Breakdown of La dependienta me hizo un descuento porque compré dos camisetas.
Questions & Answers about La dependienta me hizo un descuento porque compré dos camisetas.
Dependienta is shop assistant / sales clerk (the person working in the shop).
It’s feminine because the word agrees with the gender of the person being referred to:
- el dependiente = male shop assistant
- la dependienta = female shop assistant
If you don’t know the person’s gender or you’re speaking generally about the role, Spanish often uses the masculine form as the default (el dependiente), though inclusive alternatives exist depending on context.
In Spanish it’s very common to use the definite article with professions/roles when you’re talking about a specific person in that role:
- La dependienta = the shop assistant (the one we’re talking about)
Without the article, dependienta would normally need another structure (e.g., Es dependienta = She’s a shop assistant).
Me is an indirect object pronoun meaning to me / for me.
The idea is: she did the action for my benefit (she gave me a discount).
- La dependienta me hizo un descuento = The shop assistant gave me a discount.
Yes, but it changes what’s explicit:
- La dependienta hizo un descuento = The shop assistant applied/gave a discount (not saying to whom).
- La dependienta me hizo un descuento = The shop assistant gave me a discount (you are explicitly the beneficiary).
In Spain, hacer un descuento is very common and natural: it’s like “to make a discount” = to apply/grant one.
Dar un descuento can also be understood, but it may sound less idiomatic in some contexts in Spain than hacer.
Other common options you might hear:
- hacerme un descuento
- aplicarme un descuento
- hacer un 10% de descuento
Hizo is the pretérito indefinido (preterite), from hacer.
It’s used for a completed action in the past:
- She gave the discount (done and finished).
Conjugation reminder (hacer, preterite):
- yo hice
- tú hiciste
- él/ella/usted hizo
- nosotros hicimos
- vosotros hicisteis
- ellos/ellas/ustedes hicieron
Compré is also pretérito indefinido (preterite), from comprar.
It refers to a completed purchase event: you bought the shirts (that specific time).
In this sentence, both actions are finished and tied to a specific situation, so preterite is the typical choice in Spain.
Spanish accents show stress and/or distinguish words.
- hizo is naturally stressed as HI-zo, and it follows regular stress rules, so it needs no written accent.
- compré is stressed on the last syllable (com-PRÉ). Words ending in a vowel normally stress the second-to-last syllable, so the accent mark is needed to show the irregular stress.
- porque (one word) = because (gives a reason)
- Me hizo un descuento porque compré dos camisetas.
- por qué (two words) = why (in questions)
- ¿Por qué me hizo un descuento?
There’s also:
- el porqué = the reason (noun)
- porqué (less common outside formal writing) = a conjunction meaning “because,” often in older/formal style
Yes, with small style/word-order differences:
- ... ya que compré dos camisetas. = “since / given that…”, often a bit more explanatory.
- Como compré dos camisetas, la dependienta me hizo un descuento.
Here como (= since) usually goes at the start of the sentence in this meaning.
With numbers, Spanish often omits the article when you’re stating quantity in a general way:
- compré dos camisetas = I bought two T-shirts.
You’d use the article if you mean specific, already-identified items:
- compré las dos camisetas = I bought the two T-shirts (the two we’re talking about).
Not exactly:
- camiseta = T-shirt / tee (usually casual, knit)
- camisa = shirt (often button-up, more formal)
In Spain, camiseta is the normal word for a T-shirt.