Paying the Bill at a Restaurant

Key vocabulary

• cuentaf.

  bill, check

  “La cuenta, por favor.”— The bill, please.

  Pattern pedir la cuenta – to ask for the bill

  Compare factura (invoice)

  noun, plural: cuentas

  💡 cuenta comes from contar (to count); it originally meant 'the calculated amount,' hence 'bill.'

• cuántoadv.

  how much

  “¿Cuánto es?”— How much is it?

  Pattern ¿Cuánto cuesta? – How much does it cost?

  interrogative word, no conjugation

  💡 cuánto has an accent mark in questions; without the accent, it's a relative pronoun. Be careful to distinguish them.

• aceptarv.

  to accept

  “¿Aceptan tarjeta?”— Do you accept cards?

  Pattern aceptar tarjeta – to accept cards

  Compare admitir (to admit/accept)

  verb, present tense third-person plural: aceptan

  💡 aceptar comes from Latin acceptare, cognate with English 'accept'—easy to remember.

• tarjetaf.

  card

  “¿Aceptan tarjeta?”— Do you accept cards?

  Pattern tarjeta de crédito – credit card

  Compare cartón (cardboard)

  noun, plural: tarjetas

  💡 tarjeta comes from French carte, cognate with English 'card'; think 'card.'

• eurom.

  euro

  “Son veinte euros.”— It's twenty euros.

  Pattern pagar en euros – to pay in euros

  Compare moneda (currency)

  noun, plural: euros

  💡 euro is the European common currency used in Spain, not in Latin America, but the root is easy to remember.