Restaurant reservations (Advanced): Number of guests

💬 Quién carries an accent mark when it's asking a question, and quien without one means "who" in the middle of a statement. You say both exactly the same way.

💬 Spanish keeps de in front of quién, where English sends the word to the end: "who is it under?" You can't drop it, and the same goes for ¿Con quién? "With whom?"

💬 You answer with de because it picks up the a nombre de from the question. It's like saying "(the name) of...".

💬 Al final often means "as it turns out" or "when it comes to it", not only "at the end". Al final no vino means "He didn't come after all".

💬 Alguno más literally means "some one more", but in practice it means "a few extra". Spanish also counts the speaker in the group: seamos means "we may be", where English says "there may be more of us".

💬 After es posible que, the verb switches to a special "maybe" form: somos "we are" becomes seamos. The same switch happens after puede que: Puede que llueva "It might rain".

💬 Cuántos changes its ending to match what's being counted. Use cuántas for feminine words like personas: ¿Cuántas personas? "How many people?"

💬 Both máss here carry an accent mark because they mean "more". Without the accent, mas is an old-fashioned word for "but" that you'll rarely see.

🇪🇸 Big groups in Spanish restaurants usually sit at several small tables pushed together into one long row. That's why staff want a firm head count in advance.

💬 A partir de means "from ... onwards" and works for numbers, times and dates. For example, a partir de las nueve means "from nine o'clock on".

💬 Sabré means "I will know". Spanish can show the future just by adding an ending to the verb, here -é, with no separate word for "will".

💬 With days of the week, Spanish uses el where English uses "on" or nothing at all. So el jueves means "on Thursday", and los jueves means "on Thursdays".

🇪🇸 Vale is the go-to "okay" in Spain, and you'll hear it constantly. Latin Americans understand it, but it marks you as using Spain's Spanish.

💬 Le here means "for you", in the polite form you'd use with a customer. Apuntar "to note down" is the everyday word for putting someone on a list.

💬 Quedarse corto means "to come up short" and works for food, money or space alike. Corto changes to match who falls short: nos quedamos cortos "we fell short" becomes me quedé corta when a woman says "I fell short".

🇪🇸 Rounding a booking up is a friendly gesture from the restaurant. It's easier to remove a chair later than to find space for an extra guest on the night.

💬 Avisa here is the polite "you" form, which looks the same as "he/she lets know". Staff use it as a gentle request, so it works like "please let us know".

💬 Tag ¿de acuerdo? onto the end of a sentence to check that someone agrees, the way English uses "all right?". The more casual ¿vale? does the same job.

🇪🇸 Spanish restaurants expect a quick call if your group shrinks. It's considered good manners, especially for larger tables.

💬 Small words like le "to you" can attach straight onto the end of a verb in its basic "to" form. Confirmar plus le becomes confirmarle, and decir plus le becomes decirle "to tell you".

🇪🇸 In Spain, la tarde runs from lunch, around 2pm, until about 8 or 9pm. So "Friday afternoon" can stretch well into what English speakers would call the evening.

💬 Algún is the short form of alguno that you use right before a masculine word. So it's algún niño, but on its own you'd say alguno.

🇪🇸 Staff ask about children so they can set out high chairs or plan space. Kids eating out late with their families is completely normal in Spain.

💬 Por si means "in case" and is followed by a plain present-tense verb: por si llueve "in case it rains", por si llegamos tarde "in case we're late".

💬 Trona is the word for a high chair in Spain. In much of Latin America you'll hear silla alta "high chair" instead.

💬 The thing that would help is what does the 'coming': nos vendría bien "it would suit us". Swap the person to change who benefits: me vendría genial "it would be great for me".

🇪🇸 A relaxed, friendly way to accept an offer in Spain. Restaurant staff will take it as warm rather than overly casual.

🇪🇸 Staff often say this on the phone once they've written down your booking. It's simply a confirmation, so no reply is needed beyond thanks.

💬 Al is a + el, needed because you're 'counting' a person: contando a mi madre "including my mother".

🇪🇸 Peque, short for pequeño "small", is an affectionate everyday word for a child in Spain. It sounds natural even with strangers.

💬 Hasta + a day or time is the standard 'see you then': hasta mañana "see you tomorrow", hasta luego "see you later". Days of the week take el and are not capitalised.