You know how to say por favor and gracias (please and thank you). But there are many other ways to be polite, and they are extremely important in normal conversation. Let’s see the most common ones:
- When we meet new people, we usually say nice to meet you. The most common one is mucho gusto, but we have more options:
Mucho gusto.
Encantado/encantada.
Un placer.
Gusto en conocerlo/conocerla.
- When we request something, we usually do it using the conditional form:
Me gustaría tomar un café. I would like to drink a coffee.
¿Tendrías un poco de azúcar? Do you have some sugar?
¿Podrías servirme más té? Could you serve me more tea?
¿Me darías un poco de miel? Would you give me some honey?
¿Te molestaría abrir la ventana? Don’t you mind to open the window?
¿Te importaría pasarme el periódico? Don’t you mind to pass me the newspaper?
¿Me harías un favor? Would you do me a favour?
Notice that for to drink we say ‘beber’, but it is very frequent to use ‘tomar’ (to take or to carry), because in order to drink something, you need to take the glass or the mug.
Another alternative:
Si no es molestia, ¿podría pasar al baño? If it is not a problem, could I go to the toilet?
Si no te/le molesta, ¿podría cerrar la puerta? If you don’t mind, could you close the door?
Remember that te molesta (a ti) is informal, whereas le molesta (a usted) is formal.
- Sometimes, we use the subjunctive with the same meaning:
Quisiera beber una limonada. I would like to drink a lemonade.
So basically, quisiera or me gustaría are interchangeable.
- Let’s see now how to apologise.
Perdón, no me di cuenta. Sorry, I didn’t realise.
Perdona, no te vi. Sorry, I didn’t see you.
Perdone, no sabía que estaba usted allí. Sorry, I didn’t know that you were there.
Disculpa (o discúlpame), no fue mi intención. Sorry, it wasn’t my intention.
Disculpe (o discúlpeme), estaba distraída. Sorry, I was absent-minded.
Lo siento, me equivoqué. Sorry, I made a mistake.
Mil disculpas, no sé cómo ocurrió esto. Sorry (one thousand of them, literally), I don’t know how this happened.
Again, perdona (tú) is informal, but perdone (usted) is formal.
- If we want to help someone, we say something like this:
¿En qué puedo ayudarte? ¿Puedo ayudarte en algo? May I help you with something? (informal)
¿En qué puedo ayudarlo? ¿Puedo ayudarlo en algo? May I help you with something? (formal)
¿En qué puedo servirle? What can I help you? (formal)
- If someone requests something, we can give an affirmative answer. All these options mean of course:
Claro.
Por supuesto.
Sí, cómo no.
Desde ya.
Desde luego.
Or with a negative answer:
Lo siento, no puedo ayudarlo en este momento. I am sorry, I cannot help you at this moment.
Lo lamento, no tengo tiempo. I am sorry, I don’t have time.
Disculpe, tengo mucha prisa. I am sorry, I am in a big hurry.
Perdone, no lo sé. I am sorry, I don’t know.
- When we want to excuse us, we usually use the form es que followed by the excuse, which could be true or not. Suppose that I couldn’t finish my job. I say:
Es que era demasiado largo y no tuve tiempo. It’s just that it was too long and I didn’t have time.
Es que estuve enferma y tuve que ir al médico. It’s just that I was sick and I had to go to the doctor.
Es que era más difícil de lo previsto. It’s just that it was more difficult than expected.
In all these cases, you can say simply:
Era demasiado largo y no tuve tiempo.
Estuve enferma y tuve que ir al médico.
Era más difícil de lo previsto.
However, we prefer the form with es que, because it is more expressive.
- When we want to enter a place, we say permiso or con permiso, and we wait for the other person to say pase (usted), pasa (tú) or adelante (come in or go ahead).
- When we write a formal letter or message, we start saying estimado señor/estimada señora (dear Mr/dear Mrs) and we finish with one of these options:
Atentamente (attentively)
Cordialmente (cordially)
Un cordial saludo/cordiales saludos (Kind regards)
