Meeting date's friends: Introducing yourself to your date's friends

💬 nos ha hablado "has told us" uses ha plus a past form, much like English "has spoken". In Spain this form is the usual way to talk about things that happened recently.

💬 After words like de, para and con, "you" becomes ti, not tú: para ti "for you". With con the two words merge into contigo "with you".

💬 Describing words usually come after the noun in Spanish and match it. cosas is feminine and plural, so you get buenas.

🇪🇸 A light, joking reply when someone says they've heard about you. A grin and this line is exactly what friends expect.

💬 Spanish puts de at the front of the question, where English leaves "from" at the end. Same pattern: ¿Con quién vives? "Who do you live with?"

💬 Many city names change in Spanish, as London becomes Londres here. Others are Nueva York "New York" and Edimburgo "Edinburgh".

💬 The final d in Madrid is very soft in Spain, often close to a soft (th) or dropped entirely: (ma-DREETH).

💬 os and conocisteis are vosotros forms, used for "you" plural in Spain only. Latin Americans would say ¿Cómo se conocieron?.

🇪🇸 Expect this question from your date's friends; it's the classic one. A short, fun story goes down well.

💬 In intercambio the c before a is a hard k sound. Only before e or i is c said (th) in Spain.

💬 Spanish builds "language exchange" back to front, as "exchange of languages". Same pattern: clase de baile "dance class".

🇪🇸 Language exchanges, often called intercambios, are a popular way to meet people in Spanish cities, usually in a bar.

💬 hace plus a length of time means "ago": hace un año "a year ago". The h is silent: (AH-theh).

💬 bonito means "pretty" or "lovely", not "bonito" the fish. ¡Qué...! plus a describing word works for any quick reaction: ¡Qué guay! "How cool!"

💬 At the start of a sentence, bueno means "well" or "anyway", not "good". It's a handy way to change the subject or wrap things up.

💬 Spanish often uses the present for something you're about to do, as here: te dejo means "I'll leave you". Same idea: te llamo "I'll call you".

🇪🇸 This is a polite way for a friend to step away and let the couple be. It's friendly, not a brush-off.

🇪🇸 vale is the everyday "okay" in Spain and you'll hear it constantly. Latin Americans would more often say bueno or ok.

💬 te can attach to the end of the verb, giving conocerte "to meet you". With usted it would be conocerle or conocerla.

🇪🇸 Said when parting rather than on first meeting, where encantado is more usual. It sounds warm and a little more personal.

🇪🇸 Spaniards say this even when they won't see you again that day. It's simply a casual "bye".