When travelling around in an unfamiliar place, you’re quite likely to have to ask for directions or advice. Use perdone (excuse me) or perdone, por favor (excuse me, please) to attract someone’s attention before asking them a question.
Está lejos? | Is it far? |
Está cerca de aquí? | Is it near here? |
Está en el centro de la ciudad? | Is it in the town centre? |
Está ocupado este asiento? | Is this seat free? |
Está incluido el seguro? | Is the insurance included? |
Es ésta la parada para el museo? | Is this the right stop for the museum? |
Perdone, ¿es éste el tren que va a Toledo? | Excuse me, is this the train for Toledo? |
Tip: Don’t forget that there are two verbs which both mean to be in Spanish – ser and estar.
To ask which bus, which platform, which line, and so on, you use ¿Qué…? followed by a noun.
To ask how much something is, use ¿Cuánto cuesta…? or ¿Cuánto vale…? (How much is…?) with a singular noun and ¿Cuánto cuestan…? or ¿Cuánto valen…? (How much are…?) with a plural noun.
Cuánto vale el vuelo? | How much is the flight? |
Cuánto cuestan las tarjetas de diez viajes? | How much are cards that are valid for ten journeys? |
Cuánto costaría alquilar un coche dos días? | How much would it cost to hire a car for two days? |
Cuánto me cobraría por llevarme a Tarragona? | How much would you charge to take me to Tarragona? |
Cuánto se tarda en llegar a Figueres? | How long does it take to get to Figueres? |
Sabe cuánto se tarda de León a Madrid? | Do you know how long it takes from León to Madrid? |
Cuánto tardaremos en llegar allí? | How long will it take us to get there? |
Cuánto dura el viaje? | How long is the journey? |
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.
Note: 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.
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