How many do we need? in Spanish
Two people count tiles and paint for a renovation: fractions, a margin, rounding in Spanish. 9 phrases that the conversation is made of: «A ojo, para el baño hacen falta unas cien piezas.» — Roughly speaking, the bathroom needs about a hundred tiles.; «Calcula la superficie mejor, que a ojo siempre falta.» — Better calculate the surface, by eye there is never enough. Every line can be played right on the page. The conversation is predictable: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: two people count tiles and paint for a renovation: fractions, a margin, rounding. The conversation is short and predictable — which is exactly what makes it good for a first try: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
- A ojo, para el baño hacen falta unas cien piezas.Roughly speaking, the bathroom needs about a hundred tiles.
- Calcula la superficie mejor, que a ojo siempre falta.Better calculate the surface, by eye there is never enough.
- Son dos metros de largo por tres. ¿Compro con margen?It's two meters long by three. Should I buy with a margin?
- Un diez por ciento de más. Se rompe casi una de cada diez.Ten percent extra. Almost one in ten breaks.
- Vale. ¿Y la pintura? Queda menos de un tercio del bote.Okay. And the paint? Less than a third of the can is left.
- Eso es lo justo para una capa. Para dos, el doble.That's just enough for one coat. For two, double.
- Si lo compro al por mayor sale varias veces menos.If I buy it wholesale, it comes out several times cheaper.
- Sí, pero solo por unidades de veinte. Redondea a ciento veinte.Yes, but only in batches of twenty. Round up to one hundred and twenty.
- Hecho. Y lo pagamos a partes iguales, como siempre.Deal. And we pay in equal shares, as always.
Lines one by one
| Spanish | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| A ojo, para el baño hacen falta unas cien piezas. | — | Roughly speaking, the bathroom needs about a hundred tiles. |
| Calcula la superficie mejor, que a ojo siempre falta. | — | Better calculate the surface, by eye there is never enough. |
| Son dos metros de largo por tres. ¿Compro con margen? | — | It's two meters long by three. Should I buy with a margin? |
| Un diez por ciento de más. Se rompe casi una de cada diez. | — | Ten percent extra. Almost one in ten breaks. |
| Vale. ¿Y la pintura? Queda menos de un tercio del bote. | — | Okay. And the paint? Less than a third of the can is left. |
| Eso es lo justo para una capa. Para dos, el doble. | — | That's just enough for one coat. For two, double. |
| Si lo compro al por mayor sale varias veces menos. | — | If I buy it wholesale, it comes out several times cheaper. |
| Sí, pero solo por unidades de veinte. Redondea a ciento veinte. | — | Yes, but only in batches of twenty. Round up to one hundred and twenty. |
| Hecho. Y lo pagamos a partes iguales, como siempre. | — | Deal. And we pay in equal shares, as always. |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and it gets in the way badly. It is one of the most reliably measured findings in the entire field.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Spanish in this situation?
“A ojo, para el baño hacen falta unas cien piezas.” — Roughly speaking, the bathroom needs about a hundred tiles.. The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.