Small talk with coworkers: Talking about lunch plans in the break room

💬 In Spain tortilla means a thick potato and egg omelette. In Mexico and much of Latin America the same word means a flat corn or flour wrap.

💬 Spanish happily doubles up negatives: no before the verb and nada "nothing" after it. Same pattern: no veo a nadie "I don't see anyone".

💬 sitio is the everyday word in Spain for a place like a bar or restaurant. algún is alguno "some" losing its final o before a masculine word: algún bar, algún día "some day".

💬 In Spain the c in cerca is said like English th: (THEHR-ka). Add de to say near what: cerca de la oficina "near the office".

🇪🇸 A Spanish bar is a casual café-bar where people have coffee, breakfast and a cheap lunch, not mainly a place for drinking.

💬 Spanish uses de to say which one: el bar de la esquina "the corner bar", la chica de la oficina "the girl from the office".

💬 el menú in Spain usually means the fixed-price lunch deal, not the list of dishes. For the list, ask for la carta.

🇪🇸 Served on weekdays at lunchtime, it usually includes a starter, a main, bread, a drink and dessert or coffee. It's the go-to option for office workers.

💬 For more than one thing, cuesta becomes cuestan: ¿Cuánto cuestan los cafés? "How much are the coffees?"

💬 In Spain the c in doce is said like English th: (DOH-theh).

💬 Spanish often skips "a" in lists like this: con bebida y postre rather than con una bebida y un postre.

🇪🇸 Wine or beer often counts as the bebida in a menú del día, and having a glass at lunch on a workday is perfectly normal.

💬 bien usually means "well", but está muy bien is the standard way to say something is good or a good deal. It works for prices, places and plans.

💬 The g before e or i is a throaty sound like clearing your throat, close to an English h: (heh-NYAL).

💬 venirse with te sounds more like "are you coming along?" than plain vienes. conmigo is one word for "with me". Same with contigo "with you".

💬 mañana means "tomorrow", but la mañana means "the morning". So mañana por la mañana is "tomorrow morning".

💬 vale is the go-to "OK" in Spain, but it sounds odd in Latin America. There, people say está bien or okey.

💬 apuntarse means to sign up or add yourself to a list. You can ask others the same way: ¿Te apuntas? "Are you in?"

💬 vale is Spain's all-purpose "OK". It's heard constantly there but sounds distinctly Spanish in Latin America.

🇪🇸 Said to anyone you see eating, even coworkers at their desks or strangers as you pass their table. Leaving without saying it can seem a bit cold.

💬 In Spain the c is said like English th: (GRAH-thyas).

💬 igualmente works as a reply to any good wish, like buen fin de semana "have a good weekend" or que aproveche. The -mente ending works like English "-ly".

🇪🇸 Spaniards say this even when they may not see you again that day, like leaving a shop. It's a casual goodbye, not a real promise to meet.