31 Small talk

Question 1

Hey, what’s up?

tener ganas de

to look forward to

Tengo ganas de descansar el fin de semana.

I’m looking forward to relaxing at the weekend.

ya

I know

Ya, te entiendo perfectamente.

I know, I understand you perfectly well.

ni idea

no idea

Ni idea, no he pensado nada todavía.

No idea, I haven’t planned anything yet.

No hay ningún problema.

No problem at all.

claro

of course

Sí, claro, aquí tienes.

Yes, of course, here you are.

Here’s a tip
We’re going to watch an informal chat between Laura and Raquel, two work colleagues. Then, we’ll learn very useful everyday expressions to engage in conversations with native Spanish speakers.

Buenas, ¿qué pasa? (Hey, what’s up?)
Tengo ganas de… (I’m looking forward to…)
No tengo ni idea. (I have no idea.)
Claro, aquí tienes. (Of course, here you are.)
¿Me das…? (Can I have…?)
¿Me dejas…? (Can I borrow…?)
No hay ningún problema. (No problem at all.)
One of the most common ways to start a conversation with someone is by greeting them and asking “how are you?”. In Spanish, there are multiple ways to do this. Let’s have a look at some of the most common ones found in an informal context:

Buenas: a very informal greeting, used at any time of day
¿Qué pasa?: a very informal greeting, most commonly used between friends
¿Qué hay?: one of the most common greetings used between friends and family
¿Cómo te va?: another typical way for friends to greet each other
One way of telling someone that we agree with them, is by saying “ya”.

Raquel: Está lloviendo tanto últimamente… (It’s raining so much lately…)
Laura: Ya. (I know.)
In the dialogue, Raquel asks Laura for her phone number: “¿me das tu teléfono?”. Laura then asks Raquel if she could borrow her umbrella: “¿me dejas el paraguas?”. We often say “¿me das…?” (can I have…?) to ask for something and “¿me dejas…?” (can I borrow…?) to ask if we can borrow something.

¿Me das un vaso de agua? (Can I have a glass of water?)
¿Me dejas un boli? (Can I borrow a pen?)
And now let’s practise what we’ve learned!

Answer 1

Buenas, ¿qué pasa?