Counting change at the register (Spanish A1)
In a Madrid supermarket, Sofía returns five euros on a fifteen-euro total paid with a twenty. An A1 reading about Spanish euro coins, Cervantes and the kings.
Contar el dinero en la caja
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About this article
What you'll learn
Euro coin values and the words vuelta, cambio, vuelto and suelto. Verbs contar, dar and querer.
A customer pays fifteen euros with a twenty-euro note. Sofía counts five euros in front of him: two two-euro coins and one one-euro coin. On Spanish coins, 1, 2 and 5 cents show Santiago de Compostela cathedral, 10, 20 and 50 cents show Cervantes, and 1 and 2 euro coins show King Felipe or the older King Juan Carlos. In Spain the money returned is la vuelta, and many people also say el cambio. In several countries of the Americas people say el vuelto.
After reading
Article learning block
Phrases, words, grammar, and quick practice from this text.
Phrases for training
Add useful phrases to SRS or mark them as already known.
Contar el dinero en la caja
newcount the money in the till
Contar means to count. La caja is both the till itself and the checkout where you pay.
The title of the article and the name of the end-of-shift routine.
Ella recibe el dinero de los clientes y les da el cambio
newshe takes the money from the customers and gives them the change
Les da means gives to them. Les is the indirect object pronoun and it stands in front of the verb, not after it.
One sentence that sums up the whole job.
La máquina calcula el precio total automáticamente
newthe machine calculates the total price automatically
Spanish builds an adverb from the feminine form of the adjective plus mente: automática gives automáticamente.
A pattern that turns hundreds of adjectives into adverbs.
Si el cliente paga con un billete grande, Sofía debe calcular el cambio
newif the customer pays with a big note, Sofía has to work out the change
For a real situation, si is followed by the ordinary present: si paga, debe calcular. Spanish never puts a future or a subjunctive straight after this si.
The everyday if-sentence, and the rule beginners break most often.
Cuenta el dinero cuidadosamente
newshe counts the money carefully
Here cuenta is she counts, the él and ella present of contar with the o to ue change: cuento, cuentas, cuenta. The same form is also the tú command, but not in this sentence, where Sofía is the subject.
One form with two jobs; knowing which is which prevents a common misreading.
debe coincidir con las ventas del día
newthe total has to match the day's sales
Coincidir con means to match or to agree with. It always takes con, never a bare object.
The sentence every cashier hears at closing time.
Key words
Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.
Cash register
caja registradora
cash register, till
Registradora comes from registrar, to record. La caja on its own means the till, the checkout, and also a box.
One of the most useful words in any shop.
La vuelta: the change (Spain)
la vuelta
the change handed back
In Spain the money handed back is la vuelta. Quédese con la vuelta is the fixed phrase for keep the change. Much of Latin America says el vuelto instead.
The word you will actually hear at a Spanish till.
El cambio: change
cambio
change, the money given back
El cambio is the money you get back, and also loose coins and a currency exchange. It never means a work shift: that is el turno.
Three money senses in one very common word.
Banknote
billete
banknote, paper money
Un billete is paper money. The same word is also a ticket: un billete de tren.
Paper money and travel tickets share one word.
Coin
moneda
coin, currency
Una moneda is a coin and also a currency: la moneda de Europa es el euro. There are eight different euro coins, from one cent to two euros.
Coin and currency in a single word.
Total price
precio total
the total price
El precio total is what all the items cost together. The adjective follows the noun in Spanish: precio total, never total precio.
Word order you need for every price and label.
El suelto: loose change
suelto
loose change
El suelto is the coins you are carrying. ¿Tienes suelto? asks whether you have small change on you.
A word you need at any Spanish counter.
Grammar in context
Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.
He and she forms: trabaja, recibe, da
Sofía trabaja como cajera
Sofía works as a cashier
Three different verb types in the same person. Trabajar is an -ar verb and gives trabaja; recibir is an -ir verb and gives recibe; dar is irregular: doy, das, da.
The él and ella form across all three conjugations at once.
Deber + infinitive
debe calcular
Sofía has to work out the change
Deber plus an infinitive states an obligation. Only deber changes: debo, debes, debe. The second verb stays in the infinitive. The same pair returns at closing time: el total debe coincidir con las ventas del día.
The plainest way to say has to in Spanish.
Asking with tú: pagas
¿Pagas con tarjeta o en efectivo?
do you pay by card or in cash?
Pagas is the tú form: yo pago, tú pagas. En efectivo means in cash. A written question needs the opening ¿ as well as the final one.
Turns the text into a question you can put to a real person.
Hay: there is, there are
hay una máquina especial
there is a special machine
Hay is one fixed form for both there is and there are: hay una máquina, hay ocho monedas. It has no plural.
Spanish says it with a single word that never changes.
Cuesta: saying a price
la compra cuesta quince euros
the shopping costs fifteen euros
Cuesta comes from costar, with the o to ue change: cuesta quince euros, cuestan dos euros. A price is the plain number plus euros.
How to read and say any price tag.
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