Collins Dictionaries - Easy Learning Spanish Conversation

When travelling, you’re very likely to want to ask about how often buses, trains and so on run. To do this you can use ¿Cada cuánto tiempo…?( How often…? ) with a verb in the present tense.

To find out if something’s available, whether you’re asking an assistant about car hire, timetables, or seating, you’ll need to use the question ¿Tienen…?( Do you have…? ). It’s from the verb tener. For more information on tener, see here.

Just as in English we can ask for something by saying a…, please , in Spanish you can say un…, por favoror una…, por favor, depending whether the thing you’re asking for is masculine or feminine. Alternatively, another very natural way to ask for things is using ¿Me da…?( Can I have …?).

To say what you’d like or what you want, you can use either quieroor quisiera( I’d like ). They come from the verb querer. For more information on querer, see here.

You can also use ¿Puede…?and ¿Podría…?( Can you …? and Could you …?) when asking whether someone can do something for you. They are both from the verb poder. For more information on poder, see here.

Use ¿Puedo…?or ¿Se puede…?( Can I…? ) to ask whether you can do something. These come from the verb poder( to be able ). For more information on poder, see here.

To ask someone if they mind if you do something, you can use ¿Le importa que…?( Do you mind if…? ) followed by a verb in the present subjunctive. For more information on the subjunctive, see here.