Make Tapas in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to make tapas in Spanish! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• talk about food

• describe how to make food

• use common phrases to describe food

Vocabulary

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

Adverbs

Spanish	English
finalmente	finally
incluso	even

examples
Finalmente, pongo la tortilla de patatas en el plato. Finally, I put the Spanish omelette on the plate.
Incluso pueden llevar queso. They can even have cheese.

Adverbs of Order

We use adverbs of order to describe the order in which something occurred. In this lesson, you’ll encounter the following adverbs of order:

Spanish	English
primero	first
luego	then
después	then or afterward
finalmente	finally

Nouns

Spanish	English
la cebolla	onion
la cucharada	tablespoon
el embutido	sausage
el ingrediente	ingredient
el jamón	ham
la opción	option
la patata	potato
la rebanada	slice
la sal	salt
la sartén	frying pan
la tapa	tapa
la tosta	tosta

examples
A veces le pongo cebolla. Sometimes I put in onion.
Primero, escojo los ingredientes. First, I choose the ingredients.
Después, corto las patatas. Afterward, I cut the potatoes.

Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Just like in English, Spanish has nouns that are countable and uncountable. Countable nouns are nouns that can be counted: for example, un grano de arroz(a grain of rice) or una botella de agua(a bottle of water). In this case, we are counting the grain and the bottle; grano and botella are countable nouns. However, if we talk about arroz and agua, they are both uncountable nouns.

Other common food-related uncountable nouns include:

Spanish	English
aceite de oliva	olive oil
azúcar	sugar
carne	meat
leche	milk
sal	salt

Omitting Articles with Uncountable or Plural Nouns

When we are talking about an uncountable or plural noun in a general way, we tend to omit the article in Spanish. For example:

examples

Luego, pongo aceite de oliva en la sartén.

Then, I put the olive oil in the frying pan.

Note that we’re not talking about the olive oil in that bottle over there. No. We’re talking about using olive oil in general.

Noun Phrases

Spanish	English
el aceite de oliva	olive oil
el agua sin gas	non-carbonated water
la barra de pan	baguette
el queso manchego	Manchego cheese
la tortilla de patata	Spanish omelette

examples
Luego, pongo aceite de oliva en la sartén. Then, I put the olive oil in the frying pan.
Para beber, hay agua sin gas. To drink, there's still water.
Necesito una barra de pan. I need a baguette.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

Añadir

Añadiris a regular -ir verb that means to add.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	añado	I add
tú	añades	you add	informal singular you
vos	añadís	you add	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	añade	he, she adds
usted	añade	you add	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	añadimos	we add
vosotros, vosotras	añadís	you add	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	añaden	they add
ustedes	añaden	you add	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Colocar

Colocaris a regular -ar verb that means to put.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	coloco	I put
tú	colocas	you put	informal singular you
vos	colocás	you put	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	coloca	he, she puts
usted	coloca	you put	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	colocamos	we put
vosotros, vosotras	colocáis	you put	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	colocan	they put
ustedes	colocan	you put	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Echar

Echaris a regular -ar verb that means to add.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	echo	I add
tú	echas	you add	informal singular you
vos	echás	you add	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	echa	he, she adds
usted	echa	you add	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	echamos	we add
vosotros, vosotras	echáis	you add	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	echan	they add
ustedes	echan	you add	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Mezclar

Mezclaris a regular -ar verb that means to mix.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	mezclo	I mix
tú	mezclas	you mix	informal singular you
vos	mezclás	you mix	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	mezcla	he, she mixes
usted	mezcla	you mix	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	mezclamos	we mix
vosotros, vosotras	mezcláis	you mix	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	mezclan	they mix
ustedes	mezclan	you mix	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Tapear

Tapearis a regular -ar verb that means to have some tapas.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	tapeo	I have some tapas
tú	tapeas	you have some tapas	informal singular you
vos	tapeás	you have some tapas	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	tapea	he, she has some tapas
usted	tapea	you have some tapas	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	tapeamos	we have some tapas
vosotros, vosotras	tapeáis	you have some tapas	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	tapean	they have some tapas
ustedes	tapean	you have some tapas	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Verb Phrases

In this skill, you learn the following verb phrases!

Barrer El Piso

Barrer el pisois a regular -er verb phrase that means to sweep the floor.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	barro el piso	I sweep the floor
tú	barres el piso	you sweep the floor	informal singular you
vos	barrés el piso	you sweep the floor	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	barre el piso	he, she sweeps the floor
usted	barre el piso	you sweep the floor	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	barremos el piso	we sweep the floor
vosotros, vosotras	barréis el piso	you sweep the floor	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	barren el piso	they sweep the floor
ustedes	barren el piso	you sweep the floor	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Hacer La Compra

Hacer la comprais an -er verb phrase with an irregular yo form that means to do the shopping.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	hago la compra	I do the shopping
tú	haces la compra	you do the shopping	informal singular you
vos	hacés la compra	you do the shopping	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	hace la compra	he, she does the shopping
usted	hace la compra	you do the shopping	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	hacemos la compra	we do the shopping
vosotros, vosotras	hacéis la compra	you do the shopping	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	hacen la compra	they do the shopping
ustedes	hacen la compra	you do the shopping	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Remember that, when conjugated, some Spanish verbs undergo a spelling change called a stem change. Review stem–changing verbs in Spanish with this article.