Spanish Proficiency Exercises
Talk about your favorite restaurant.


Simplified and native speakers:

• Simplified example
• Beatriz T.
• Rossana T.
• Matías O.
• Antonio F.
• Jorge C.

.m4v (iPod) downloads
Click red links to download .m4v files for use in iPod:

• Simplified example
• Beatriz T.
• Rossana T.
• Matías O.
• Antonio F.
• Jorge C.

Subscribe to iTunes podcast: int22
Subscribe to podcast: int22


Key vocabulary for this task


Example phrases for this task


Grammar points for this task

Simplified Example
"Un buen restaurante obviamente debe tener buena comida..."
Beatriz T.
México, D.F.
"Bueno, a mí me gusta mucho la cafetería de mi escuela..."
Rossana T.
Perú, Lima
"Bueno, restaurante, mi restaurante favorito no creo que exista uno esencialmente..."
Matías O.
Chile, Santiago
"Eh, bueno, ¿mi restaurantes favoritos? Son en realidad las parillas ..."
Antonio F.
Cuba, La Habana
"Mi restaurante favorito es un restaurante que está en Palo Alto..."
Jorge C.
México, Nuevo León, Monterrey
"..."
aderezo (m)   salad dressing
ambiente (m)   atomosphere, ambiance
aperitivo (m)   appetizer
atender   to serve, to help
bebidas (f)   drinks
comer afuera   to eat out
comida rápida (f)   fast food
ensalada (f)   salad
mesero (m), camarero (m)   waiter/waitress
para llevar   to go (to get food to go)
parrilla (f)   grill
parrillada (f)   barbecue
plato fuerte (m)   main dish
propina (f)   tip
sopa (f)   soup
Un buen restaurante no sólo tiene buena comida sino ofrecen un buen servicio también. A good restaurant doesn't just have good food but they'll offer good service too.
Nos gusta mucho el ambiente de ese restaurante. Es muy romántico. We like the ambiance there a lot. It's very romantic.
Hay que empezar con una ensalada, luego una sopa y entonces el plato fuerte. You have to start with a salad, later a soup and then the main dish.
¿Qué tipo de aderezo quieres para la ensalada? What kind of dressing do you want for your salad?
En los Estados Unidos es común dejar una propina de 15 a 20 por ciento de la cuenta. In the United States it's common to leave a 15 to 20 percent tip.
¿Van a querer bebidas? Are you going to want drinks?
Ese platillo viene con ensalada y un postre. That dish comes with a salad and a dessert.
Masculine Adjectives

Some Spanish adjectives have a shorter form (they drop their -o) when they precede a masculine singular noun. These adjectives include:

Complete form Short form
  alguno algún
  ninguno ningún
  bueno buen
  malo mal
  primero primer
  tercero tercer
  postrero postrer

Examples:

Esto es un café bueno. Esto es un buencafé.
  Juan es un hombre grande. Juan es un gran hombre .

Remember that the short form is used when it precedes a masculine singular noun. If it follows a masculine singular noun (as it does in the above examples to the left), it preserves its complete form. The following examples show that for all other nouns the adjective is used in its complete form.

Estos son los primeros días del año These are the first days of the year.
  No veo ninguna razón para trabajar. I don't see any reason for working.
  Tú siempre tienes malas ideas. You always have bad ideas.

The adjective grande is generally reduced to its short form before a singular noun of either gender. It is not shortened when it follows a noun or when it is in the plural form. It is also important to note that when it comes before a noun grande means "great," when it follows its noun it means "big."

San Francisco es una gran ciudad. San Francisco is a great city.
  San Francisco es una ciudad grande. San Francisco is a big city.