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How to send a package in Spain: Dialogues at the post office

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Have you ever sent a letter or package in Spain? If you live in Spain, or spend your holidays here, this article will be really handy for you as you will learn the vocabulary and expressions needed to communicate at the post office. Shall we take a look?

At the post office – Spanish vocabulary

At the post office you can send or receive letters, parcels, postcards, and other documents. You can also buy envelopes and stamps. Here you have the basic vocabulary you will need.

How to send a package in Spain

carta – letter

sobre – envelope

sellos – stamps

Oficina de Correos – post office

buzón – postbox

paquete – package

postal – postcard

cartero – postman

How to send a package in Spain

Sending a letter at the post office

To send a letter you need to put it in an envelope, stick on a stamp, and write the recipient and sender information. You can buy both the envelopes and the stamps in a tobacco shop (estanco in Spanish) or the post office.

If you are sending a normal letter, there’s no need to go to the post office. All you need to do is post it in one of the yellow postboxes you’ll find on the street. If you want to send a letter by recorded delivery or by express delivery, you’ll have to go to the post office.

If you don’t know where to find a postbox, you can ask:

¿Dónde hay un buzón? – Where’s the postbox?

If you don’t know where to find a post office, you can ask:

¿Dónde está la oficina de correos? – Where’s the post office?

Here you can check out the information you need to write on the envelope.

Destinatario – Addressee

Nombre y apellidos – Name and surname

Dirección y código postal – Address and postal code

Remitente – Sender

Common expressions for sending a letter at the post office

Quería un sobre pequeño, mediano, grande…


I’d like a small//medium-sized/large envelope
Quería dos sellos para Reino Unido, por favor

I’d like two stamps for the UK, please
¿Cuántos sellos necesito para enviar esta carta a Manchester?

Which stamps do I need to send this letter to Canada?
Quería enviar esta carta a Londres

I’d like to send this letter to London, please
Quería enviar esta carta por correo normal / correo certificado/ correo urgente por favor

I’d like to send this letter by ordinary post/recorded delivery/express delivery, please
¿Cuánto tarda una carta para Londres?

How long does it take for a letter to arrive in London?

Would you like to practice the content of this article through a conversation class with me?

MORE INFO

Sending or picking up a package at the post office

To send a package, you need to go to the post office. There they weigh the parcel, ask you what type of delivery you need, and give you a sticker which you have to fill out with your details and the recipient information.

When you’re expecting to receive a parcel yourself it will usually be delivered to your house but, if nobody’s home when they try to deliver it, you will receive a notification in your postbox informing you that you need to go to the post office to pick up the package. (Provided that it’s not delivered by a private company such as Amazon.) Normally, you have 15 days to collect the parcel before it’s returned to the sender. To collect the parcel, all you need to do is to show your ID and give your signature.

Here you can check the Spanish post office official website

How to send a package in Spain

Common expressions for sending or picking up a package at the post office

Quería una caja pequeña, mediana, grande para enviar un paquete



I’d like a small/medium/large box to post a package…
Quería enviar este paquete a...


I’d like to send this package to…
Quería recoger un paquete…

I’d like to pick up a package…
¿Cuánto cuesta el envío urgente a…?


How much is express delivery to…?
¿Cuál es la opción más barata para enviar este paquete?


What’s the cheapest way to send this package?
¿Puedo contratar un seguro de pérdida para este envío?


Can I purchase insurance for this delivery…?

Practice with these exercise: Order the dialogue in Spanish at the post office.

That’s everything

Do you like to send postal cards when you travel?

Do you receive packages and postal cards?

Check out more everyday situations like this to practice your Spanish:

At the doctor’s office in Spanish

If you want to practice everyday situations like this with a conversation in Spanish, book a free trial class with me and find out how can I help you 😉

The verb “To be” in Spanish: Ser and Estar

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When to use Ser and estar

Do you know when to use ser and estar in Spanish?

Many students have difficulty with the verb To be in Spanish. The reason for this is that in Spanish, “to be” can be expressed with two different verbs: “ser” and “estar”. So today we’re going to go through a few basic uses of “ser” and “estar” and the conjugation, after which you can practise with some interactive exercises.

The verb To be in Spanish: Ser and Estar.

Situations in which SER is used

1. Names

To introduce ourselves.

When to use ser and estar
Soy LauraI am Laura

2. Descriptions

To describe physical features and personal characteristics.

when to use ser and estar
María es morena

Cristina es simpática		María is dark-haired

Cristina is friendly

3. Occupations

This can refer to a profession or a hobby. In other words, we use “ser” to indicate how someone makes a living or spends their free time.

When to use ser and estar
Isabel es enfermeraIsabel is a nurse
Juan es policíaJuan is a police

4. Time

When referring to time, this includes days, dates, years and hours.

Hoy es 25 de febreroToday it is the 25th of February
Son las 8 y mediait’s half past eight.

5. Origin

When stating where a person, animal or objects is from.

When to use ser and estar
La pizza es italianaThe pizza is italian
Mario es portuguésMario is Portuguese

6. Relationships

For relatives, friends, partners etc…

When to use ser and estar
Victor es mi compañero de trabajoVictor is my colleague
Lola es mi hermanaLola is my sister

To resume…

When to user ser and estar

The verb To be in Spanish: ser and estar

Situations in which ESTAR is used

1. Physical position or posture

When to use ser and estar
Juan está sentadoJuan is sitting down
Yo estoy tumbada en la camaI’m lying down on the sofa

2. Location (temporary, permanent or metaphorical)

when to use ser and estar
¿Dónde estás? Estoy en el cineWhere are you? I’m in the cinema
La farmacia está al lado de mi casaThe pharmacy is next to my house
María está en la lunaMaría is miles away, she’s got her head in the clouds

EXCEPTION: The location of events and celebrations is always described using the verb ser

La fiesta es en mi casaThe party is at my house
La conferencia es en el quinto pisoThe conference is on the fifth floor
El concierto es en la plaza principalThe concert is in the main square

3. Actions

To describe actions happening in the present, we use the structure “estar+gerund”.

when to use ser and estar
Estoy mirando la televisión I am watching TV
Estamos hablando por teléfonoWe are talking on the phone

4. Conditions

We use “estar” to describe physical or emotional conditions or states.

The verb To be in Spanish
Estoy muy cansada hoyI’m very tired today
Miguel está enfermoMiguel is sick

5. Emotions

To describe how a person is feeling at a particular time.

María está muy felizMaría is very happy
Estoy un poco tristeI’m a little sad

To resume…

The verb To be in Spanish

The verb To be in Spanish: ser and estar

Ser and estar: The conjugation

Ser and estar are irregular verbs. This means that they do not follow the nice, tidy conjugations you learned in the post: How to conjugate the present tense in Spanish (regular verbs) Therefore you must memorize their various forms.

The verb To be in Spanish

The verb To be in Spanish: ser and estar

INTERACTIVE EXERCISES

EXERCISE 1

EXERCISE 2

Frida Kahlo. Choose the right verb

EXERCISE 3

Complete the sentences with “SER” and “ESTAR” in the right form.

EXERCISE 4

Complete the sentences with “SER” and “ESTAR” in the right form.

EXERCISE 5

Did you enjoy this post?

Would you like to learn and practise this with me? I can help you with my private online classes. Click here to find out more.

7 Common mistakes in Spanish and how to avoid them

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Do you repeat again and again the same mistakes in Spanish? Don’t worry, all students of a foreign tongue struggle with these at some point or another during the process. So before you throw in the towel, check out these 7 common mistakes in Spanish and how to avoid them:

Happy learning!

7 Common mistakes in Spanish

Common mistake 1

Common mistakes in Spanish

“Gente” in Spanish means “people” in English.

In English, “people” is a plural noun, so it must be always followed by a verb in the third-person plural. In the example above, the verb is “to be”.

“People are kind”

However, in Spanish the collective noun “gente” is a singular noun and must be always followed by a verb in the third-person singular and singular adjectives also.

“La gente es amable”

7 Common mistakes in Spanish

Common mistake 2

Common mistakes in Spanish

One common mistake is using “un otro” or “una otra” in Spanish to mean “another” in English.


In Spanish, the indefinite articles “un” “una” “unos” “unas” aren’t needed before “otro” “otra” “otros” “otras”.

7 Common mistakes in Spanish

Common mistake 3

Common mistakes in Spanish

In Spanish to express DESTINATION we use the preposition “a” with the verbs of movement like “ir”, “viajar”, “llegar”.

EXAMPLES

Voy a la playa / I’m going to the beach.

Ellos viajan a la India cada año / They travel to the India every year.

In Spanish to express POSITION, we use the preposition “en”.

EXAMPLES

Estoy en mi casa / I am in my house

Paco está en Valencia / Paco is in Valencia

7 Common mistakes in Spanish

Common mistake 4

Common mistakes in Spanish

In Spanish, possessive adjectives are normally not used when talking about body parts. But This recommendation only refers to the same person’s actions over his/her body.

EXAMPLE

It is all right to say “Sus brazos son grandes” / Their arms are big

” Mi nariz es pequeña” / My nose is small

But If you want to say…

“My arm hurts”

Is better …

“Me duele un /el brazo” than “Me duele mi brazo”

7 Common mistakes in Spanish

Common mistake 5

Common mistakes in Spanish

“Buscando para” doesn’t exist in Spanish. It’s a literal translation from English.

“Look for” means “search” = “Buscar” in Spanish but, it has no preposition.

EXAMPLE

I’ve looked for my keys in everywhere and I can’t find them.

He buscado mis llaves por todas partes, pero no las he encontrado.

7 common mistakes in Spanish

Common mistake 6

Common mistakes in Spanish

The general rule for “ser” and “estar” says that “estar” it is used when we want to express LOCATION.

EXAMPLE

Valencia está en España.

Valencia is located in Spain.

However, there is an exception. When we want to locate events (ceremonies, concerts, conferences, talks, weddings and parties) we need to use “ser”

EXAMPLE

¿Dónde es el cumpleaños?

Where will the birthday take place?

7 common mistakes in Spanish

Common mistake 7

Common mistakes in Spanish

Never say “me encanta mucho”.


As the “encanta” already implies you like something a lot, saying “Me encanta mucho España” is like saying “I like Spain a lot a lot”

This is all,

Did you know these common mistakes in Spanish? Do you usually do these mistakes or others? Tell me in comments 😉

Practice your Spanish talking with other people with the Group Conversation lessons. We talk about interesting subjects and you will learn Spanish having fun.

7 rules to learn the gender of the nouns in Spanish

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The gender in Spanish

Hello I have bad news for you: Nouns in Spanish have a gender. But don’t worry because gender is not a problematic issue for Spanish students. The good news is that I have prepared 7 rules that will help you to understand the gender in Spanish. You can practice also with interactive exercises. Ready?

1. Feminine and masculine nouns ending in

-A / -O

The first and more basic rule is: nouns that end in “o” are masculine and nouns that end in “a” are feminine. Easy! Here are some examples.

The gender in Spanish

Feminine nouns in Spanish: The house, the beach, the mountain, the word, the film.

Masculine nouns in Spanish: the job, the museum, the wine, the plate, the theatre

The nouns referring to animals o people change the gender. Here are some examples:

El gato – the male cat / la gata – the female cat

El niño – the male child / la niña – the female child

2. Feminine and masculine nouns ending in -E

Nouns ending in -e can be masculine and feminine. This is a little more complicated but my recommendation is to learn the more common words in a first moment. Then little by little you will learn the others.

The gender in Spanish

The night, the afternoon, the class, the car, the man and the dance.

Another masculine nouns ending in -e :

el aire ( the air), el chocolate ( the chocolat), el té (the thé)

Another feminine nouns ending in -e:

la gente ( the people), la calle ( the road), la leche ( the milk)

3. Exceptions: Feminine nouns ending in -O and masculine nouns ending in -A

What a surprise! Some nouns ending in -o can be feminine and some nouns ending in -a can be masculine. But don’t be in panic, there are only a few exceptions. Here are some examples.

The motorbike, the photo, the hand and the radio.

The gender in Spanish

The sofa, the planet, the day and the map…

Would you like to practice the content of this article through a conversation class with me?

MORE INFO

4. Exceptions: Masculine nouns ending in

-MA, -AJE and -OR

There are lots of Spanish nouns that end in the letters ‘ma’, and they are almost always male. Here are some examples.

The gender in Spanish

The problem, the theme, the poem, the idiom, the pyjamas, the system, the diploma, the climate, the ghost.

Here are three exceptions to this rule: la cama (the bed), la forma (the form) y la crema (the cream).

Nouns ending in -aje, -or are masculine. Here are some examples.

The gender in Spanish

The landscape, the massage, the travel, the computer, the colour, the motor.

Another common nouns ending in -or:

el amor (the love), el calor (the heat), el olor (the smell), el dolor (the pain) etc…

Here is one exception to this rule:

la flor (the flower)

5. Exception: Feminine nouns ending in

-CIÓN, -SIÓN, -DAD, -TAD

Nouns ending in consonant are usually masculine but there are some exceptions: The nouns ending in -ción, sión, -dad, -tad are feminine. Here are some examples.

The gender in Spanish

The song, the television, the university, the friendship…

Another common nouns ending in -ción, ´-sión, -dad and -tad :

La ciudad (the city), la verdad (the true), la felicidad (the hapiness), la pasión (the pasión), la emoción (the emotion) la estación (the station), la depresión (the depression), la relación (the relationship) etc…

6. Feminine nouns with a masculine article

All of these nouns are feminine. But when you say them with an article it needs to be “el”. This is o solve the problem of the “a” in “la” stringing together with the “a” in agua, alma or the first syllable in hambre since the letter “h” is almost silent in Spanish.

The gender in Spanish

The water, the soul, the hunger, the classroom

When you combine these nouns with adjectives, you can see that they are feminine:

English: the warm water

Spanish: El agua templada

English: A light and airy class room

Spanish: El aula luminosa

7. Common masculine nouns:

The colours, the numbers, the months, the days of the week and the languages

Los colores (the colours): el rojo, el verde, el naranja, el azul…

Los números (the numbers): el uno, el dos, el dieciséis, el veinte…

Los meses (the months): el mes de enero, el mes de febrero, el mes de junio…

Los días de la semana (the days of the week): el lunes, el martes, el sábado, el domingo…

Los idiomas (the languages): el inglés, el español, el francés, el alemán…

Let’s practice the gender in Spanish

¿masculine or feminine?

Well done! Now keep learning with more articles like this:

How to conjugate the present tense in Spanish.

🙂 Do you want to take your Spanish to the next level?

Find out how can I help you with my Private lessons

Learn beach vocabulary in Spanish

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The summer is almost here!! Do you like Spanish beaches? … Learn beach vocabulary in Spanish, activities at the beach and useful phrases to use with your family or Spanish friends. At the end, you can practice the vocabulary with interactive exercises.

¡Vamos a la playa!

YouTube Lesson

Learn beach vocabulary in Spanish

1. Things you take at the beach

Spanish beach vocabulary
  • gafas de sol / sunglasses
  • chanclas / flip-flops
  • bañador / swimsuit
  • sombrero / hat
  • toalla / towel
  • bikini / bikini
  • protector solar / sun cream
Learn beach vocabulary in Spanish
  • sombrilla / parasol
  • hamaca / hammock
  • palas / paddles
  • colchoneta /inflatable lilo
  • flotador / float
  • gafas de bucear y tubo / mask and snorkel
  • pelota / inflatable ball
  • cubo, pala y rastrillo / bucket, shovel and rake

Learn beach vocabulary in Spanish

2. Things you find at the beach

Learn beach vocabulary in Spanish
  • orilla / seashore
  • arena / sand
  • mar / sea
  • ola / wave
  • sol / sun
  • socorrista / lifeguard
  • bañistas / swimmers
  • barco / ship
  • chiringuito / beach bar

Learn beach vocabulary in Spanish

3. Actions at the beach

Learn beach vocabulary in Spanish
  • bañarse / to bathe
  • caminar por la orilla / to walk along the seashore
  • tomar el sol / to sunbathe
  • hacer un castillo de arena / to build a sandcastle
  • nadar / to swim
  • hacer surf / to surf
  • jugar a vóley-playa /to play beach volleyball
  • bucear / to snorkel / to dive

4. Useful Spanish phrases at the beach

¿Dónde ponemos la sombrilla?

Where do we put the parasol?

Hay bandera verde / amarilla / roja

There is a green / yellow / red flag

Hace mucho calor

It is too hot

¿vamos al agua?

Shall we go for a swim?

¿Me pones protector solar en la espalda, por favor?

Could you put sunscreen on my back, please?

¿Te apetece jugar un rato a las palas?

Do you feel like playing beach tennis a bit?

¿Te apetece caminar por la orilla?

Do you feel like walking along the seashore?

¿Vamos al chiringuito a tomar una cerveza?

Shall we go to the beach bar and have a beer?

Learn beach vocabulary in Spanish

Let’s practice with EXERCISES

EXERCISE 1

EXERCISE 2

Complete this dialogue at the beach

EXERCISE 3

Complete this dialogue at the beach

EXERCISE 4

Complete this dialogue at the beach

¿Y tú? ¿Qué cosas llevas cuando vas a la playa?

¿Qué actividades haces en la playa?

Reply in comments 🙂

Do you usually come to Spain for holidays? How lucky! Then maybe you’re interested in learning more Spanish to communicate in real situations during your stay. In this case, have a look at this article: how to order food in Spanish

The authentic Salmorejo recipe – pdf

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SALMOREJO

Have you ever eaten Salmorejo? Salmorejo is a typical Spanish dish that we usually eat in the summer. But… ¿What ingredients are in Salmorejo? ¿where does this recipe from? and the most important thing How it is cooked? I propose you to discover this delicious and refreshing dish while practising Spanish. Are you ready?

What is Salmorejo?

Salmorejo is a typical Andalusian dish. The best known variant is the one from Córdoba. The Salmorejo was born in the ”jornaleros” (working class) of Andalusia, as cheap food that labourers had during their work days. It was the women who, at dawn, began to knead the ingredients to create this delicious recipe, so that it was ready before dawn, by the time the workers began to work.

If you want to cook it at home then, here you can find the Salmorejo recipe so you can enjoy this healthy dish.

La receta

Ingredientes

  • 1 kg de tomates
  • 150 gramos de miga de pan
  • 100 ml de aceite de oliva virgen
  • un diente de ajo
  • una pizca de sal
  • 2 huevos
  • taquitos de jamón serrano

Elaboración

Cuece los huevos durante 10 minutos. Sácalos del agua y resérvalos.

Lava los tomates, pélalos y córtalos en trozos. Ponlos en la batidora.

Tritúralos bien unos minutos. Pela un ajo y añádelo a la batidora.

Añade la miga de pan, la sal y el aceite de oliva. Vuelve a triturar toda la mezcla

Pon la mezcla en la nevera y déjala enfriar al menos una hora.

Presentación

Sirve el salmorejo bien frío. Pela los huevos y córtalos en trozos pequeños.

Decora cada plato con el huevo y el jamón por encima. Y… ¡a comer!

A practicar con un video…

Do you want to download this recipe in pdf? Please click here!

Vocabulary list

  • Los tomates = the tomatoes
  • Un diente de ajo = 1 clove of garlic
  • El aceite de oliva = The olive oil
  • La sal = the salt
  • La miga de pan = the breadcrumb
  • El huevo = the egg
  • Taquitos de jamón Serrano = Serrano ham in cubes
  • Cocer = boilt
  • Lavar = wash
  • Pelar =peel
  • Añadir = add
  • Triturar = blend

How to conjugate the imperative in the Spanish grammar

The imperative for the 2nd person singular (tú)

Giving orders, recommendations and instructions in Spanish

lavar (infinitive) / tú lavas ( present indicative) / lava ( imperative)

To conjugate the imperative in the 2nd person singular (tú) we need to remove the -s from the 2nd person singular (tú) form of the present indicative. However, the personal pronoun is not used.

The imperative for the 2nd person plural (vosotros/-as)

Giving orders, recommendations and instructions in Spanish

To conjugate the positive imperative for the 2nd person plural (vosotros) we take the infinitive and replace the -r with a -d.

cortar / cortad

comer / comed

vivir / vivid

Now practice the imperative in Spanish with this exercise..

Practice the Salmorejo vocabulary

And you? …Have you ever prepared a Spanish dish?

Do you usually cook Spanish dishes? Which ones?

Please tell me in comments, I would love to know it 🙂

Do you need to communicate in Spanish in your daily life in Spain? Do you want to improve your Spanish once and for all? Find out how can I help you here > private online lessons.

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