Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Ella pide ventanilla porque se marea menos en los vuelos. - She asks for a window seat because she gets less dizzy on flights.

Here, ventanilla means a window seat. It’s shorthand for asiento de ventanilla (seat by the window). Outside of travel contexts, ventanilla is a small window (like a plane window or a teller window at a bank).

Why is there no article before ventanilla? Why not “la ventanilla” or “una ventanilla”?

In travel contexts, Spanish often drops both the word “asiento” and the article: pide ventanilla / prefiere pasillo. If you include an article, you’d usually say un asiento de ventanilla. La ventanilla would point to a specific window (or can sound like “the window pane/teller window”), so it’s not used to mean “a window seat” in general.

Why is it pide and not pregunta? Aren’t both “to ask”?

Pedir means “to request” something; preguntar means “to ask a question.” So you say pide ventanilla (she requests a window seat), but pregunta la hora (she asks the time).

Why is the present tense used (pide) instead of the progressive (está pidiendo)?

Spanish simple present often expresses habitual actions: Ella pide ventanilla = “She tends to request a window seat.” Use está pidiendo if you mean right now: Ella está pidiendo ventanilla.

What’s the difference between porque and por qué?

Porque (one word, no accent) means “because.” Por qué (two words, accent on qué) means “why.” Example: ¿Por qué pide ventanilla? Porque se marea menos.

Why is se marea reflexive? What’s the role of se?

Marearse is the pronominal form meaning “to get dizzy/queasy” (the person experiences it). Marear without the pronoun means “to make someone dizzy.” Compare: Ella se marea (she gets dizzy) vs. El movimiento la marea (the motion makes her dizzy).

Could I say se enferma instead of se marea?

You could, but it’s less precise. Se marea specifically refers to dizziness/motion sickness. Se enferma is broader (“she gets sick”), and se siente mal is “she feels bad,” which is vague.

Why is it menos without que? Shouldn’t it be menos que…?

Spanish often omits the explicit comparison when it’s understood from context. Se marea menos = “she gets less dizzy (than otherwise).” If you want to state it, add it: Se marea menos que si se sienta en pasillo.

Why en los vuelos? Could I say en vuelos, en el avión, or durante los vuelos?

All are possible with small nuances:

En los vuelos uses the definite article for generic category (common in Spanish).
En vuelos is also fine, a bit more bare.
En el avión focuses on the setting (on the plane).
Durante los vuelos emphasizes the time frame (“during flights”).

Can I flip the order and start with the reason clause?

Yes: Porque se marea menos, (ella) pide ventanilla. That’s grammatical. In everyday speech, the cause usually follows: Pide ventanilla porque…

Could I express purpose with para instead of cause with porque?

Yes. For purpose: Ella pide ventanilla para marearse menos / para no marearse tanto. With a subjunctive clause: …para que no se maree tanto. Cause uses porque: …porque se marea menos.

Are there regional differences for “window seat” in Latin America?

The most common options are ventanilla (shorthand) and asiento de ventanilla. You’ll also hear asiento de ventana in some places. For the aisle, pasillo (or asiento de pasillo) is standard.

Why is it pide (not pede)? How does pedir conjugate?

Pedir is an e→i stem-changing verb in the present: pido, pides, pide, pedimos, piden. In the preterite, the stem change appears in 3rd person: pidió, pidieron.