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En la tienda, una docena de huevos cuesta dos euros y noventa céntimos.

En la tienda, una docena de huevos cuesta dos euros y noventa céntimos.
In the shop, a dozen eggs costs two euros and ninety cents.
FromLesson 95inHardcore Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about En la tienda, una docena de huevos cuesta dos euros y noventa céntimos.

Why does the sentence start with En la tienda?
En la tienda means in the shop/store or at the shop/store. It sets the scene first: we are talking about the price there. Spanish often puts this kind of location phrase at the beginning, but you could also say Una docena de huevos cuesta dos euros y noventa céntimos en la tienda.
Why is there a comma after En la tienda?
The comma separates the opening location phrase from the main part of the sentence. It works a bit like an introductory phrase in English, as in In the shop, a dozen eggs costs.... In short sentences, Spanish sometimes omits this comma, but using it here is perfectly natural.
Why is it una docena and not un docena?
Because docena is a feminine noun in Spanish, so it takes the feminine article una. Even though a dozen is a quantity, you still match the article to the gender of docena, not to the gender of huevos.
Why do we say una docena de huevos?
After nouns of quantity like docena, Spanish normally uses de before the thing being counted. So una docena de huevos literally means a dozen of eggs. This is the standard pattern: un kilo de patatas, un grupo de amigos, una taza de café.
Why is the verb cuesta singular and not plural?
The grammatical subject is una docena, which is singular, so the verb is singular too: cuesta. Even though there are many eggs, the sentence is treating them as one dozen. English can do the same: A dozen eggs costs..., though many speakers might also say cost informally.
Why is there no article before huevos? Why not de los huevos?
After a quantity expression like una docena de, Spanish normally uses the noun without an article when speaking generally. So una docena de huevos means a dozen eggs in general, not a specific known set of eggs. Una docena de los huevos would only make sense in a special context, such as a dozen of the eggs from a particular group.
Why do we use cuesta here? Could we also say vale?
Yes, you could also say vale: Una docena de huevos vale dos euros y noventa céntimos. Both are correct. Costar means to cost, while valer means to be worth / to cost and is very common in everyday Spanish, especially in Spain.
Why is the price written as dos euros y noventa céntimos?
This is a normal way to say €2.90 out loud in Spanish. The y links the euros and the cents: two euros and ninety cents. In Spain, people also very often say dos euros con noventa in everyday speech.
Why are euros and céntimos both plural?
Because the amounts are more than one: dos euros and noventa céntimos. Spanish pluralizes currency words in the usual way. If it were one euro, it would be un euro, and if it were one céntimo, it would be un céntimo.
What is the singular of huevos, and how is it pronounced?
The singular is huevo, meaning egg. The h is silent, so it sounds roughly like WEH-bo in Spain, and huevos like WEH-bos. The ue is pronounced as a diphthong, not as two separate vowel sounds.
Could the word order be changed?
Yes. Spanish word order is flexible. For example, Una docena de huevos cuesta dos euros y noventa céntimos en la tienda is also grammatical, but starting with En la tienda emphasizes the place first.
Is céntimos still the normal word in Spain?
Yes. In Spain, céntimo is the standard word for a cent of a euro. In real life, though, people often shorten prices and say things like dos noventa or dos euros con noventa, especially in shops and conversation.
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