How to Say ‘The small one is twelve ounces’ in Mexican Spanish
El chico es de doce onzas
el CHEE-koh ess deh DOH-seh OHN-sahs
[el CHEE-koh ess deh DOH-seh OHN-sahs]
💬 Usage Tip: Use es de plus a measurement to say how big something is. For example: es de medio litro "it's half a liter".
🇲🇽 In Mexico: Coffee shops in Mexico usually give cup sizes in ounces, US-style, even though the rest of daily life is metric.
Phrase Breakdown
El chico
el CHEE-koh
The small one
In Mexico, 'chico' commonly means 'small', as in a size. Keep 'el' joined to its noun: 'el CHI-co'.
El chico, por favor.
The small one, please.
Words in this phrase
El
[el]
the
Masculine singular definite article.
«El» acompaña al sustantivo en «El crecimiento».
“El” accompanies the noun in “The growth.”
chico
[CHEE-koh]
small
In Mexico 'chico' commonly means small, used for drink sizes.
Quiero un café chico.
I want a small coffee.
es de doce onzas
ess deh DOH-seh OHN-sahs
is twelve ounces
'Es de' is used to describe a size or amount. 'Doce' is 'DO-se' in Mexican Spanish. Link 'doce onzas' smoothly: 'do-se-ON-sas'.
La botella es de un litro.
The bottle is one liter.
Words in this phrase
es
[ess]
is
Third-person singular of “ser,” used to describe what something is like.
En la pregunta «¿Cómo es...?», «es» pide una descripción.
In the question “What is ... like?”, “es” asks for a description.
de
[deh]
of
A preposition that links nouns, often meaning “of” or “about.”
En «cultura de trabajo», «de» conecta las dos ideas.
In “work culture,” “de” connects the two ideas.
doce
[DOH-seh]
twelve
The number 12.
Llegamos a las doce.
We arrive at twelve.
onzas
[OHN-sahs]
ounces
Unit of volume used for cup sizes.
Son ocho onzas.
It's eight ounces.
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