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En ese banco cobran una comisión si haces la transferencia en ventanilla.

En ese banco cobran una comisión si haces la transferencia en ventanilla.
At that bank they charge a fee if you make the transfer at the counter.
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Questions & Answers about En ese banco cobran una comisión si haces la transferencia en ventanilla.

Why does it say cobran (they charge) instead of naming who charges?

In Spanish, it’s very common to use the 3rd person plural (cobran, dicen, hacen) with an unspecified subject to mean “they / people / the staff”. Here it effectively means the bank (staff) charges a fee, without explicitly repeating el banco as the grammatical subject.

What does cobrar mean here, and how is it different from pagar?

Cobrar = to charge / to collect (money) (from someone).
Pagar = to pay (money to someone).
So cobran una comisión means they charge a fee (you are the one who ends up paying it).

Why is it una comisión and not la comisión?

Una comisión introduces it as “a fee” in a general sense (one of the bank’s fees). If you were talking about a specific, already-known fee, you might see la comisión. In many real contexts, both can appear, but una is very natural for stating a policy: “they charge a fee if…”.

What does comisión mean in banking Spanish (Spain)?

In Spain, comisión commonly means a bank fee/charge, e.g. a fee for a transfer, maintenance, withdrawing cash, etc. It’s not a “commission” in the salesperson sense here; it’s a service fee.

Why is the verb haces (you do/make) used with transferencia?

In Spanish you often “do” an operation: hacer una transferencia = to make a bank transfer. Other common alternatives are realizar una transferencia (more formal) or efectuar una transferencia (quite formal/banking style).

Why is it si haces (present tense) and not something like “if you will make”?

Spanish uses the present tense after si to talk about real/likely conditions in the present or future:

  • Si haces la transferencia en ventanilla, cobran… = If you make the transfer at the counter, they charge…
    You don’t use a future tense after si in this type of sentence.
Is si here “if” or “whether”? How can I tell?

Here si clearly means if because it sets a condition: they charge a fee if you do it at the counter. Si can also mean whether (indirect questions), e.g. No sé si viene = I don’t know whether he’s coming. The structure tells you which one it is.

What exactly does en ventanilla mean?

En ventanilla means at the counter / at the teller window, i.e. you go inside the bank and do it with staff. In Spain this is a very common phrase for in-person banking, contrasted with por internet / online, por la app, or en el cajero (ATM).

Why does it use en (in/at) with ventanilla?

Spanish commonly uses en to express the “place/method” where a service is done:

  • en ventanilla = at the counter
  • en línea / en internet = online
    So en here is more like “at/by means of”.
What does ese mean in en ese banco, and how is it different from este?

Ese points to something not right next to the speaker, often something already mentioned or “that one (over there/that one you mean)”.

  • este banco = “this bank” (near me / the one I’m pointing to as ‘this’)
  • ese banco = “that bank” (the one you’re talking about / over there)
Why is it en ese banco and not a ese banco?

Because it’s describing location (where they charge): in/at that bank = en ese banco.
A ese banco would usually be used for movement/direction: voy a ese banco = I’m going to that bank.

Could I replace cobran with se cobra?

Yes. A very common alternative is the impersonal/passive-like form:

  • En ese banco se cobra una comisión si… = A fee is charged at that bank if…
    Both are natural; cobran sounds slightly more “people/staff do it,” while se cobra sounds more like a policy statement.
Does haces imply “you” (tú). What if the bank is addressing customers formally?

Yes, haces is tú. In a formal notice aimed at customers, you might see:

  • si hace la transferencia (usted)
    Or a more impersonal style:
  • si se realiza la transferencia en ventanilla (very formal).
Any pronunciation/spelling detail I should notice in comisión?
Yes: comisión has an accent on -sión (-SIÓN), showing the stress falls there: co-mi-SIÓN. This is a common pattern in Spanish nouns ending in -ción / -sión.