Explore Tapas Culture in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to explore tapas culture in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• use phrases related to food

• talk about typical Spanish food

• use the simple future

Vocabulary

Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!

Adverb

Spanish	English
enfrente	across the street, opposite

examples
Esperarán en el bar de enfrente. They'll wait in the bar across the street.

Demonstrative Pronoun

Spanish	English
aquello	that

examples
¿Esto es lo mismo que aquello? Is this the same as that?

Indefinite Article

Spanish	English
unas	some

examples
Nos apetecen unas gambas al ajillo. We feel like having some shrimp in garlic sauce.

Nouns

Spanish	English
la aceituna	olive
el boquerón	anchovy
el camarero, la camarera	waiter, waitress
la gamba	shrimp

examples
Sí, me apetecen unas aceitunas. Yeah, I feel like having olives.
A ella le apetecen unos boquerones. She feels like having anchovies.
El camarero traerá la cuenta. The waiter will bring the bill.

The indefinite article always has to match both the gender and number of its noun. For example if a noun is masculine and singular (like boquerón), then its article also has to be masculine and singular (so, un boquerón. If that same noun were plural (like boquerones), the article would also be plural (so, unos boquerones.

Noun Phrases

Spanish	English
la ensaladilla rusa	potato salad
las patatas bravas	patatas bravas, fried potatoes with spicy tomato sauce
el pimiento de Padrón	Padron pepper

examples
Para ti, ensaladilla rusa. You'll have potato salad.
Servirán las patatas bravas con salsa. They'll serve the patatas bravas with sauce.
No, aquello es un pimiento de Padrón. No, that's a Padron pepper.

The Mighty Anchovy: Many Names (in Spanish!) for One Little Fish

Depending on where you are in Spain, the anchovy can take different names. For example, in parts of northern Spain—the region where some of the best Spanish anchovy fishing and packing companies are located—anchovy (the fresh fish!) is translated as bocarte. However, in the rest of Spain, it’s boquerón. To make things even more confusing, in northern Spain, boquerón refers to anchovies that have been prepared with vinegar, olive oil, garlic, and parsley!

So, what about anchoa? The word anchoa refers to salt-cured anchovies. But wait, there’s more! Yup, you guessed it. Some parts of Spain refer to the fresh fish as anchoa.

So, when you’re in Spain and you see one of these words, what should you do!? Don’t be afraid to ask. We know anchovies have a bad rap in many English-speaking cultures, but they’re a true delicacy in Spain, where anchovies are taken quite seriously!

You can learn more about the Spanish foods mentioned in these articles:

Guide to Spanish Tapas

Spanish Cuisine: More than Paella!

Possessive Pronouns

Spanish	English
el mío	mine
la mía	mine
el nuestro	ours
las nuestras	ours
el suyo	his, hers, yours (formal you), theirs
la suya	his, hers, yours (formal you), theirs
las suyas	his, hers, yours (formal you), theirs
los suyos	his, hers, yours (formal you), theirs
el tuyo	yours (informal you)
la tuya	yours (informal you)

examples
Estas son las nuestras. These ones are ours.
Estos son los suyos. These ones are theirs.
Esta es la mía. This one is mine.

Each Spanish possessive pronoun has four forms that must agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) with the noun in the phrase they replace. These pronouns are the same as the long forms of possessive adjectives, but are always used with the definite article.

Possessive Pronoun Forms

In the table below, you'll find the different forms Spanish possessive pronouns can take.

	Masculine Singular Form	Masculine Plural Form	Feminine Singular Form	Feminine Plural Form
first person singular (yo)	mío	míos	mía	mías
second person informal singular (tú, vos)	tuyo	tuyos	tuya	tuyas
second person formal singular (usted)	suyo	suyos	suya	suyas
third person singular (él, ella)	suyo	suyos	suya	suyas
first person plural (nosotros)	nuestro	nuestros	nuestra	nuestras
second person plural (vosotros)	vuestro	vuestros	vuestra	vuestras
second person plural (ustedes)	suyo	suyos	suya	suyas
third person plural (ellos, ellas)	suyo	suyos	suya	suyas

Note that third person singular, formal second person singular, formal second person plural, and third person plural possessive pronoun forms are the same! El suyocan mean his, hers, yours, or theirs.

Prepositional Phrases

Spanish	English
a la gallega	Galician-style
a la plancha	grilled
al ajillo	in garlic sauce
para ellas	for them
para mí	for me
para ti	for you

examples
Probarán el pulpo a la gallega. They'll try the Galician-style octopus.
Para ellas, las verduras a la plancha. They'll have the grilled vegetables.
Nos apetecen unas gambas al ajillo. We feel like having some shrimp in garlic sauce.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verb!

Apetecer

Apetecer(to feel like [doing, having]) is an -er verb like gustar.

A+ Pronoun(s)	Singular Conjugation	Plural Conjugation	Translation	Notes
a mí	me apetece	me apetecen	I feel like / I feel like
a ti	te apetece	te apetecen	you feel like / you feel like	informal singular you
a vos	te apetece	te apetecen	you feel like / you feel like	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
a él, a ella	le apetece	le apetecen	he/she feels like / he/she feels like
a usted	le apetece	le apetecen	you feel like / you feel like	formal singular you
a nosotros, a nosotras	nos apetece	nos apetecen	we feel like / we feel like
a vosotros, a vosotras	os apetece	os apetecen	you feel like / you feel like	informal plural you (in Spain)
a ellos, a ellas	les apetece	les apetecen	they feel like / they feel like
a ustedes	les apetece	les apetecen	you feel like / you feel like	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

The Simple Future

In these lessons, you saw sentences that use the simple future. While the simple future is most often used to talk about what a person will do, it can also be used to talk about conjecture, possibilities, and probabilities in the present, make predictions about the future, and give solemn commands.

To conjugate regular verbs in the simple future tense, simply add the correct ending to the infinitive of the verb. All verb conjugations (-ar, -er, and -ir) have the same endings in the simple future tense, and we add these endings to irregular stems as well.