Negotiating salary: Asking for a higher salary politely

💬 sueldo is the everyday word for your pay. salario also exists but sounds more formal or legal.

💬 Use llevar plus a time period to say how long you've been somewhere or doing something. For example, llevo tres meses estudiando means "I've been studying for three months."

💬 bueno shortens to buen when it comes right before a masculine noun. So it's buen trabajo, but el trabajo es bueno.

💬 sería "would be" softens a request much like English "would." Swap in other ideas: ¿sería posible trabajar desde casa? "would it be possible to work from home?"

🇲🇽 Phrasing a raise as a question rather than a demand fits Mexican workplace style. Direct demands can come across as confrontational.

💬 Spanish says por ciento as two words for "percent." Before a number you add del, as in un aumento del diez por ciento.

💬 ahorita looks like "right now," but in Mexico it can also mean "in a bit" or even "maybe later." Context tells you which; here it means "at the moment."

💬 ¿qué tal...? works for proposing anything: ¿qué tal el lunes? "how about Monday?"

🇲🇽 Asking when the raise starts is normal and expected in Mexico. It politely pins down a verbal promise without sounding distrustful.

💬 Spanish often uses the present tense for something you're about to do, where English would say "I'll." So lo hablo works here, just as te llamo means "I'll call you."

🇲🇽 In Mexican offices, Human Resources is commonly shortened to "RH" in writing and speech, said as erre hache.

💬 se here stands for "to you" in the polite usted form. With a friend you'd say te lo agradezco.

💬 al contrario literally means "on the contrary." It's a gracious reply to thanks, suggesting the favor runs the other way.

💬 After que in a wish, the verb changes shape: tienes becomes tengas. Same pattern: que te vaya bien "hope it goes well for you."