Tengo and Tiene

Question

I was reading Giti's question about having someone on the phone and posted a reply as a question but I don't think anyone is reading that strand anymore so I have decided to ask the question again - tiene and tengo - I want to know what the informal use of the verb is when saying things like 'Can I have media kilo (of) cebolla' or should I use the formal? Should I just use 'quisiera' or 'deme'? Please forgive me, my Spanish is very poor - basic school level and I haven't used it for three years but I do want to be able to ask for things in shops and at the market when I go there in the summer without sounding as if I have just steped out of a Spanish lesson!

Answer 1

Thanks besos, that is exactly the kind of thing I wanted to know - what to use when shopping as opposed to what to say when ordering food. I'm glad to see 'deme' can be used when shopping as it is easy to remember! In English to say 'give me' could be quite rude.

Answer 2

If you are shopping, you should say Deme medi kilo de cebolla.
Quisiera es ( I would like) Quisiera comer cebollas. Deme is more like a command for when you are shopping. If you want to eat onions then you would say quisiera.

Answer 3

Cheers Heidita - you are a star!

Answer 4

You can start a new thread whenever you feel like it, Lucy.

you do not use "tener" in these sentences.

'Can I have media kilo (of) cebolla' : ¿Me puede dar medio kilo de cebolla? Deme medio kilo de cebolla. Quiero medio kilo de cebolla.
You will be asked: ¿Qué desea? ¿Qué la doy? (this is wrong grammar, it should be "le" but I hear this so often....))