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La cuenta, por favor.

La cuenta, por favor.
The bill, please.
From Lesson 69:At the bar (¿qué vas a tomar?)·Spanish (Spain)

Breakdown of La cuenta, por favor.

por favor
please
la cuenta
the bill

Questions & Answers about La cuenta, por favor.

Does cuenta mean a restaurant bill, or can I use it for paper money too?
In a restaurant or café, la cuenta means the bill or the check. If you are talking about paper money (like a 10-euro bill) or a train ticket, you must use a different word: el billete. You might also see cuenta used to mean a bank account.
Is it polite to just say la cuenta without a verb like 'can I have'?
Yes, absolutely! Just like saying 'The bill, please' in English, it is perfectly polite and very common in Spain to simply ask for la cuenta, por favor to catch the waiter's attention. You don't need to learn a complicated verb phrase to pay for your meal.
What do the words por favor literally translate to?
Literally, it translates to 'for a favor'. Por is a very common word that often means 'for' or 'through', and favor means 'favor'. Together as a set phrase, they are the standard way to say 'please' in Spanish.

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