Spanish Shopping Vocabulary

Shopping / De compras

When you are going shopping, it does not matter whether you are looking for something for dinner or for the latest shoes, there are a series of words which you will inevitably need to use in order to make yourself understood. This section of our site has been set up in order to provide you with various terms which range from the description of a local store to the terms required for actions such as trying on a piece of clothing or asking for a certain size. These will all come in handy at one point or another for certain, so having them under your belt will be a useful tool.

There are a lot of terms that you may need to use in order to get around properly. If you are looking for a certain type of store but feel a bit lost in the new city that you are faced with, then you can always ask a local who is passing by you for directions to the nearest example of a particular type of store, such as bakery or a florist. While you are in the shop, you can ask to speak to the manager if you need to know something in particular which requires a more responsible hand, or you can ask whether it is alright for you to go into the fitting rooms and try something on. You can also read signs in windows or inside the shop which might tell you about a certain sale offer or a discount, and see where racks are arranged by size in clothing stores, which will help you to get around much more easily.

In this way, from the first day, you will be able to go to your favorite shops or help to do daily chores with the family or roommates with whom you are staying! You will be able to pick up souvenirs for those who are waiting for you to return when you go back home, as well as getting some new items for yourself, and of course buying food during your stay so that you do not go hungry. Make sure to jot down these terms for yourself (or bookmark this page so that you can come back to it); you are certainly going to use them a lot.