How To Ask What Size in Spanish

Friday night, I went “al cine” (to the movies) with some Colombian friends and they had a friend named Andy join us.
Andy is from the U.K, and he is sort of a “mochilero” (backpacker) who has traveled throughout Latin America. “Mochilero” comes from the word “mochila” which means “backpack.”

I heard Andy make at least 5 mistakes when speaking Spanish. I made a note of the mistakes with my smart phone so that I could share the mistakes with you so that you don’t ever commit these same errors.

1. After we were seated in the movies but before the movie started, Andy decided to get something from the refreshment stand. And he asked his Colombian friend if he wanted anything, ¿Quieres algo? (Do you want anything?). His friend requested “una manzana.” “Mananza” literally means apple but in this case “manzana” refers to an apple-flavored soft drink that is very popular in Colombia. It reminds me of apple-flavored Snapple except that it is carbonated.

In order to determine what size “gaseosa” (soda/soft drink) that his friend wanted, Andy asked, ¿Qué talla? Andy’s friend responded, “no importa.” (It doesn’t matter.)

Well, “talla” does mean size, but “talla” refers to the size of clothing. When referring to spatial dimensions, proportions,  magnitude, or bulk of anything, etc., you should use the word “tamaño” instead of “talla.”

So Andy should have asked his friend ¿Qué tamaño? or ¿De qué tamaño?

Since I wanted “crispetas” (popcorn), I decided to accompany Andy.
By the way, in most countries in Latin America, they use the word “palomitas” instead of “crispetas” in order to say popcorn — but not in Colombia.

2. When we arrived at the refreshment stand, Andy requested “una manzana” and the “cajero” (cashier) asked him ¿Qué tamaño?

At first, Andy did not understand the question from the “cajero” and he responded, ¿Qué?

¿Qué? does mean “what?” But to respond ¿Qué? when you don’t understand someone or you didn’t hear the person is considered “maleducado” or “grosero” in Latin America.

By the way, “maleducado” does not mean poorly educated. Both “maleducado” and “grosero” mean rude or crude.

When Andy did not hear or did not understand the “cajero” he should have responded ¿Cómo?

3. The “cajero” (cashier) then asked Andy again, ¿Qué tamaño?

In order to say medium-sized Andy responded “media”

Did you notice Andy’s mistake?

“Media” or “mitad” means half. But if you want to say “medium-sized” then you must say “mediano/a”

4. The “cajero” (cashier) then asked Andy, ¿Algo más? (anything else)

Andy then pointed to a Snickers bar behind the stand and said “ése, por favor.” (that one, please). And the “cajero” asked ¿éste? (this one?) pointing to a bag of M&Ms candy.

Andy, responded “no,” “ése, no” “el primero dulce.” Did you notice Andy’s mistake here?

As adjectives, the ordinal numbers “primero” and “tercero” drop the -o when coming before a masculine singular noun:

So Andy should have said “el primer dulce” (the first candy) or “el primero” (the first one).

5. After the movie, we were all a little hungry so we went to a nice “restaurante” to grab a bite to eat.

At the “restaurante,” Andy read the “carta de vinos” (wine menu) and then decided that he wanted a half of a bottle of wine. He then told the “mesero” or waiter that he wanted “mediana botella de vino rojo, por favor.”

Did you notice Andy’s mistake?

“Mediana” means “medium sized.” But “media” means half. So he should have said “media botella de vino tinto, por favor.” (Half a bottle of red wine, please.)

He should have also said “vino tinto” and not “vino rojo.” Although “rojo” does mean the color red, in Spanish red wine is more commonly referred to as “vino tinto” than “vino rojo.”

“Tinto” is also the word that is used in order to say “black coffee” in both Colombia and Venezuela.