Basic vocabulary and expressions for shopping in Spanish

How are you? Have you already gone to january sales? 

Run, the offers are flying!

If you are a shopping lover, you are going to love this article because I am going to give you a lot Spanish vocabulary for shopping. 👜

It really is a very useful item for anyone, since sooner or later we all have to go to a store and interact with the clerks.

So, prepare your notebook and write down all the new words and expressions, let's go shopping!

Differences between "go shopping" and "shopping"

First of all, we must understand the difference between "go shopping" and "shopping." 

We use "go shopping" when we talk about basic products of food, health, hygiene or household cleaning products. 

When we say that "we are going to buy" or that "we are going to make the purchase» we normally associate it with go to the supermarket to do your weekly shopping or to any establishment that sells food.

The verb "go" can also be conjugated in its reflexive form "leave":

"I already have the supermarket shopping list. I'm going to buy.»

Instead, "go shopping" It is not made in the supermarket, but in the clothing stores, technology, appliances or others.

As you can see, the verb buy can have these two variants in Spanish. Many students get confused by this. Now you will no longer be one of them.😉

Stores for shopping

Let's talk about three types of stores to go shopping:

• Clothing store.
• Accessories store.
• Decoration store.

clothing store 

To learn the clothing vocabulary in Spanish, we classify it into two blocks: autumn-winter clothing and spring-summer clothes.

Vocabulary about autumn-winter clothing

Winter makes many people sad, but... what about how beautiful the winter is? autumn and winter clothing? 😍

At this time of year the cold arrives but it is also the time to show off a elegant and cozy wardrobe.

In this year's fashion abound trench coats long and coats Corduroy with shearling collar. These coats were already widely worn in the late nineties.

You know, nowadays vintage it's fashionable and the old always comes back, let them tell it to the pants bell.

And what do we wear under our coats or jackets?

It is normal to carry long sleeve clothes thinner, like shirts or sweaters.

If it is very cold there is nothing like a good hat wool and some gloves to warm us up. 

Oh, and don't forget the scarf! It is easy to get cold if we do not cover the neck well. Another good option for this is to wear an elegant turtleneck sweater. 

For rainy days you can cover your torso with a good raincoat, and you should also avoid getting your feet wet with high shoes, such as boots.

Have many puddles formed on the floor? So maybe it's better to put on some water boots. 

Do you like to be fashionable? According to the Vogue magazine, the main colors of this winter's clothing are black and white, although it seems that the pink It will also be seen a lot in women. 

And, be careful! Apparently the dominatrix style with materials such as leather and latex they are going to set a trend this year. My mother! 🤣

Vocabulary about spring-summer clothes 

When spring arrives, we start to wear lighter clothes and dress with happier colors.

Gone are the long dark-colored coats, it's time to take the clothes out of the closet. short sleeve t-shirts and the blouses.

It's also time to put on our shorts, the bermuda and the skirts so that the sun tans our little legs, which will surely be pale as a wall after the long winter. 😅

What clothes do we wear when we go swimming at the beach or pool?

In this case we must carry a swimsuit or a bikini.

By the way, before summer in Spain what we call "Operation Bikini" begins; People go to the gym and try to take care of themselves as much as possible to show off beautiful mountain bodies on the beaches. 💪

What was the fashion last summer in Spain? The girls showed off their dresses summery with bright colors and flower prints. 

The most modern boys dressed with wide shirts colorful hawaiian

Shoe stores

We continue with the vocabulary of clothing and clothing stores. 

Now it's time to talk about the shoe stores, the stores where we find all kinds of footwear.

Do we want to walk elegant and warm during the winter? Some boots or ankle boots can meet this goal.

If, on the other hand, you want to go to the beach in summer, the ideal is flip flops or sandals.

Do you want modern and comfortable footwear to wear at all times of the year?

You will always find casual sneakers or ballet flats to play that role.

For the most important events or parties, if I were you I would wear dress shoes, loafers or high heel shoes. 

They are special occasions, let everyone's mouths open when they see you! 😯

To go around the house I recommend some house shoes, is what most of us Spaniards use.

What if we want to do a sporting activity? So the normal thing is to buy some sports shoes. There are different types for each sport.

Accessories stores

How boring life would be without accessories! don't you think?

Those small (sometimes not so small) accessories can be the details that refine our personality when it comes to dressing.

In the accessories stores we can find accessories for dolls such as watches or bracelets.

There are people who prefer to wear necklaces or pendants on the neck.

Others love to wear earrings in the ears and rings on the fingers. There are many types: gold, silver, with diamonds...

To store their things, many women carry bags. It is important not to confuse the bag with the bag. 

The Bag is usually made of plastic or cardboard and is used to transport food or other things from one place to another, it is not an accessory.

Men have something equivalent to a purse, it is called shoulder bag.

If we want to look very modern and exude cockiness wherever we go, the cap and some sunglasses They are the best accessories. 😎

Decoration stores

In the decoration stores We find everything related to household objects: furniture, wardrobes, sofas, chairs, paintings, tables, cushions, beds, bathrooms... 

we can even buy parts of the house already pre-designed, such as the living room or kitchen.

what decoration style Do you want to give it to your house? Without a doubt, the style that has been most fashionable in recent decades has been the minimalist, with the white and gray tones.

It seems that this year the trend is going to change a little. The mix of warm and dark colors is carried out, with more presence of objects, textures and a lot of naturalness.

Important verbs for shopping

What a class of clothing store I'm giving you, huh? And totally free! 

Well this is nothing. We will continue to expand our clothing store vocabulary, now with Spanish verbs for shopping.

We are going to divide them into three types: 

• Client actions.
• Seller actions.
• Verbs that talk about the product.

Client actions

For the customer actions, it will be very good for you to use the verb «want» when expressing what you want buy. 

Example:

• "Hello, good afternoon. I want buy some black jeans. Can you help me?

This sentence would be good, although... doesn't the verb want in the present tense seem too direct to you? 

It sounds very serious, right? As if you wanted to demand that the clerk give you the pants.

We want you to be educated so that wherever you go the store clerks are delighted with you. 

For that I'm going to give you a little trick: use time simple conditional.

Using the verb "want" in the simple conditional you will be being more polite, I'm sure that the clerks will serve you better this way. 

Example:

• «Hello, good afternoon. I would like buy some black jeans. ¿you could help me?

Do you see it? It sounds much better that way! 😉

You can also use the simple conditional with the verb gusta:

• "Hello, I would like try this shirt on. Where are the fitting rooms?

The verb try on refers to putting on a piece of clothing for the first time to see if you like it or not. 

Don't confuse it with verb try, which is used to talk about actions that we do for the first time in general.

While we are in the fitting room, we can ask to the dependents if they can bring other clothes of different size:

• "Please, could you bring me a size M of this shirt?"

Many times we go to the store not only to buy, but to return or exchange a product. 

The verb returnIt is used when you don't like the item you bought and want to get back the money you spent. 

Sometimes we try on an item of clothing at the clothing store and we like it, but then at home we change our mind. How can it be? 

It must be the lights they put in the fitting rooms... 🤔

When we use the verb change, what we want is to replace the purchased item with another of equal price. 

This is common, for example, if we realize that the size of the clothes we have bought is not appropriate.

Examples:

• «Hello, I would like change this shirt for a larger size of the same model.
• «Hello, I would like return this scarf because I realized I don't like it. Give me my money now! (just kidding, don't say that last one 🤣).

On some occasions, the customer only goes to the store to look the items, you are still not sure what you want to buy and you need to research and compare the prices of the different stores.

I hope you are not one of those annoying customers who harass the clerks with a thousand questions and then leave without buying anything. 🙈

Seller actions

Let's talk now about the actions of the seller or dependent. This person's job is help to the client find the product you are looking for and sell as many items as possible.

The seller must assist the customer whenever he needs it. 

In Spain, it is very common that as soon as we enter the store door, a sales assistant approaches us to offer help.

Here you have a small dialogue between seller and customer with examples:

• Dependent: "Hello, if you need anything I'm here to help you."

• Client 1: "Great, now that you mention it, I wanted to look for a plaid shirt." 

• Client 2: "Thank you very much, for now I just came to look."

Another phrase that shop assistants often say is with verb attend: 

• "Hello, how can I help you?"

And let's not forget that charge the buyer At the cash register is another of the most important tasks of the clerks. 

If the customer says it is for a gift, the product box must be wrap.

The task of collecting payments can be one of the busiest, especially when forming long lines on weekends or on Sales dates.

Clerks also control access to fitting rooms and look for the products in the warehouse or the clothing sizes that the client requests.

Verbs that talk about the product

At the time of talk about the product in store or supermarket, we have some basic verbs that you have to know.

The first would be verb cost, essential to know the price of something. Do you know how the price is asked? The most common way is like this:

• ""How much does it cost this product?

You can also use the verb worth, which in this context has the same meaning as cost. 

I give you a typical example in the supermarket:

• ""How much does a boat cost? of olives?

But be careful ⚠️, do not confuse the verb worth to ask the price of something with theword "ok" which serves to affirm. For example:

• Manuel: "Shall we go to the beach?"

• Pepe: «!Okay! That seems fine to me".

There are other important things related to products besides price.

For example, if the product does not work as it should or has been sold to us broken or in poor condition, we say that It has defects.

In this case, we can return it or exchange it for another with the receipt guarantee. 

Vocabulary and useful expressions related to money

There are many words and expressions in Spanish for talk about money in our daily lives, let's see them! 💸

Verbs and nouns

When you go to the store, there are verbs and nouns basics that you should know related to money:

Pay by card or cash

When we go to pay, we can do it mainly in two ways:

• Do the card payment debit or credit.
• Do the cash payment. That is, with money in hand, whether in bills or coins.

Nowadays almost all of us prefer pay by card because it is more convenient not to have to carry coins in our pockets. 

But be careful with spend more than necessary! 

It has been proven that if we pay with a card we spend more than when we do it in cash because we don't see the amount of money in our hands.

The price

Before we have talked about the verbs "cost" and "valer" to ask the price of things. 

There are other verbs related to the price of products, those related to its decrease. 

That is, the verbs that indicate that the price of object is cheaper than before.

For this, there are mainly two verbs: have discount and be on sale.

I give you examples of a supermarket dialogue in Spanish so that you understand them better:

• "This cheese has a discount of 50%. Before it cost 5 euros and now it costs 2.5.

• «The salmon is on sale. Today it costs 3 euros less, take advantage of the fact that it will only be available today!

The purchase ticket or receipt

The purchase ticket or receipt It is part of the vocabulary of money and stores that you should know. 

It is that small document that confirm our purchase on the exact date with the price spent. 

When we buy in a physical store, the receipt is usually given on a piece of paper. 

If we buy online, the receipt is sent to email.

This receipt is very important, since it allows us make changes or returns if we do not like the product at all or if it is defective.

In Spain, we can exchange or return a piece of clothing or footwear within a period of between 15 days or a month, as long as we have not removed the label.

In electronic devices there is usually a exchange guarantee of two years if it breaks down.

To make these changes or returns it is always necessary to show the purchase receipt, so...

Keep your purchase receipt well and don't lose it!

The box

What is the name of the place where we make purchases in a store? The counter, and there it is the box.

"The box" is an abbreviation of the cash register, that device that is used to save money from purchases and give change to the customer when they give extra money.

Gift ticket

The gift ticket, as its name indicates, is ideal when we give gifts to someone.

The peculiarity of this ticket is that does not set the price. 

Thus, if we buy a product for someone as a gift and they don't like it or it works poorly, this person can exchange it for another without knowing how much it cost.

It's very unpleasant to discover the price of a gift! 👎

Therefore, if you are going to give gifts to a loved one, remember request the gift ticket.

Sales

Before we have talked about verbs to indicate the reduction in the cost of a product.

There is also the word «sales», which refers to general price reductions in clothing and electronic products that occur in specific seasons of the year. 

The main sales seasons are these:

• January sales.
• Summer sales.
• Black Friday sales.

This word can be used as a subject or with the verb haber: 

• «The discounts "January have already started."
• «In this store there are sales very good They are sold things for one euro!».

Useful expressions

It's time to see some useful phrases in Spanish related with money and purchases.

How much does it cost…?

To ask the price of something, we use the interrogative pronoun "how much":

• Client: ""How much does it cost this sweater?

• Seller: "It costs 25 euros."

Remember that we can also use the verb worth: ""How much is it worth this television?

Can I pay by card?

You already know that the verb pay can be followed by: with card / in cash.

Sometimes we are not sure if the store accepts card payments and we want to ask. This is the most common question:

• "Can I pay by card?"

Remember ☝️, the periphrasis «power + infinitive» it's great for ask permission and be polite. 

I want to return this

When we are not happy with a purchase, we can simply say:

• "Hello, I want to return this».

If the product is in good condition and meets the return deadline on the ticket, they will have to give us our money without a problem.

Do you remember what verb tense we can use to be more polite in our requests? 🤔

For that we use the simple conditional:

• "Hello, I would like give this back."👌

¿Can you give me a gift ticket?

If we want to request a gift ticket, we can say: 

• «Can you give me a gift ticket, please?»

Here I have used the form "may" because the subject is "you». The “you” form is also fantastic for expressing courtesy in Spanish.

I take this one

We use the verb take away to indicate the product we want to buy.

This verb is common especially when there are other similar ones and we have previously been undecided about what to buy at the supermarket or in a store.

In this clothing store dialogue you will understand it well:

• Seller: "Have you decided on the pants yet?"
• Customer:«Yes, after trying several, I take these»

Vocabulary about spaces and things in a store

Let's now talk about vocabulary spaces and things in a store.

The cash register

Do you remember what the cash register? It is that device that opens and closes where store clerks keep buyers' money.

However, the box is not just that. Many times we can use the term "the box" also for the counter area from a store or supermarket.

In fact, when we shop at the supermarket, the tape where we spend our food and the clerk charges us, we call it "the box."

When large queues form to buy at the supermarket or clothing stores, the different checkouts are operational and it is common for the clerks to call us:

• “Please come through this box.”

Sometimes each box can also have a number:

• "Please go through box number 6."

The testers

The testers They are only in clothing stores. 

Are those private cabins where do we go to see if it suits us well the clothes we want to buy.

Did you know the verb look good?

In this context it is used to indicate when a piece of clothing, footwear or accessory fits us and makes us more beautiful. 😏

It is conjugated like the verb gustar: 

It suits me well

It looks good on you

It suits him/her/you

It suits us well

It looks good on you

It looks good on them.

We also say"look bad" when a piece of clothing does not flatter us.

Examples:

• «I tried this jacket on in the fitting room and it suits me very well. I'll take it!

• "This shirt it looks bad on you because it makes you fatter.

The showcase 

At the entrance of the stores there is usually a showcase. 

It is a sample of some of the most notable articles of the store so that people passing by can see them through a glass.

In this way it draws people's attention with the intention of getting them into the store.

The mannequins

Have you ever wondered what those are called in Spanish? dolls that are dressed in clothing stores? They are called mannequins.

Its function is quite important, because in addition to decorating the store we can get an idea of ​​how a garment looks on a body.

Although, let's be honest... Everything fits these mannequins! 

With such slender bodies... What envy! 🥲

The hangers

The hangers They are essential in clothing stores. They are those objects with hooks that go into clothes and are used to hang them on shelves.

There are also hangers with clips to hang pants.

The shelves

Thanks to the shelves, businesses can organize your products and show them to the public in a way clear and attractive. 

They are also used to divide the different sections in a supermarket.

The dependent

We have already talked about the figure of dependent before. 

It is the person in a store who deals with the customer, helping them with what they are looking for, charging them or making the desired changes or returns.

Do you want to know more jobs in clothing stores and related vocabulary?

For example, there is the replenisher, who is the person who carefully places and arranges the products on the shelves. 

The person in charge of directing and training these workers is the supervisor or manager.

There are other functions in the back room as well. The worker who is responsible for checking and shipping the goods from the warehouse is called warehouse boy.

The client

I don't need to go into this for too long, right?

The client is the person who goes to a establishment to buy a product or service.

The dataphone

The dataphone It is the instrument that is used in all shops and establishments to pay by card.

Do you know the difference between the verb pay and the verb spend?

spend money It is using money on something or in some activity.

Example:

• "I don't mind spending a lot of money on travel."

Pay It is giving a person or entity an amount of money in exchange for a product or service.

Example:

• «The client wants to pay for these gloves with a card. "I'm going to take out the dataphone."

The claim sheet

Have you ever felt so poorly served in a store or been denied a right you had? For example, the right to a refund.

That's what the claim sheet. It is a document addressed to the Administration in which the client puts a complaint about an establishment. 

Useful phrases for buying clothes

Well, well... By now you've learned many words to shop in spanish to the store! 

Let's see some basic phrases to learn Spanish and buy clothes…and we'll call it a day!

How does this look on me?

Before I have explained the meaning of the verb "look good/bad."

Also can be used in questions. Sometimes we are not sure if those clothes fit us well and the opinion of a good friend can help us:

• Mark: ""How does it look on me? this hat?
• Joan: «Buy it! "It looks great on you."

Do you have the same one in another color?

Has it ever happened to you that you are in a store and you like the model of a garment but not the color?

In this situation you can use this question:

• "Do you have the same one in another color?"

Can you get me a size more/less?

Sometimes we try on clothes in the fitting room but they are too big or too small.

In these cases we can ask the clerk to bring us a different size:

• "Can you get me a bigger/smaller size?"

In Spain, clothing sizes They are classified like this:

XS – very small

S – small

M – medium

L – large

XL – larger

XXL – extra large

Where are the fitting rooms?

If we don't find the testers On our own, we can always ask the workers:

• «Excuse me, where are the fitting rooms?».

Could you try it on?

In a clothing or accessories store there are items that cannot be tried on, such as underwear, caps or hats.

If you have doubts about whether something can or cannot be tested, ask:

• ""could try me this hat?"

Can you get me the one from the window?

And what happens if we love the coat in the window but don't see it in the store? Well, arm yourself with courage and ask:

• «Can you get my jacket out of the window? "I love it but I haven't seen it in the store."

Activities to practice 

Did you think you were going to get out of here without putting everything you learned to the test?

It would be a shame, so I propose two activities. 🤓

In the first activity you are going to review a lot vocabulary that appeared in the article with a Memory game. 

You must match each image with its corresponding word.

In the second activity in the exercise you will practice the useful phrases when we are in the stores.

You have to drag the sentences below into the appropriate spaces. You can see the solutions in the same exercise.

Luck!

What a great shopping guide I've made for you! And this is nothing, there is much more content you can learn about shopping.

Have you been left wanting more?

In our face-to-face Spanish courses u online You will learn related grammar and vocabulary from all establishments.

come to Hispania, Spanish school, the happiest school in our country and learn Spanish.☺️

We are in the city of Valencia and there are many stores and shopping centers here so you can test what you have learned in this article.

Have you ever had problems communicating in stores in Spain? 

Do you think this article will help you so that the next time you go to a store you can interact with the clerks without fear?

Tell me in the Comments and we'll talk! 🙌

Article written by Carlos Martinez for Hispania, Spanish school 

More articles