Meeting date's friends: Sharing something you love about your date

🇲🇽 Oye is a casual way to get attention or change the subject among friends, and it's very common in Mexico. With strangers or elders, oiga is the polite version.

💬 lo que más means "the thing that most" and works with many verbs: lo que más quiero "what I want most".

💬 gustar works backwards from English: the thing liked is the subject, and te marks the person who likes it. To ask about a different person, swap te: ¿Qué le gusta? "What does he/she like?"

💬 encantar works like gustar: me encanta means "it delights me." For plural things, the verb changes: me encantan sus ojos "I love her eyes".

💬 su can mean his, her, its, their, or your (formal), so context tells you which. Add an s for plurals: sus ojos "her eyes".

🇲🇽 me encanta is a strong but completely normal way to talk about something you love about your partner. Mexicans use it freely, and it doesn't sound overly intense.

💬 contagiosa ends in -a because it describes risa, a feminine word. Describing entusiasmo "enthusiasm", it would be contagioso.

💬 The accent matters: sí means "yes," while si means "if". Both sound the same.

💬 "Laugh at" is reírse de, with se attached to the verb. For yourself, it's me río de todo "I laugh at everything".

💬 Use es for personality traits like cariñosa. está is for passing states: está cansada "she's tired".

💬 preguntar means "to ask a question." To ask for something, use pedir: me pide ayuda "she asks me for help".

💬 Use estar for how someone is doing right now: ¿cómo estás? "how are you?". ¿cómo eres? asks what you're like as a person.

💬 When a question is retold inside a sentence, cómo keeps its accent but loses the question marks. Same pattern: me pregunta dónde vivo "she asks me where I live".

🇲🇽 Ay, qué bonito is a very Mexican, warm reaction to something touching. In Mexico, bonito stretches far beyond "pretty" to mean sweet or lovely.

💬 todos means "everyone" when it stands alone. It's masculine plural by default, even for mixed groups.

💬 With gustar-type questions, "and you?" is ¿y a ti?, not ¿y tú?, because the liking happens "to" you.

🇲🇽 Expect this question back when you meet a partner's friends. It's friendly curiosity, and a specific, warm answer goes over well.

💬 Starting your answer with que "that" picks up the question's ¿qué te gusta? naturally. The same short pattern works for other traits: que es muy divertida "that she's really fun".

💬 estar para alguien means "to be there for someone." It's the same idiom as English, using estar, not ser.

💬 padre normally means "father", but in Mexico ¡qué padre! means "how cool!". You'll also hear ¡qué padrísimo! for "so cool!".

💬 After por, use the basic "to" form of the verb, and me can attach to its end: contar + me becomes contarme. Same pattern: gracias por invitarme "thanks for inviting me".

🇲🇽 Said in reply to thanks, al contrario means "no, thank you," turning the gratitude back on the other person. It's a gracious, slightly warm way to respond.

💬 Literally "it gave me a lot of pleasure": the pleasure is what dio "gave", and me is who received it.

💬 te attaches to the end of a verb's base form to make one word. Swap it: conocerla "to meet her", conocerlos "to meet you all".

🇲🇽 This is the warm Mexican way to say goodbye after meeting someone. It's often said with a hug or cheek kiss as the group splits up.

💬 nos vemos literally means "we see each other". Change the ending to set the time: nos vemos mañana "see you tomorrow".