Texting & dating apps: Sending a first message on a dating app

💬 Months aren't capitalized in Spanish: diciembre, enero "January", mayo "May".

💬 fui is the past of both ir "to go" and ser "to be", so context tells you which. Here en diciembre makes it clear it's "I went".

💬 conocer means knowing a place or person from experience, so with a place it asks whether you've been there. For facts, use saber instead: ¿sabes dónde está? "do you know where it is?".

💬 quiero plus a plain verb is a handy pattern for anything you want to do: quiero viajar "I want to travel", quiero probarlo "I want to try it".

🇲🇽 Asking for recommendations about their region or city is a natural way to keep a chat going, since Mexicans tend to be proud of local food and places.

💬 Taken word by word it looks like "over everything", but sobre todo just means "especially" or "above all".

💬 mole is two syllables, (MOH-leh), not like the English animal.

🇲🇽 Oaxaca is famous for its many kinds of mole, a rich sauce often made with chiles and chocolate. Mentioning it shows you know the region.

💬 Adding -ísimo turns up the volume on a describing word: rico becomes riquísimo, bonito becomes bonitísimo. Note the c changes to qu to keep the hard k sound.

🇲🇽 In Mexico rico is the everyday way to praise food. Used about a person it reads as flirty or sexual, so keep it on the food.

💬 Use ¿y a ti? after likes, since gustar already uses te: me gusta then ¿y a ti?. After ordinary verbs like ¿cómo estás?, it's just ¿y tú?.

🇲🇽 jaja is how laughing is written in Spanish texting, since j carries the h sound. Light self-deprecating jokes like this read as charming and relaxed.

💬 qué plus a describing word is a quick reaction pattern: qué bonito "how nice", qué padre "how cool". The ending matches the person, so it's qué honesta to a woman.

💬 tengo que plus a plain verb means "I have to": tengo que trabajar "I have to work". The me belongs to irse "to leave" and can move to the end: ya tengo que irme.

🇲🇽 Starting with bueno softens the exit, signaling a friendly wrap-up rather than abruptly ending the chat.

💬 dar gusto works like gustar: the thing that pleased you comes after, and the person pleased goes in front. me da gusto verte "I'm happy to see you".

💬 con plus ti merges into one word, contigo, and the same happens with conmigo "with me".

🇲🇽 platicar is the everyday Mexican word for chatting, where Spain would say charlar. Using it sounds natural and local.

🇲🇽 A warm, very Mexican sign-off. You'll also see bonito día "have a nice day" in morning texts.

💬 Spanish often uses the present for near-future plans: hablamos mañana literally reads "we talk tomorrow". Same with nos vemos el sábado "see you Saturday".