The large cup is not her father's
At eight in the morning, at the neighborhood bar, the waiter puts Marta's large coffee with lots of milk in front of her father, who is in a hurry. After lunch at her house they stay and talk, and sometimes they ask for another coffee.
La taza grande no es de su padre
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About this article
What you'll learn
Café con leche, café solo and a cortado in one order, and sobremesa, the time Marta's family stays to talk after lunch.
Marta wants a large milky coffee and a little time at the table, but her father is in a hurry and orders a small strong coffee. Her brother orders a cortado, coffee with only a little milk, and teases her cup. The waiter sets the large cup in front of her father, her brother puts it in front of Marta, and after lunch they stay to talk. Sometimes they ask for another coffee, and today they do.
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.
hablar del café en España
newtalk about coffee in Spain
Vamos a hablar de + noun is a typical opening phrase for a topic.
Useful phrase to introduce a conversation or lesson topic.
tomar café por la mañana
newdrink coffee in the morning
Tomar café means to drink coffee. Por la mañana marks the time of day.
Describes the most common coffee moment in Spain.
después de comer
newafter eating / after lunch
Después de + verb/noun shows coffee comes after a meal.
Important social habit: coffee is not only in the morning.
en la sobremesa
newduring the sobremesa
Sobremesa is the time at the table after eating, for conversation.
Typical Spanish moment for coffee and chatting.
pedir un café y charlar
neworder a coffee and chat
Pedir un café means to order coffee. Charlar means to chat informally.
Ready-made phrase for visiting a Spanish bar.
probar un buen café
newtry a good coffee
Probar means to try. Buen agrees with café (masculine).
Practical travel advice for visiting Spain.
más que una bebida
newmore than just a drink
Más que means more than. It highlights coffee's cultural role.
Helps you talk about culture, not just food.
Key words
Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.
To meet up
reunirse
to meet up, to get together
Reunirse is a true reflexive verb: nos reunimos, se reúnen. Here it says why Spaniards sit down together over a coffee.
Compare it with se toma, where se is impersonal and not reflexive at all.
Coffee shop
cafetería
coffee shop
Cafetería is a coffee shop, not an English cafeteria (a self-service canteen). With the bar it is the main social space.
Essential word for saying where people drink coffee, and a common false friend.
Cortado
cortado
cortado
A small espresso with a drop of milk.
One of the coffee types described in the article.
Breakfast
desayuno
breakfast
Para el desayuno means for breakfast. Café con leche is popular then.
Helps you order the right coffee in the morning.
Newspaper
periódico
newspaper
Leer el periódico means to read the newspaper, a typical bar activity.
Word from the social café scene in the text.
While
mientras
while
Mientras links two things happening at the same time: reading the paper and drinking coffee.
The connector you need to say you are doing two things at once.
To chat
charlar
to chat / to talk
Charlar means to talk informally, often over coffee.
Verb for describing the social coffee moment.
Grammar in context
Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.
Impersonal se
¿Cómo se toma el café?
how is coffee drunk?
Se toma is impersonal: it says how coffee is drunk in general, with no named subject. It is not the reflexive se.
The normal Spanish way to ask about a general custom.
Soler + infinitive
La gente suele tomar café
people usually drink coffee
Soler + infinitive describes habitual action: what people usually do.
Useful pattern for describing Spanish habits.
Poder + infinitive
puedes pedir un café
you can order a coffee
Puedes pedir means you can order. Poder + infinitive expresses ability.
Practical pattern for ordering at a bar.
Tú imperative
no olvides probar un buen café
don't forget to try a good coffee
No olvides + infinitive is a negative command: don't forget to...
Advice or invitation form from the article's ending.
La gente + singular verb
la gente bebe café
people drink coffee
La gente is grammatically singular in Spanish, so the verb stays singular: la gente bebe, la gente suele, la gente lee. English people takes a plural verb; Spanish does not.
Stops the most common mistake with la gente: saying la gente beben.
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