After-work drinks: Ordering drinks and recommending something to try

💬 del is de + el squeezed together, and that's required. Same with a + el: voy al trabajo "I'm going to work".

🇲🇽 Asking the bartender to recommend something is welcome in Mexico and often gets you a house specialty or a local favorite.

💬 In Mexico tomar is the normal verb for drinking, and on its own it usually implies alcohol. beber sounds more formal.

🇲🇽 A michelada is beer with lime, salt and often chili or sauces, served in a salt-rimmed glass. It's a classic after-work order.

💬 To ask what's in a drink or dish, use llevar, literally "to carry". Try it with food too: ¿Qué lleva este platillo? "What's in this dish?"

💬 The c and z both sound like an English s: (ser-VEH-sah), never with a th sound.

💬 In Mexico limón is the small green lime. A yellow lemon is uncommon and might be called limón amarillo "yellow lemon".

💬 Adding -ita softens a word to "a little": picosa becomes picosita. Mexicans use this constantly, as in un ratito "a little while".

💬 picosa ends in -a because it describes la michelada. For a masculine word it changes: un taco no muy picoso "a taco that's not very spicy".

🇲🇽 "A little spicy" in Mexico can still be quite hot, so asking for no muy picosa is a sensible and common request.

💬 Bartenders often use poner "to put" to mean "serve": ¿Qué le pongo? "What can I get you?"

💬 o "or" turns into u before a word that starts with an o sound, so the two vowels don't run together. Another example is siete u ocho "seven or eight".

💬 su can mean "your" when someone speaks to you politely, but it can also mean his, her or their. Context tells you which.

💬 Adding -ísimo or -ísima turns "good" into "really good": buena becomes buenísima. It works on many describing words, like rico to riquísimo "really delicious".

🇲🇽 This very Mexican reply to thanks is used by waiters and staff. Treat it like "you're welcome", not anything military or servile.

💬 avisar means to let someone know, not to advise. To ask someone to let you know casually, say me avisas.

💬 otra is feminine because it means another michelada or cerveza. Ordering a second round is just otra, por favor "another, please".

🇲🇽 In Mexico the bill usually won't come until you ask. When you're done, say la cuenta, por favor "the check, please".