At the Market
When shopping for fresh produce, you will often buy things by weight. Use el kilo to ask for specific amounts.
Adjectives like fresco (fresh) come after the noun and match its gender and number.
| I want a kilo of fresh tomatoes, please. | Quiero un kilo de tomates frescos, por favor. |
Sweet Fruits
Add fruits to your basket like la naranja (the orange) and el plátano (the banana).
Adjectives ending in -e, like dulce (sweet), do not change for gender. Just add -s to make them plural.
| The oranges from Spain are very sweet. | Las naranjas de España son muy dulces. |
| The boys want the sweet bananas. | Los niños quieren los plátanos dulces. |
Vegetables and Seasoning
For a good salad or cooked meal, you will need basics like la lechuga (the lettuce), la cebolla (the onion), and la zanahoria (the carrot). Add flavor with el limón (the lemon) or el ajo (the garlic).
| I need a lemon for the lettuce. | Necesito un limón para la lechuga. |
| I always cook the meat with onion and garlic. | Yo siempre cocino la carne con cebolla y ajo. |
Replacing Nouns with "It" and "Them"
To avoid repeating a noun, replace it with a direct object pronoun: lo (it, masc.), la (it, fem.), los (them, masc.), or las (them, fem.).
In Spanish, these pronouns go before the conjugated verb.
| The garlic is good, but I do not eat it. | El ajo es bueno, pero no lo como. |
| The carrots? I buy them on Mondays. | ¿Las zanahorias? Las compro los lunes. |