Breakdown of Esperamos nuestro turno en la cola del banco.
Questions & Answers about Esperamos nuestro turno en la cola del banco.
In Spanish, the simple present can express an action happening right now, so:
- Esperamos nuestro turno = “We are waiting for our turn.”
- Estamos esperando nuestro turno = also “We are waiting for our turn.”
Both are correct.
Differences in nuance:
- Esperamos is shorter and very common in narration or when simply stating what’s happening now.
- Estamos esperando can sound a bit more focused on the ongoing nature of the action, similar to English continuous, but it’s not always necessary.
In everyday European Spanish, Esperamos nuestro turno en la cola del banco is completely natural for “We are waiting for our turn in the line at the bank.”
Spanish often drops subject pronouns (it’s a “pro‑drop” language) because the verb ending shows who the subject is:
- esperar → esperamos (ending ‑amos) = we wait / are waiting.
So Esperamos already implies nosotros. You only add nosotros for emphasis or contrast:
- Nosotros esperamos nuestro turno, no ellos.
“We are waiting for our turn, not them.”
But in a neutral sentence like this, leaving nosotros out is more natural.
In Spanish, esperar already includes the idea of “for”:
- esperar algo = to wait for something
- esperar a alguien = to wait for someone
So you do not add a preposition before nuestro turno here:
- ✅ Esperamos nuestro turno.
- ❌ Esperamos por nuestro turno. (non‑standard in Spain in this meaning)
- ❌ Esperamos para nuestro turno.
In standard European Spanish, remember: “esperar = wait for”, with no extra for.
No. Esperar is not reflexive in this sentence.
- Esperamos nuestro turno = We wait for our turn.
Nos esperamos would mean “we wait for each other” or something like “we make each other wait”, which is a different idea and sounds wrong here.
Use the non‑reflexive form: esperamos.
They overlap, but here turno is the natural choice.
turno = someone’s turn in a queue, rota, work shift, or order:
- Es mi turno. – It’s my turn.
- Tengo turno de noche. – I’m on the night shift.
vez = time/occurrence (one time, next time, etc.), and sometimes “turn” in games or informal contexts:
- Es la primera vez. – It’s the first time.
- Ahora te toca a ti. – Now it’s your turn. (you often avoid “vez” here and just use this structure)
At a bank queue, you normally talk about your turno:
- Esperamos nuestro turno en la cola del banco. ✅
Vez here (nuestra vez) would sound odd in Spain.
Spanish possessive adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they modify, not with the owner.
- turno is masculine singular → nuestro turno
- If the noun were feminine:
- nuestra silla (our chair) – silla is feminine.
So:
- ✅ nuestro turno (masc. sing.)
- ✅ nuestra vez (fem. sing.)
- ✅ nuestros turnos (masc. pl.)
- ✅ nuestras sillas (fem. pl.)
Cola is a polysemous word in Spanish:
- tail (of an animal)
- queue / line of people
- In some regions/speakers, cola (short for Coca‑Cola) can mean “Coke / cola drink”.
In Spain, in this sentence, cola clearly means queue / line:
- Hacemos cola en el banco. – We stand in line / we queue at the bank.
- Esperamos en la cola del banco. – We are waiting in the bank queue.
Another common word for “line” is fila, but:
- cola is very frequent for a queue of people.
- fila is common for rows (chairs, seats, soldiers) and also for lines of people.
Here both en la cola and en la fila would be understood, but cola for a queue is very typical in peninsular Spanish.
Spanish uses the definite article (el, la, los, las) in many places where English doesn’t.
Here we are referring to a specific queue (the one at the bank), so the default is:
- ✅ en la cola (del banco) – in the (bank) queue
You might see en cola without article in some fixed expressions or very telegraphic language (signs, headlines, etc.), but in normal speech:
- Estamos en la cola. – We’re in the line.
is the natural form.
Del is the contraction of de + el:
- de = of, from, at (very general preposition)
- el = the (masculine singular)
When de is followed by el, they combine into del:
- la cola de el banco → la cola del banco ✅
But with a feminine noun there is no contraction:
- la puerta de la casa (not dela).
So: la cola del banco = “the queue of the bank / the queue at the bank.”
Banco has two main meanings:
- bank (financial institution)
- bench (a long seat)
In la cola del banco, the context strongly points to “bank” (money, waiting your turn, etc.). You normally don’t wait in a numbered‑ticket queue for a bench.
To distinguish them, rely on context:
- Trabajo en un banco. – I work at a bank (most likely).
- Nos sentamos en un banco del parque. – We sat on a bench in the park.
Here, with turno and cola, it’s the financial institution.
Yes, that sentence is grammatically correct, but the neutral, most natural word order in this context is:
- Esperamos nuestro turno en la cola del banco. (Subject–Verb–Object–Place)
Putting En la cola del banco first (place–subject–verb–object) is possible, but it gives extra emphasis to the location:
- En la cola del banco esperamos nuestro turno.
→ “At the bank queue is where we’re waiting for our turn.” (slight emphasis on where).
For a simple, neutral statement, the original order is preferred.
Yes, in Spain you’ll also often hear hacer cola (“to queue / stand in line”), or the progressive:
- Hacemos cola en el banco. – We’re queuing at the bank.
- Estamos haciendo cola en el banco. – We’re standing in line at the bank.
If you want to keep the idea of “our turn”:
- Estamos haciendo cola para nuestro turno en el banco.
- Hacemos cola esperando nuestro turno en el banco.
But the original:
- Esperamos nuestro turno en la cola del banco.
is already perfectly natural and idiomatic in peninsular Spanish.