Paying and checking the bag at checkout | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. ¿Está abierta esta caja ahora?

   Is this checkout open now?

   Está

   is

   abierta

   open

   esta

   this

   caja

   checkout

   ahora

   now

   More detail

   Está is the present-tense third-person singular form of estar (“to be” for a state or condition). Here it links the subject to its current condition. Compare está (“is”) with están (“are”): La puerta está abierta means “The door is open,” while Las puertas están abiertas means “The doors are open.” abierta means “open” here. It is the feminine singular form of the adjective abierto, agreeing with the feminine singular noun caja. The forms change with the noun: un cajón abierto (“an open drawer”), una caja abierta (“an open box”). In this fixed utterance, abierta describes the checkout’s current open status. esta is the feminine singular demonstrative meaning “this.” It agrees with the feminine singular noun it modifies. Do not confuse it with está, which has an accent and is the verb form explained above: esta caja means “this checkout,” whereas la caja está abierta means “the checkout is open.” caja is a feminine noun. Its meaning here is “checkout” or “cash desk,” as established by the fixed translation. Its grammatical gender does not by itself establish a person’s gender. A useful pattern is esta caja (“this checkout”) and la caja (“the checkout”). ahora is the adverb “now,” locating the state at the present time. For example, La tienda está abierta ahora means “The shop is open now.” Together, esta caja identifies the checkout, está abierta asks about its current open status, and ahora specifies the time. The complete question is therefore “Is this checkout open now?”

2. Puedes poner aquí tus cosas.

   You can place your items here.

   Puedes

   you can

   poner

   to put; to place

   aquí

   here

   tus

   your

   cosas

   things; items

   More detail

   Puedes is the present-tense tú form of poder, “to be able to” or “can.” In this sentence it combines with an infinitive to express that the listener can perform the action. The related forms are puedo (“I can”), puedes (“you can,” singular informal), and puede (“he/she/you formal can”). poner is the infinitive meaning “to put” or “to place.” After a form of poder, the second verb stays in the infinitive: Puedes poner... (“You can place...”); the modal verb carries the person and tense. Poner is irregular in some present-tense forms, including pongo (“I put”), but its infinitive remains poner here. Aquí is a place adverb meaning “here.” It identifies the location of the placing action. For example, Ponlo aquí. means “Put it here.” Tus means “your” before a plural noun. Its form agrees with the thing possessed, not with the possessor: tu cosa is “your thing,” while tus cosas is “your things.” The singular form is tu, without an accent; tú with an accent is the subject pronoun “you.” Cosas means “things” or, in this context, “items.” It is the plural of the feminine noun cosa; the plural ending -s is visible here. The phrase tus cosas therefore means “your items,” with tus agreeing in number with cosas. Together, Puedes poner gives “you can place,” tus cosas gives “your items,” and aquí gives “here.” The complete utterance means: “You can place your items here.”

3. ¿Debo usar la pantalla para pagar?

   Should I use the screen to pay?

   Debo

   I should / must

   usar

   to use

   la pantalla

   the screen

   pagar

   to pay

   More detail

   Debo is the first-person singular present form of deber. Here it expresses the speaker’s uncertainty about whether they are expected or supposed to do something, so ¿Debo…? means “Should I…?” or, in a stronger context, “Must I…?” The subject is the speaker, yo, even though Spanish normally leaves that pronoun unspoken. Compare debes for “you should/must” and debe for “he, she, or usted should/must.” usar is the infinitive “to use.” After deber, Spanish uses an infinitive: debo usar = “I should use.” The same pattern is reusable with other verbs: Debo esperar = “I should wait.” La pantalla means “the screen.” Pantalla is a feminine singular noun, so the definite article is la. The article identifies the screen as a specific one in the situation; the surrounding context makes the screen a known object. The plural is las pantallas (“the screens”). Pagar is the infinitive “to pay.” In para pagar, para introduces the purpose of the action: “in order to pay” or simply “to pay.” For example, Uso la tarjeta para pagar means “I use the card to pay.” Together, ¿Debo usar la pantalla para pagar? follows the reusable pattern ¿deber + infinitive + para + infinitive? The speaker asks whether they are supposed to use the screen for the purpose of paying: “Should I use the screen to pay?”

4. Usa la pantalla que está a tu derecha.

   Use the screen on your right.

   Usa

   Use

   pantalla

   screen

   está

   is located

   a tu derecha

   on your right

   More detail

   Usa is the affirmative command form of usar for tú singular: “use” when addressing one person informally. The command is directed to the listener; it is not the usted form use or the plural usen. For example: Usa esta llave. — “Use this key.” pantalla means “screen” here. It is a feminine noun: la pantalla. The article la agrees with it in gender and number. A useful plural is las pantallas — “the screens.” está is the third-person singular present form of estar, used here to locate the screen: “is located.” The accent distinguishes this verb form from esta, the feminine demonstrative meaning “this.” For example: La pantalla está aquí. — “The screen is here.” a tu derecha is a spatial expression meaning “on your right.” tu is the unstressed possessive “your,” while tú with an accent is the subject pronoun “you.” derecha is the feminine form used for the right-hand side or direction. This expression addresses the listener’s viewpoint; it does not identify a separate person as the owner of the screen. Together, Usa la pantalla gives the command “Use the screen.” The relative clause que está a tu derecha specifies which screen: the one located on the listener’s right. The complete utterance therefore means “Use the screen on your right.”

5. La bolsa parece demasiado llena.

   The bag feels too full.

   bolsa

   bag

   parece

   seems

   demasiado

   too; excessively

   llena

   full

   More detail

   bolsa means “bag” here. It is a feminine singular noun: la bolsa. The feminine article and the adjective later in the sentence show the agreement pattern. Example: La bolsa está aquí. — “The bag is here.” parece comes from parecer, “to seem” or “to appear.” parece is the present-tense third-person singular form, used here with la bolsa. It presents the speaker’s impression rather than stating the condition as an unquestionable fact. Example: El artículo parece pesado. — “The item seems heavy.” demasiado is an adverb meaning “too” or “excessively.” It strengthens llena by saying that the degree of fullness is more than is suitable or wanted. It does not change for the feminine noun. Example: La caja es demasiado pequeña. — “The box is too small.” llena means “full” in this sentence. It is the feminine singular form of the adjective lleno, agreeing with bolsa; the noun’s gender and number determine this adjective form. Compare el bolso está lleno — “the bag is full” — with la bolsa está llena — “the bag is full.” Together, La bolsa identifies the bag, parece presents an appearance or impression, and demasiado llena describes an excessive degree of fullness. The whole utterance means that the bag feels or seems too full, matching the fixed translation. This wording expresses an assessment of the bag’s condition, not an explicit measurement of how much it contains.

6. Puedo pasar el artículo pesado a otra bolsa.

   I can move the heavy item to another bag.

   Puedo

   can; am able to

   pasar

   move; transfer

   artículo

   item

   pesado

   heavy

   otra

   another; different

   bolsa

   bag

   More detail

   Puedo is the first-person singular present form of poder (“to be able to”): puedo = “I can.” It expresses the speaker’s ability or possibility here. For example, Puedo ayudar. means “I can help.” pasar is the infinitive meaning “to move” or “to transfer” in this context. After a conjugated form of poder, Spanish uses the infinitive: Puedo pasar... = “I can move...” The same verb has other context-dependent uses, so its meaning here comes from the transfer of an item to a bag. artículo is a masculine singular noun meaning “item” here. Its plural is artículos; the definite forms are el artículo and los artículos. In the following context, artículos de vidrio means “glass items.” pesado is the masculine singular form of the adjective pesado (“heavy”), agreeing with the masculine singular noun artículo: el artículo pesado = “the heavy item.” The feminine singular form is pesada, as in la bolsa pesada (“the heavy bag”); the plural forms are pesados and pesadas. otra means “another” or “a different one” here. It is the feminine singular form of otro, agreeing with bolsa: otra bolsa. The corresponding masculine singular form is otro, as in otro artículo (“another item”). Here otra does not itself state a numeric count; it identifies the bag as different from the one already under discussion. bolsa is a feminine singular noun meaning “bag.” Its plural is bolsas; the definite forms are la bolsa and las bolsas. The preceding context identifies a bag that seems too full, while this sentence refers to moving the item to another bag. Together, Puedo pasar expresses the speaker’s ability to move something. el artículo pesado is the item being moved, and a otra bolsa gives its destination: “to another bag.” The complete utterance means: “I can move the heavy item to another bag.”

7. Por favor, pon los artículos de vidrio en una bolsa aparte.

   Please put the glass items in a separate bag.

   Por favor

   please

   pon

   put

   artículos

   items

   vidrio

   glass

   bolsa

   bag

   aparte

   separate

   More detail

   Por favor is a polite formula used to soften a request. It does not itself identify who must carry out the action; the command form pon supplies that information. pon is the affirmative command form of poner for tú singular. The useful pattern is poner → pon: “to put” → “put!” Do not confuse it with ponga, the affirmative command for usted, or pongan, the affirmative command for ustedes. artículos means “items” or “articles” here. Its singular base form is artículo, and artículos is masculine plural. The article los agrees with it in masculine plural. Here, the noun refers to the items being put into the bag, while de vidrio specifies their material or type. vidrio means “glass.” In artículos de vidrio, de vidrio classifies the items as glass items. The material expression does not need to agree in number with artículos; vidrio remains singular in this construction. bolsa means “bag.” It is singular here, and the feminine singular article una agrees with it. Una introduces an unspecified bag; by itself, it does not assert a numerical count as a teaching point. The phrase en una bolsa indicates the destination: inside a bag. aparte means “separate” or “apart” in this context. It indicates that the bag is kept separate, rather than changing the meaning of bolsa. Unlike an adjective such as separada, aparte does not change form to agree with the noun. Together, Por favor, pon makes a polite informal request: “please put.” los artículos de vidrio identifies what should be moved, and en una bolsa aparte identifies the destination and its separation. The complete meaning is: “Please put the glass items in a separate bag.”

8. Tendré cuidado al ponerlos en la bolsa.

   I'll be careful while bagging them.

   Tendré cuidado

   I’ll be careful

   ponerlos

   to put them

   bolsa

   bag

   More detail

   Tendré cuidado means “I’ll be careful.” Tendré is the first-person singular future of tener: tener → tendré (“I will have”). In the fixed expression tener cuidado, the literal idea is “to have care,” but the natural meaning is “to be careful.” The future form identifies the speaker as the person who will be careful. ponerlos means “to put them.” It combines the infinitive poner (“to put”) with the attached direct-object pronoun los. Here los is masculine plural and refers to the glass items identified in the preceding context. The pronoun is attached because it follows an infinitive: poner + los → ponerlos. Compare ponerlo for one masculine object and ponerla for one feminine object. bolsa means “bag.” It is a feminine singular noun, so the phrase uses la: la bolsa (“the bag”). In en la bolsa, en marks the destination or location: “in the bag.” The pattern al + infinitive expresses an action occurring while or when another action takes place. Here al ponerlos en la bolsa means “while putting them in the bag.” The speaker says that they will be careful during that action. Together, Tendré cuidado al ponerlos en la bolsa means “I’ll be careful while bagging them.”