Giving compliments (Advanced): Complimenting strangers

💬 With encantar, the thing you love comes after the verb, and the verb changes to match it. So it is encantan for plural shoes, but me encanta tu bolso "I love your bag".

💬 The verb changes to match the clothing, not the person. For plural items, say te quedan bien: esos zapatos te quedan bien "those shoes suit you".

💬 bueno shortens to buen when it comes directly before a masculine word. It is buen estilo, but el estilo es bueno.

🇪🇸 Complimenting someone's dog is one of the easiest ways to strike up a chat with a stranger in Spain. Owners usually welcome it and may start chatting with you.

💬 lo stands in for a masculine item, like a vestido. For something feminine, such as chaqueta, you would say ¿dónde la compraste?

🇪🇸 Spaniards often play down a compliment after thanking you, for example ¡gracias, es viejísimo! "thanks, it's really old!". This is modesty, not a rejection of your compliment.

💬 de tu parte is the casual form. To someone you address politely, say de su parte.