Shopping in Spanish comes down to three words you will use in almost every store: precio (price), efectivo (cash), and tarjeta (card). Around them sit the words that shape the transaction: barato (cheap), caro (expensive), gratis (free), and dinero (money) itself. Vocabcord's A1 Spanish set groups all ten in one money theme, so here they are together, with audio, plus the extra words you meet once the till opens up into discounts, receipts, and sizes.
The core shopping words (A1)
This is the money theme from Vocabcord's A1 Spanish set, the ten words behind almost any purchase. Tap the play button on any row to hear it.
| Spanish | English | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| dinero | money | I need some money. |
| dólar | dollar | Five dollars, please. |
| euro | euro | Twenty euros. |
| precio | price | What's the price? |
| barato | cheap | A cheap hotel. |
| caro | expensive | An expensive watch. |
| gratis | free (no cost) | Free coffee for guests. |
| billete | ticket | Two tickets, please. |
| tarjeta | card | I'll pay by card. |
| efectivo | cash | Cash or card? |
Cash or card: efectivo o tarjeta
A cashier who wants to know how you are paying asks ¿Efectivo o tarjeta? (cash or card?). You answer with pago en efectivo (I'm paying in cash) or pago con tarjeta (I'm paying by card). The corpus's own example sentence for tarjeta is exactly that reply, I'll pay by card, next to efectivo's cash or card?
The shop itself has one Spanish word for two English ones: tienda covers both the American store and the British shop. Vocabcord's corpus files it as a single A1 entry with both glosses attached, so there is nothing to choose between; whichever word you grew up with, tienda is the one you need. Once you're inside, comprar (to buy) does the rest: quiero comprar pan, I want to buy bread, works the same way for a loaf or a jacket.
How do you say 'how much does this cost' in Spanish?
¿Cuánto cuesta esto? (how much does this cost?) or the shorter ¿Cuánto es? (how much is it?) will get you an answer in any shop. What comes back is built from the corpus's own price words: something is barato (cheap), like a cheap hotel in the corpus's own example, or caro (expensive), like an expensive watch. Occasionally it costs nothing at all: gratis covers free coffee for hotel guests just as easily as a free sample at a market stall.
Discounts, sales, and bargains
Past the A1 basics, Vocabcord's A2 money theme grows to 24 entries built for exactly this: shopping past the till. Descuento is a discount (the corpus's own line is a student discount), and rebajas is a sale, plural in Spanish even when English keeps it singular, from the corpus's the shoes are on sale. A B1 word adds the feeling of a good deal: ganga is a bargain, filed next to the exclamation it is built for, ¡qué ganga!, what a bargain.
Asking for a receipt or a refund
Two more A2 words close out a purchase. Recibo is a receipt, the corpus pairing it with the exact reason to keep one, keep the receipt for the refund, and reembolso is that refund itself, as in she asked for a full refund. Put a request together with ¿me da un recibo? (can I have a receipt?) and you can walk back into any shop that sold you something broken.
What size? Talla
Clothes and shoe shopping adds one more word the money theme does not cover: talla, size. It sits in Vocabcord's A2 home set with its own ready-made question, ¿qué talla de zapato usas?, what size shoe do you wear? Pair it with the full wardrobe list in our clothes in Spanish guide once you know what you're buying and just need the right fit.
How to keep these words without a study schedule
Ten words carry most of a shopping trip, and the discount, receipt, and size words above carry the rest, but a word only stays learned if it comes back around. Vocabcord plays one phrase out loud each time you plug in your phone to charge, pulled from your level and repeated on a schedule tuned to how well you already know it, so there is nothing extra to open or run. The full 33,233-phrase corpus has a slice this size for every theme, from weather to transport to the numbers above. Get Vocabcord on the App Store and start with efectivo, tarjeta, and precio today.
Common questions
How do you say 'how much does this cost' in Spanish?
¿Cuánto cuesta esto? (how much does this cost?) or the shorter ¿Cuánto es? (how much is it?). Both work in any shop or market.
How do you say cash or card in Spanish?
¿Efectivo o tarjeta? is the question a cashier asks. Answer with pago en efectivo (I'm paying in cash) or pago con tarjeta (I'm paying by card).
What is the Spanish word for discount?
Descuento is a discount. A sale is rebajas (plural), and a good deal you're pleased about is a ganga, a bargain.
How do you ask for a receipt in Spanish?
¿Me da un recibo? (can I have a receipt?). The word itself is recibo; a refund, if you need to bring it back, is reembolso.
Do 'shop' and 'store' use different words in Spanish?
No. British English says shop and American English says store, but Spanish covers both with one word, tienda.
What is the Spanish word for size, as in clothes or shoe size?
Talla. Ask ¿qué talla usas? for clothes or ¿qué talla de zapato usas? for shoe size.
