Restaurant reservations Part 4 (Advanced): Exploring options for private or semi-private dining for groups.

🇪🇸 Staff use tenían here, the polite form for addressing a group as ustedes. Among friends in Spain you'd hear teníais instead.

💬 Putting unas before a number makes it approximate, like "about". Try unos veinte euros "about twenty euros".

💬 Spanish says "we would be eighteen" rather than "there would be eighteen of us". Same pattern: Somos cuatro "There are four of us".

🇪🇸 In Spain this usually means the Christmas works dinner, held in December. Restaurants get booked up for it weeks in advance.

🇪🇸 A reservado is a separate room that many Spanish restaurants keep for groups. Asking for one by name sounds like you know how things work.

💬 coger is everyday Spanish for "take" or "grab" in Spain. In much of Latin America it's vulgar, so ocupado "occupied" is the safer choice there.

💬 al fondo covers "at the back" or "at the end" of any space. Los baños están al fondo "The toilets are at the back".

💬 It ends in -a because it describes zona, which is feminine. For a room, el salón, it would be separado.

💬 se plus a verb gives a general "you" or "one". Se come bien aquí "You eat well here".

💬 del is de + el squeezed together, and this always happens. La puerta del baño "The bathroom door".

🇪🇸 Speeches and toasts are normal at Spanish company dinners, which is why groups ask about privacy. Raise your glass and say ¡Salud!.

💬 querríamos has a double r, which you trill. That trill is the only thing that separates it from queríamos "we wanted".

💬 molestar means "to bother", not "molest". ¿Le molesta? "Does it bother you?" is a perfectly polite question.

🇪🇸 Showing concern for other diners goes down well with staff. It often gets you a more honest answer about the space.

💬 Algo at the front means "a bit" or "somewhat" here, not "something" as a thing. It softens the admission.

🇪🇸 Spaniards tack la verdad onto a sentence to sound candid, often when admitting a downside. It's friendly frankness, not bluntness.

🇪🇸 Restaurants often require a fixed group menu for larger parties, especially for private areas. Ask what's included, as drinks may be extra.

💬 The c in precio is said like English th: (PRETH-yo). This is a feature of Spanish in Spain.

💬 señal usually means "sign" or "signal", but in bookings it means the deposit. You'll also hear paga y señal for a down payment.

💬 Say cien, not ciento, when the number is exactly a hundred. ciento only appears in bigger numbers: ciento veinte "a hundred and twenty".

🇪🇸 Asking for a deposit to hold a private area is standard for group bookings in Spain. It's usually taken off the final bill.

💬 correo on its own is everyday shorthand for correo electrónico "email". Context decides, though: it also means post, and Correos is the Spanish postal service.

💬 deja comes from dejar "to leave", so this is literally "will you leave me a name?". ¿Me deja...? is a handy polite request for anything you're asked to hand over: ¿Me deja su teléfono? "Could you give me your phone number?"

💬 señal usually means "sign" or "signal", but for bookings it means the deposit you pay upfront. You may also see depósito in more formal or online policies.

🇪🇸 Many Spanish restaurants only ask for a deposit for large groups or special dates like Christmas meals.

💬 se puede plus a basic verb asks whether something is allowed or possible, with no person named. Swap the verb: ¿Se puede reservar? "Can you book?", ¿Se puede fumar? "Is smoking allowed?"

🇪🇸 Spanish restaurants often want the deposit for a group room settled before the day. Bank transfer is standard, and many will also accept Bizum, Spain's phone-to-phone payment app.

💬 señal usually means "sign" or "signal", but in bookings it's the deposit you pay to secure the table or room.

💬 pasar here means "to send" or "to give", not "to pass". It's very common for handing over information: te paso el número "I'll send you the number".

🇪🇸 Staff speaking to customers use the polite usted form, which shows up here as le. With a restaurant you can mirror that politeness and it will sound natural.

💬 When le "to you" sits right before la "it", it changes to se, so le la becomes se la. Same shift with other pairs: se lo doy "I'll give it to you".

💬 On its own, ¡Hasta el lunes! is also a goodbye: "See you Monday!" The same pattern works with any day or time, like ¡Hasta mañana! "See you tomorrow!"

💬 Starting with que turns a verb into a wish, and tenga is the polite form for someone you address formally. The same pattern gives you Que aproveche "enjoy your meal"; with a friend you'd say que tengas.

💬 The greeting is plural, buenas tardes "good afternoon/evening", but in this wish it's singular, because you're wishing someone one good afternoon.

🇪🇸 Staff often say this as you hang up after booking or as you leave. In Spain tarde stretches until about 9 pm, so you'll hear it well after an English speaker would switch to "evening".