¿Podría usted decirme si hoy quedan mejillones o si ya solo hay calamares?

Podría makes the request more polite and less direct.

• ¿Puede usted decirme…? = Can you tell me…?
• ¿Podría usted decirme…? = Could you tell me…?

In Spanish, as in English, the conditional often softens a request. In a shop, restaurant, or other customer-service situation, podría sounds courteous and natural.

Usted is the formal word for you. It is not strictly necessary, because the verb form already shows formality:

• ¿Podría decirme…?
• ¿Podría usted decirme…?

Both are correct. Adding usted gives a little extra emphasis or formality. In many real conversations, Spanish often drops subject pronouns unless the speaker wants to highlight them.

Because object pronouns can attach to an infinitive in Spanish.

• decirme = to tell me
• me is the indirect object pronoun to me

With infinitives, Spanish commonly attaches the pronoun to the end:

• ¿Puede decirme…?
• Quiero explicártelo
• Voy a llamarla

So decirme is one single written unit, not two separate words.

Here si means whether, not a conditional if.

The structure decirme si… means tell me whether…

So:

• ¿Podría usted decirme si hoy quedan mejillones…? = Could you tell me whether there are any mussels left today…?

This is an indirect yes/no question. English often uses if or whether in this kind of sentence, but whether is usually the clearest translation.

Because it is linking two separate alternatives:

• si hoy quedan mejillones
• o si ya solo hay calamares

In English, we might say:

• whether there are mussels left today or whether there is only squid left
• or more naturally, whether there are mussels left today or only squid

Spanish often repeats si for clarity when the second option is a full clause.

The two verbs have slightly different ideas.

quedar

Here quedar means to remain / to be left.

• Quedan mejillones = There are mussels left

This suggests that some may have been available before, and the speaker wants to know if any remain.

haber in hay

Hay simply means there is / there are.

• Hay calamares = There is / are squid

So the sentence contrasts:

• Are there any mussels left?
• Or is squid all that is available now?

Using quedan is very natural when asking about stock or availability.

Because the two verbs behave differently.

quedan

This is a normal verb, so it agrees with the noun:

• queda un mejillón
• quedan mejillones

hay

This comes from haber used impersonally, and it does not agree with the following noun:

• hay un calamar
• hay calamares

So even with a plural noun, it stays hay.

In Spanish, when talking about an unspecified quantity of something available, articles are often omitted.

• quedan mejillones = there are mussels left
• hay calamares = there is squid / there are squid

This sounds natural when referring to food items in general, especially on a menu or in stock.

If you added an article, the meaning would change:

• quedan los mejillones would suggest the mussels in a more specific sense
• hay los calamares is not correct in this context

Ya solo means something like now only or already only depending on context. In natural English here, it is best understood as:

• or whether by now there is only squid left

The parts:

• ya = already / by now
• solo = only

Together they suggest a change in the situation: maybe earlier there were mussels, but now perhaps only squid remains.

In modern standard Spanish, solo is normally written without an accent, even when it means only.

Older usage often wrote:

• sólo = only
• solo = alone

But current standard spelling usually prefers solo in both cases, unless a writer feels an accent is needed to avoid real ambiguity. In this sentence, solo without an accent is completely normal.

Because this is an indirect question about a real factual situation.

• si hoy quedan mejillones
• si ya solo hay calamares

The speaker is asking for information about what is actually available. That calls for the indicative.

The subjunctive is not used here because this is not about doubt, emotion, purpose, or a hypothetical clause introduced by conditional si. It is simply whether X is true.

Yes. A common less formal version would be:

• ¿Podrías decirme si hoy quedan mejillones o si ya solo hay calamares?

You could also say:

• ¿Me puedes decir si hoy quedan mejillones o si ya solo hay calamares?

These are less formal because they use tú forms instead of usted. In Spain, this is often what you would hear in casual situations, though usted is still appropriate if you want to be especially polite.

Yes, but the nuance changes a bit.

• ¿Tienen mejillones? = Do you have mussels?
• ¿Quedan mejillones? = Are there any mussels left?

Tener asks about availability in general.
Quedar specifically suggests remaining stock.

So in a restaurant, market, or bar, quedan is very natural if you suspect the item may have run out. Hay calamares also sounds natural for stating what is available.

Yes. Hoy is very natural before the verb:

• si hoy quedan mejillones

It frames the question around today’s availability. You could move it slightly in some contexts, but this position is clear and idiomatic.

For example:

• si quedan mejillones hoy is possible, but less neutral here
• si hoy quedan mejillones sounds smoother in this kind of question

Spanish often combines related alternatives into one polite question. It sounds efficient and natural:

• ¿Podría usted decirme si hoy quedan mejillones o si ya solo hay calamares?

Instead of:

• ¿Quedan mejillones hoy?
• ¿O ya solo hay calamares?

The longer version is especially suitable in customer-service situations because it sounds polite, complete, and well-structured.