Waiting for Your Turn | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Todavía estoy esperando mi turno.

   I am still waiting for my turn.

   Todavía

   still

   estoy

   I am

   esperando

   waiting

   mi

   my

   turno

   turn

   More detail

   Todavía means “still” here: the waiting continues up to the present. It can also mean “yet” in some negative or question contexts, but “still” is the supported meaning in this sentence. estoy is the first-person singular present form of estar (“to be”): estoy, “I am.” With a gerund, estar forms the Spanish progressive construction: estoy esperando = “I am waiting.” The form estoy identifies the speaker as I; it does not itself mean “waiting.” esperando is the gerund of esperar (“to wait,” also “to hope” in other contexts). Here it means “waiting.” The pattern estar + gerund presents an action as ongoing. Example: Estamos aprendiendo. — “We are learning.” mi is the singular possessive determiner “my.” It does not change for grammatical gender: mi turno and mi solicitud both use mi; its plural form is mis, as in mis turnos (“my turns”). turno is a masculine noun meaning “turn” or “one’s turn,” including a turn in an ordered process such as waiting to be called. Its plural is turnos. In mi turno, it refers to the speaker’s turn, as stated by the fixed translation. Together, todavía + estoy esperando expresses that the speaker remains in the ongoing state of waiting. mi turno identifies what the speaker is waiting for. The complete utterance means: “I am still waiting for my turn.”

2. Hoy ellos tardan mucho en llamar a cada persona.

   They are taking a long time to call each person today.

   Hoy

   today

   ellos

   they

   tardan

   take time

   mucho

   a lot

   llamar

   to call

   cada

   each

   persona

   person

   More detail

   Hoy means “today” and places the action in the current day. It commonly appears at the beginning or end of a Spanish sentence: Hoy trabajo means “I work today.” Ellos is the explicit third-person plural subject, “they.” It can refer to an all-male group or a mixed-gender group. The form for an all-female group is ellas. Here, the translation identifies the callers as “they.” Tardan comes from tardar, “to take time” or “to be delayed.” It is present indicative, third-person plural, matching ellos: ellos tardan. A highly reusable pattern is tardar en + infinitive, meaning “to take time to do something.” Example: Tardamos mucho en llegar. — “We take a long time to arrive.” Mucho modifies the verb phrase in tardan mucho, so it means “a lot” or, naturally here, “a long time.” In this use it is an adverb and does not change to agree with a noun. Compare the adjective use in muchas personas, “many people,” where muchas agrees with the plural feminine noun. Llamar is the infinitive “to call.” After en, the infinitive completes the activity whose duration is being described: tardan en llamar means “they take time to call.” In another context, llamar can also mean “to phone” or “to call someone by a name”; the surrounding sentence gives it the intended sense here. Cada means “each” or “every” in a distributive sense. It is invariable, and it is normally followed by a singular noun: cada día, “each day,” and cada persona, “each person.” Persona means “person.” It is a feminine grammatical noun, so the form is una persona even when the person’s real-world gender is not specified. Its plural is personas. Together, tardan mucho en llamar says that the action of calling takes them a long time. The following group, a cada persona, identifies the people called one by one: the Spanish personal a appears before this human direct object. Thus Hoy ellos tardan mucho en llamar a cada persona. means “They are taking a long time to call each person today.”

3. Así que debo quedarme cerca.

   So I should stay nearby.

   Así que

   so

   debo

   should

   quedarme

   stay

   cerca

   nearby

   More detail

   Así que links this statement to what came before and means “so” or “therefore.” It introduces a conclusion or consequence; it does not itself express the reason. debo is the first-person singular present form of deber: deber → debo. With an infinitive, deber + infinitive expresses what the speaker should or must do. Here, the fixed translation supports the recommendation “should”: “I should.” Compare debes for “you should/must” and debe for “he, she, or you (formal) should/must.” quedarme combines the infinitive quedar with the attached clitic me. In this sentence, quedarse means “to stay” or “remain,” and me identifies the speaker as the person who stays. The same pattern is reusable with other infinitives: quiero quedarme = “I want to stay.” The -me form here is not a separate word placed before the infinitive; it is attached to it. cerca is an adverb meaning “nearby” or “close.” It describes where the speaker should stay. In other contexts, cerca de can introduce what something is near, as in cerca de la estación (“near the station”); standing alone here, cerca means “nearby.” Together, Así que + debo gives “So I should,” quedarme gives “stay,” and cerca gives “nearby.” The complete utterance is therefore: “So I should stay nearby.”

4. Puede que ellos te llamen pronto.

   They may call you soon.

   Puede que

   may / it may be that

   ellos

   they

   te

   you

   llamen

   call

   pronto

   soon

   More detail

   Puede que introduces an uncertain possibility: “it may be that …” or “perhaps …”. Here puede is the third-person singular present form of poder, but the reusable pattern is puede que + subjunctive, used when the speaker presents the following event as possible rather than certain. Example: Puede que llegue tarde. — “I may arrive late.” In that example, the subject is implicit and supplied by context; puede itself does not identify the subject. ellos explicitly supplies the subject “they.” It is the masculine or mixed-group plural form of the third-person pronoun; Spanish uses ellas for an all-feminine group. The translation identifies the callers as “they,” but does not specify who they are. te is a second-person singular unstressed object pronoun meaning “you.” It appears before the conjugated verb here: te llamen, “call you.” In standard usage, te is associated with the singular familiar forms tú or vos; the formal singular usted normally uses a third-person object form such as lo or la. For comparison, me means “me” and nos means “us.” llamen comes from llamar, “to call.” It is the third-person plural present subjunctive form, agreeing with ellos: ellos llamen. The subjunctive is selected here because puede que expresses possibility. Compare the indicative in a factual statement: Ellos llaman pronto. — “They call soon.” pronto means “soon,” indicating that the possible call is expected in the near future. It is an adverb, so it does not change for person or number. Example: Llegaremos pronto. — “We will arrive soon.” Together, Puede que marks the event as possible, ellos identifies its subject, te identifies the person called, llamen expresses “call” in the plural subjunctive required by that possibility pattern, and pronto places the possible call soon in time. The whole utterance means: “They may call you soon.”

5. ¿Qué mostrador debo mirar?

   Which counter should I watch?

   Qué

   which/what

   mostrador

   counter

   debo

   should / must

   mirar

   watch / look at

   More detail

   Qué appears before the noun in a direct question and asks the speaker to identify one counter: “which/what counter.” The accent distinguishes interrogative qué from the unaccented relative/conjunction que in other uses. In this sentence it does not identify the counter by itself. mostrador is a masculine noun meaning “counter” here, as in a service or information area. Its plural is mostradores. The noun is the thing being identified by qué. debo is the first-person singular present form of deber: deber → debo. With a following infinitive, deber + infinitive expresses what the speaker should or must do. For example, Debo esperar means “I should/must wait.” The form debo shows that the speaker is the one with the obligation; it does not mean that the counter must do anything. mirar is an infinitive meaning “to look at” or, in this context, “to watch.” After debo, it stays in the infinitive: debo mirar, not a separately conjugated form. For example, Debo mirar la pantalla means “I should watch the screen.” Together, qué mostrador asks which counter is intended, and debo mirar asks which one the speaker should watch. The complete utterance is therefore “Which counter should I watch?”

6. La pantalla mostrará el mostrador correcto.

   The screen will show the right counter.

   pantalla

   screen

   mostrará

   will show

   mostrador

   counter

   correcto

   right

   More detail

   pantalla means “screen” here. It is a feminine singular noun, as shown by la pantalla. The plural is pantallas; the article changes to las in the plural. Example: La pantalla está encendida. — “The screen is on.” mostrará is the future form of mostrar, “to show.” The ending -á here marks third-person singular future: “it/he/she will show.” In this sentence, the subject is la pantalla, so the form means “the screen will show.” Example: La pantalla mostrará el número. — “The screen will show the number.” mostrador means “counter” in this context. It is a masculine singular noun, as shown by el mostrador; its plural is los mostradores. The noun refers to the counter being identified in the fixed translation, not to the act of watching it in the preceding question. correcto means “right” or “correct” here. It is a masculine singular adjective agreeing with mostrador: mostrador is masculine singular, so the adjective has the form correcto. Its feminine singular form is correcta, as in la respuesta correcta — “the correct answer”; plural forms include correctos and correctas. Together, La pantalla is the subject, mostrará expresses what it will do in the future, and el mostrador correcto is the object: the counter that is right or correct. The complete utterance means “The screen will show the right counter.”

7. Entonces tendré el ticket en la mano.

   Then I'll keep the ticket in my hand.

   Entonces

   then

   tendré

   I will have / keep

   el ticket

   the ticket

   en la mano

   in the hand

   More detail

   Entonces means “then” here, linking this statement to the situation just mentioned. It can also introduce a conclusion in other contexts, but here it marks the resulting time or situation. Tendré is the first-person singular future form of tener (“to have”): tener → tendré, tendrás, tendrá. The irregular future stem is tendr-, followed by the future ending for “I.” In this sentence, the fixed translation shows that having the ticket in hand is intended as keeping or holding it, not merely possessing it abstractly. Example: Mañana tendré el documento. — “Tomorrow I will have the document.” El ticket means “the ticket.” Ticket is a masculine noun in this use, so it appears with the masculine singular definite article el. The article marks a specific ticket, rather than stating a numerical quantity. Example: Necesito el ticket. — “I need the ticket.” En la mano means “in the hand,” and in this sentence it describes where the ticket will be held. Mano is feminine, including though its ending does not look like the most common feminine pattern, so the article is la. The expression can be used for something physically held in one’s hand. Example: Tengo las llaves en la mano. — “I have the keys in my hand.” Together, Entonces sets the situation as “then,” tendré says that the speaker will have or keep something, el ticket identifies the specific object, and en la mano gives its location. The whole utterance means: “Then I’ll keep the ticket in my hand.”

8. Así es más fácil cuando llega tu turno.

   That makes it easier when your turn comes.

   Así

   that way

   más fácil

   easier

   cuando

   when

   llega

   comes

   turno

   turn

   More detail

   Así means “that way” or “like that.” It is an adverb, so it does not change for gender or number. Here it refers to the situation just mentioned, without needing to identify a more specific noun. Más fácil means “easier”: fácil is the adjective, and más forms its comparative. The base adjective is fácil; the comparison says that something is easier than it would otherwise be or than another situation. Example: Es más fácil con ayuda. — “It is easier with help.” Cuando introduces a time clause and means “when.” A useful pattern is cuando + clause: Te llamo cuando llego. — “I’ll call you when I arrive.” Llega is the present form of llegar, “to arrive” or “to come.” It is third-person singular: “he/she/it arrives” or “your turn arrives.” In this sentence, the subject is tu turno, so the verb is singular. Example: El autobús llega pronto. — “The bus arrives soon.” Turno is a masculine noun meaning “turn” in an ordered sequence, such as the time when someone is expected to act. Its plural is turnos. The possessive tu in tu turno means “your”; it has no written accent here because it is the possessive form, unlike the pronoun tú (“you”). Together, Así es más fácil means “That makes it easier” or literally “That way it is easier.” Cuando llega tu turno adds the time condition “when your turn comes.” The complete utterance is therefore: “That makes it easier when your turn comes.”