What's on tonight? in Spanish
At home in front of the TV: channels, programs and arguments over the remote in Spanish. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «¿Sabes qué ponen esta noche en la dos?» — Do you know what's on channel two tonight?; «Un reportaje sobre las elecciones, creo. Empieza a las diez.» — A report about the elections, I think. It starts at ten. 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: at home in front of the tv: channels, programs and arguments over the remote. 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.
- ¿Sabes qué ponen esta noche en la dos?Do you know what's on channel two tonight?
- Un reportaje sobre las elecciones, creo. Empieza a las diez.A report about the elections, I think. It starts at ten.
- Otra vez política no, por favor. ¿Puedes cambiar de canal?Not politics again, please. Can you change the channel?
- Es que el mando lo tienes tú, está debajo del cojín.But you have the remote, it's under the cushion.
- Aquí hay una serie nueva. ¿La ponemos con subtítulos?There's a new series here. Shall we watch it with subtitles?
- En versión original, mejor. Así se entiende al presentador.In the original version, better. That way you understand the presenter.
- Vale, pero el primer capítulo lo vemos entero, ¿eh?Okay, but we watch the first episode in full, agreed?
- Enseguida. Y mañana, si quieres, vemos el directo del partido.Right away. And tomorrow, if you like, we watch the match live.
Lines one by one
| Spanish | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| ¿Sabes qué ponen esta noche en la dos? | — | Do you know what's on channel two tonight? |
| Un reportaje sobre las elecciones, creo. Empieza a las diez. | — | A report about the elections, I think. It starts at ten. |
| Otra vez política no, por favor. ¿Puedes cambiar de canal? | — | Not politics again, please. Can you change the channel? |
| Es que el mando lo tienes tú, está debajo del cojín. | — | But you have the remote, it's under the cushion. |
| Aquí hay una serie nueva. ¿La ponemos con subtítulos? | — | There's a new series here. Shall we watch it with subtitles? |
| En versión original, mejor. Así se entiende al presentador. | — | In the original version, better. That way you understand the presenter. |
| Vale, pero el primer capítulo lo vemos entero, ¿eh? | — | Okay, but we watch the first episode in full, agreed? |
| Enseguida. Y mañana, si quieres, vemos el directo del partido. | — | Right away. And tomorrow, if you like, we watch the match live. |
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?
“¿Sabes qué ponen esta noche en la dos?” — Do you know what's on channel two tonight?. 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.