First date dinner: Asking about hobbies and family

🇲🇽 Using tú forms like haces is normal on a date between people of similar age in Mexico. Starting formal here would sound oddly stiff.

💬 Where English uses an -ing word, Spanish uses the plain verb form after me gusta: me gusta correr, me gusta nadar "I like swimming".

💬 gusta stays the same however many activities you list. It only changes to gustan for plural things, as in me gustan los perros "I like dogs".

💬 After a me gusta sentence, bounce the question back with ¿Y a ti?, not ¿Y tú?. It matches the a mí / a ti pattern that goes with gustar.

💬 The a mí at the start isn't needed for the meaning. It adds emphasis, like "as for me", which makes it a natural way to answer ¿Y a ti?.

💬 padre normally means "father", but in Mexico ¡Qué padre! means "How cool!"

🇲🇽 This is very Mexican. People elsewhere in the Spanish-speaking world may not use it, but in Mexico it's an everyday, friendly reaction.

💬 hermanos can mean "brothers" or "brothers and sisters" together. For sisters only, it's hermanas.

💬 Spanish usually drops "he" or "she" when it's clear who you mean. Vive alone can mean "he lives", "she lives", or formal "you live".

🇲🇽 In Mexico, papás is the everyday word for "parents". padres sounds more formal.

💬 los "them" comes before the verb, not after as in English. Same pattern: ¿La extrañas? "Do you miss her?"

💬 cada "every" never changes form: cada domingo, cada semana "every week". todos los domingos means the same thing.

💬 bonito usually means "pretty", but Qué bonito is a warm reaction to something touching, not just to something nice to look at.

💬 unida ends in -a because it describes familia. For a group of friends it would be unido, since grupo takes the -o ending.

🇲🇽 Saying your family is close is a meaningful thing to share on a date in Mexico. Family ties carry a lot of weight, and people often see this as a good sign.

💬 la here doesn't refer to anything specific. It's just part of the fixed expression pasarla bien "to have a good time", so you'd say nos la pasamos bien for "we had a good time".

💬 Nos vemos literally means "we see each other". As a question it works as a soft invitation, and otra vez "again" makes it clear you want another date.

🇲🇽 In Mexico, whoever did the inviting often pays on a first date. Thanking them for dinner this way is expected and appreciated.