. The phrase en la alacena means “in the cupboard”: en introduces the location, and la agrees with the feminine singular noun alacena. Together, Hay algunas en la alacena means “There are some in the cupboard.” The noun after algunas is not repeated because the preceding context identifies it as nueces; the sentence says that some nuts are located in the cupboard.

6. El yogur con nueces suena bien.

   Yogurt with nuts sounds good.

   yogur

   yogurt

   nueces

   nuts

   suena

   sounds

   bien

   good

   More detail

   yogur means “yogurt” here. It is a masculine Spanish noun, so the sentence uses el yogur for “the yogurt.” A useful pattern is el/la + noun when referring to a specific item or substance in context. nueces means “nuts,” specifically a plural noun. Its singular form is nuez; the plural changes the ending to -es: nuez → nueces. In con nueces, con means “with,” so this chunk describes yogurt accompanied by or containing nuts. suena is the third-person singular present form of sonar, “to sound.” The subject is el yogur, so the singular form suena is used. The same verb can be used for an impression: La idea suena bien. — “The idea sounds good.” bien means “well” or, after a verb such as sonar, “good” in the sense of producing a favorable impression. It is an adverb and does not change for masculine, feminine, singular, or plural nouns. Its common opposite is mal: Suena mal. — “It sounds bad.” Together, El yogur con nueces is the subject, and suena bien says that this option gives a good impression: “Yogurt with nuts sounds good.”

7. Toma un tazón pequeño.

   Take a small bowl.

   Toma

   take

   tazón

   bowl

   pequeño

   small

   More detail

   Toma is the affirmative command form of tomar (“to take”) addressed to one familiar person: tú. The command is singular; it is not the formal usted form. In this sentence, it means “take.” Compare the reusable pattern Toma + noun: Toma agua. = “Drink/take some water,” depending on context. tazón is a masculine noun meaning “bowl.” Its plural is tazones. The article and adjective around it agree with this noun: un tazón pequeño. A useful contrasting word is taza, “cup,” which is feminine: una taza pequeña. pequeño describes tazón and therefore appears in the masculine singular form. Its base form is pequeño; the corresponding feminine singular form is pequeña, as in una taza pequeña. For plural nouns, use pequeños or pequeñas, according to the noun’s gender: tazones pequeños = “small bowls.” Together, Toma gives the singular familiar command, and un tazón pequeño names what should be taken: “Take a small bowl.”

8. No es demasiado.

   It is not too much.

   No

   not

   es

   is

   demasiado

   too much

   More detail

   No comes first and negates the following statement. It is the ordinary Spanish negative word, placed before the verb here. For example, No es difícil means “It is not difficult.” es is the present-tense form of ser for a third-person singular subject. Spanish often leaves that subject unstated; the fixed translation identifies the intended meaning as “it,” but does not specify what the unstated subject is. Es is not a command or a past-tense form. demasiado means “too much” in this utterance. Used as a standalone quantity expression after ser, it evaluates an amount without naming that amount. In this use it is not marked for gender or number. Compare the related forms in other constructions: demasiada sal means “too much salt,” while trabaja demasiado means “he/she works too much.” Together, No + es + demasiado gives “It is not too much”: the amount being evaluated does not exceed what is considered excessive. The sentence does not identify that amount explicitly.

9. Prepararé uno ahora.

   I will make one now.

   Prepararé

   I will make / prepare

   uno

   one

   ahora

   now

   More detail

   Prepararé is the first-person singular future form of preparar, “to prepare”; in this sentence, the fixed translation gives the intended sense “make.” The ending -é marks “I” in the simple future: preparar → prepararé. Example: Prepararé la cena. — “I will prepare dinner.” uno means “one” here and stands alone as the thing being made or prepared. Its specific referent is not identified in the supplied sentence. As a pronoun, it can replace a previously understood singular masculine item; the form would change for a feminine item (una) when agreement requires it. Example: ¿Quieres una galleta? Prepararé una. — “Do you want a cookie? I’ll make one.” ahora means “now,” referring to the present time. It is an adverb and does not change form. Example: Lo haré ahora. — “I will do it now.” Together, Prepararé uno ahora means “I will make one now”: the speaker commits to preparing one understood item at the present time. The future verb supplies the speaker and planned action, uno identifies the quantity as one item without specifying which item, and ahora places the action in the present time.

10. Déjame algunas nueces, por favor.

    Leave some nuts for me, please.

    Déjame

    leave for me

    algunas

    some

    nueces

    nuts

    por favor

    please

    More detail

    Déjame is the affirmative command form of dejar for tú (one person). The attached me means “for me” here: deja + me becomes déjame, with the written accent preserved. The form asks the listener to set something aside or not use all of it. Example: Déjame un poco. — “Leave a little for me.” algunas means “some” and is the feminine plural form. It agrees with nueces in gender and number; it indicates an unspecified amount greater than one, not a precise count. Compare the singular form alguna: alguna nuez — “some nut” or “a certain nut,” depending on context. nueces is the plural of nuez, “nut.” The plural form refers to more than one nut. Example: Hay nueces en la mesa. — “There are nuts on the table.” por favor is a polite expression meaning “please.” It softens the request but does not change the command form or its tú addressee. Together, Déjame expresses the request to leave something for the speaker, algunas nueces specifies that the thing left should be some nuts, and por favor adds politeness. The complete meaning is: “Leave some nuts for me, please.”