At the market in Spanish: asking prices, tasting, choosing fruit and haggling in Mexico, Spain, Colombia and Argentina
A market is a good place to practise Spanish, and everything happens faster there than in a shop. The vendor calls you marchanta or casera, prices are quoted by the kilo, and in Spain the queue is spoken rather than written down. This page has the market exchange from the first call to the change in your hand, with the version for Mexico, Spain, Colombia and Argentina.
What the market is called
The word changes, and so does the kind of place.
| Mexico | Spain | Colombia | Argentina | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The covered, permanent one | el mercado | el mercado or el mercado de abastos | la plaza de mercado or la plaza | el mercado |
| The weekly street one | el tianguis | el mercadillo | el mercado campesino | la feria |
| The fruit and veg shop | la frutería, la verdulería | la frutería | el fruver or la frutería | la verdulería |
| The stall | el puesto | el puesto | el puesto | el puesto |
| The vendor | el marchante, el vendedor | el tendero, la dependienta | el vendedor, la casera | el feriante, el verdulero |
Tianguis comes from Nahuatl and is the word across most of Mexico for the street market that appears on one day of the week and is gone by evening. Mexico City also has the mercado sobre ruedas, the same thing under a fixed set of awnings.
In Spain el mercado is the covered building with fishmongers, butchers and greengrocers under one roof, often signed mercado de abastos. El mercadillo is the weekly open-air one, with clothes and household goods as well as food.
In Colombia the big covered ones are plazas de mercado, and in Bogotá people say voy a la plaza the way a Spaniard says voy al mercado. Fruver on a shopfront means fruit and vegetables, and people say voy al fruver.
In Argentina la feria is the street market that vendors set up on a given street on a given morning. The verdulería on the corner is where most people actually buy.
Getting served
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Good morning | Buenos días. / Buen día. (Argentina) | Say it before anything else |
| I’d like… | Quería… | The imperfect is softer than quiero everywhere |
| Can I have a kilo of tomatoes? | ¿Me da un kilo de tomates? | Mexico, Colombia, Spain |
| Give me a kilo of tomatoes | Ponme un kilo de tomates. | Spain, normal and not rude |
| Can I have a kilo of tomatoes? | ¿Me das un kilo de tomates? | Argentina, vos |
| Can I have a kilo of tomatoes? | ¿Me regala un kilo de tomates? | Colombia, the ordinary polite form |
| Who is last? | ¿Quién da la vez? / ¿Quién es el último? | Spain, ask it out loud when you arrive |
| Who is next? | ¿Quién sigue? | Argentina, Mexico |
| I’m next | Voy yo. / Me toca a mí. | |
| I’m just looking | Solo estoy viendo, gracias. | |
| That’s all | Nada más, gracias. / Eso es todo. | |
| Anything else? Nothing, thanks | Nada más. | The answer they expect |
In Spain the turn system is spoken, not a ticket queue. You arrive at the stall and say ¿Quién da la vez? or ¿Quién es la última?, someone raises a hand, and you serve after them. Standing silently in what looks like a line is how visitors get skipped for ten minutes. Some markets do hand out numbers: ¿Hay que coger número?, do I need to take a number.
Quantities and prices
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| How much is a kilo? | ¿A cómo el kilo? | Mexico and Colombia, the everyday form |
| How much is a kilo? | ¿A cuánto está el kilo? | Argentina, Spain |
| How much is this? | ¿Cuánto vale? (Spain) / ¿Cuánto cuesta? / ¿Cuánto es? | ¿Cuánto es? is for the total |
| A kilo | un kilo | |
| Half a kilo | medio kilo | |
| A quarter | un cuarto | 250 grams, understood everywhere |
| A hundred grams | cien gramos | |
| Two hundred grams of cheese | doscientos gramos de queso | |
| A dozen | una docena | |
| Half a dozen | media docena | |
| A bunch | un manojo (herbs) / un racimo (grapes, bananas) | |
| Three of those | Tres de esos. | Point |
| One piece | una pieza (Mexico) / una unidad | |
| A bit more | Un poquito más. | |
| A bit less | Un poquito menos. | |
| That’s fine | Así está bien. | The phrase that stops the scale |
| Is it by kilo or by piece? | ¿Es por kilo o por pieza? |
Así está bien is the most useful sentence at a scale. The vendor piles until you say it.
In Mexico vendors sell a lot of fruit by the montón, the little heap laid out on a tray at a fixed price: ¿A cómo el montón? In Spain and Argentina they price almost everything per kilo. Colombian vendors sell both ways, and una libra, a pound of 500 grams, is still used in markets in much of the country.
Choosing and tasting
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Can I try it? | ¿Puedo probar? | Everywhere |
| Can I have a taste? | ¿Me da a probar? / ¿Me da una probadita? (Mexico) | |
| Is it sweet? | ¿Está dulce? | |
| Is it ripe? | ¿Está maduro? | |
| It’s not ripe yet | Está verde. | Green means unripe, whatever the colour |
| Half ripe | pintón | Mexico, Colombia |
| Too ripe | muy maduro / pasado | |
| I want it for today | Lo quiero para hoy. | The key sentence. The vendor then picks ripe |
| For the weekend | Para el fin de semana. | They pick firmer |
| Can I choose them? | ¿Puedo escoger? / ¿Puedo elegir? | Ask first |
| Can you pick me good ones? | ¿Me escoge unos buenos? | |
| Not that one, this one | Ese no, este. | |
| Is it in season? | ¿Está en temporada? | |
| Where is it from? | ¿De dónde es? | |
| It’s local | Es de aquí. / Es nacional. | |
| Is it organic? | ¿Es orgánico? / ¿Es ecológico? (Spain) | Spain says ecológico on the label |
Touching the fruit is a real difference. At a Spanish mercadillo and at most permanent market stalls the vendor picks, and handling the display is frowned on; some stalls put out gloves. In a Mexican tianguis and a Colombian plaza you usually choose your own and hand them over. Ask ¿puedo escoger? and watch the answer.
Tasting is normal in Mexico and Colombia. A fruit vendor will cut a slice of mango or hand you a segment of mandarin without being asked, and ¿me da a probar? is a fair question at any stall selling something sweet. In Spain, staff at cheese and jamón counters give tastes, and fruit sellers rarely do. In Argentina, tasting is uncommon at a feria and normal at a cheese or olive stall.
Haggling, where it exists
This is the part visitors get wrong in both directions.
| Mexico | Spain | Colombia | Argentina | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food at a market | Small room, mostly on the last of a batch | No | Small room, more when you buy in bulk | No |
| Clothes, crafts, second hand | Yes | At a mercadillo or rastro, mildly | Yes at craft stalls | At a feria americana or antiques stall, mildly |
| Supermarket, shop | No | No | No | No |
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Can you do me a price? | ¿Me hace precio? / ¿Me hacés precio? (Argentina) | For buying several |
| What’s the best you can do? | ¿Cuánto es lo menos? | Mexico, the standard opener |
| Can you leave it at…? | ¿No me lo deja en cien? | Mexico, Colombia |
| Is there a discount? | ¿Me hace un descuento? / ¿Un descuentico? (Colombia) | |
| If I take three? | ¿Y si me llevo tres? | The polite way in |
| That’s expensive | Está caro. | Say it lightly or not at all |
| I’ll leave it, thanks | Lo dejo, gracias. | Walking away is allowed |
Food prices at a Spanish market are the prices. A greengrocer in Valencia finds it odd if you ask him to come down on tomatoes, and the answer is no. The same is true at an Argentine feria, where prices are chalked up and the same for everyone, though at a feria americana selling second-hand clothes you can make an offer.
In Mexico and Colombia there is more give, and it is gentle. You buy several things from one stall, you ask ¿cuánto es lo menos? or ¿no me lo deja en…?, and the vendor knocks a little off or throws in an extra. People think badly of you if you grind down a woman selling coriander over the price of a bunch.
Colombia has la ñapa, the small extra handed over for free at the end: an extra lime, two more mandarins. You can ask for it, once you are a regular and with a smile: ¿Y la ñapa? In parts of the south and east of Mexico people call the same thing el pilón.
What the vendor will call you, and what they will say
Markets are loud and the calls are aimed at you. None of these are rude.
| What you hear | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| ¡Marchanta! / ¡Marchante! | Mexico | Customer. An old word, used both ways, vendor to buyer and buyer to vendor |
| ¡Güerita! / ¡Güero! | Mexico | Light-skinned or fair-haired, used for almost any customer, friendly |
| ¡Joven! / ¡Seño! | Mexico | Young man, madam. Said to everyone |
| ¡Pásele, pásele! | Mexico | Come in, come over |
| ¿Qué le damos? / ¿Qué va a llevar? | Mexico | What can I get you |
| ¡Casera! / ¡Casero! | Colombia | The market word for a regular customer |
| ¡Vecina! / ¡Vecino! | Colombia, Mexico | Neighbour, said to a stranger |
| Sumercé | Colombia (Bogotá, Boyacá) | A very polite “you”, takes usted verbs |
| A la orden | Colombia | At your service. Both a call to come over and a reply to gracias |
| ¿Qué más le provoca? | Colombia | What else do you fancy |
| ¡Guapa! / ¡Reina! / ¡Cariño! | Spain | Ordinary at a market counter, from women and men, to women |
| ¿Qué te pongo? / ¿Le pongo algo más? | Spain | What shall I put you. The standard question |
| ¿Quién da la vez? | Spain | Who is last in the turn |
| ¿Algo más? | Everywhere | Anything else |
| ¿Quién sigue? | Argentina, Mexico | Who’s next |
| ¿Te doy algo más? | Argentina | Shall I give you anything else |
| Llevá, llevá | Argentina | Take it, take it |
Marchanta and casera both mean the person you buy from regularly, and vendors say them to customers as an invitation to become one.
Paying, change and bags
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| How much altogether? | ¿Cuánto es todo? | |
| Do you take card? | ¿Aceptan tarjeta? | Assume cash at a street market |
| Only cash? | ¿Solo efectivo? | |
| Sorry, I only have a big note | Disculpe, solo tengo un billete grande. | |
| Do you have change? | ¿Tiene cambio? | Everywhere |
| Do you have small change? | ¿Tiene sencillo? (Mexico, Colombia) / ¿Tienes suelto? (Spain) / ¿Tenés cambio? (Argentina) | |
| Coins | monedas / morralla (Mexico, loose coins) | |
| Keep the change | Quédese con el cambio. | |
| Can I have a bag? | ¿Me da una bolsa? | Bolsa in all four |
| I brought my own | Traigo la mía. | |
| Two bags, please | Dos bolsas, por favor. | |
| Shopping trolley | el carrito / el changuito (Argentina, the supermarket trolley) | |
| Basket | la canasta (Mexico, Colombia) / la cesta (Spain) |
Street markets are cash markets in all four countries, and card readers at a stall are the exception. Change is the daily problem: vendors early in the morning genuinely have none, and ¿tiene sencillo? or ¿tienes suelto? is a question you will be asked as often as you ask it. Break large notes in a supermarket before you go.
Bags cost money in Spain, where shops charge for plastic ones, and Mexico City banned single-use plastic bags, so stalls hand over thin reusable ones or nothing. Carry a folding bag. In Argentina the supermarket trolley is el changuito, and the wheeled shopping trolley people take to a feria is el carrito.
Ten sentences you can say tomorrow
- Buenos días, ¿a cómo el kilo de mango? Good morning, how much is a kilo of mango? (Mexico, Colombia)
- ¿Quién da la vez? Who is last in the queue? (Spain)
- Medio kilo de tomates, para hoy. Half a kilo of tomatoes, to eat today.
- ¿Me regala una libra de aguacate, bien maduro? A pound of avocado, nice and ripe, please. (Colombia)
- ¿Puedo probar? Can I try it?
- Un poquito más. Así está bien. A little more. That’s fine.
- ¿Me hacés precio si llevo tres? Will you do me a price if I take three? (Argentina)
- Ponme doscientos gramos de queso manchego. Two hundred grams of manchego, please. (Spain)
- Nada más, gracias. ¿Cuánto es todo? That’s all, thanks. How much altogether?
- Solo tengo un billete de veinte, ¿tiene cambio? I only have a twenty, do you have change?
Questions people ask
Do I haggle at a Spanish market? No, and it is the quickest way to mark yourself as a tourist. Prices at a mercado and a mercadillo food stall are fixed. A second-hand or clothes stall at a rastro is the one place an offer is normal.
What is a tianguis? A Mexican street market that vendors set up on one day of the week and is taken down the same evening. The word is Nahuatl. Every neighbourhood has its day, and asking a neighbour ¿qué día es el tianguis? is a good first conversation.
Why is the vendor calling me güera? In Mexico, güero and güera mean fair, and market vendors use them for customers very broadly, including people who are neither fair nor light-haired. It is friendly. Vendors use joven and seño the same way.
What does “a la orden” mean in Colombia? At your service. A vendor says it to invite you over, a shop assistant says it when you walk in, and everybody says it in place of de nada after gracias.
Is “¿me regala?” really asking for a gift? No. In Colombia it is the ordinary polite way to ask for anything you are about to pay for, and it is common in parts of Mexico too. You still pay.
Should I use tú or usted with a vendor? Colombia: usted, and sumercé if you hear it first in Bogotá. Mexico: usted with an older vendor, tú with someone your own age. Spain: tú, even with strangers. Argentina: vos, with usted for a much older person.
What is “la ñapa”? The free extra a Colombian vendor adds when you have bought a good amount: one more lime, a couple of extra mandarins. In parts of Mexico the same thing is el pilón.
How do I say “I’ll take it”? Me lo llevo. For more than one thing, me los llevo. To decline, lo dejo, gracias, which is polite and final.
Practise these words
mercado, puesto, kilo, libra, maduro, verde, probar, escoger, bolsa, cambio, precio, llevar, pesar. Vozelu is a free website for practising Spanish, and it has each of these. You see a sentence with one word missing, you type the word, and a native voice reads the sentence back. Practise the words on this page.