How to make plans with a friend in Spanish
¿Tomamos un café?
“Shall we get a coffee?”
When: Inviting a friend or friendly colleague out
The moment
You are saying goodbye to a Spanish friend outside a bar in Madrid and you want to fix a coffee together this week. Leave with a day, a time and a place.
A1 · Unit 4 · People
The lines
Proposing something together
Spanish proposes plans with the plain 'we' form: '¿Tomamos un café?' means shall we get a coffee? The same trick works for '¿Cenamos?' or '¿Comemos juntos?'.
¿Tomamos un café?
“Shall we get a coffee?”
When to use it: Inviting a friend or friendly colleague out
What you’ll hear back: ¡Vale! ¿Cuándo? (Okay! When?)
Pinning the day and time
To check a day and hour, ask '¿Te va bien el jueves a las siete?' — does Thursday at seven work for you? Drop in any day and hour you like.
¿Te va bien el jueves a las siete?
“Does Thursday at seven work for you?”
When to use it: Fixing the day and time of the plan
What you’ll hear back: Sí, me va bien. (Yes, that works for me.)
Words for this scene
| Spanish | Say it | English |
|---|---|---|
| ¿Dónde quedamos? | DON-deh keh-DAH-mos | Where shall we meet? |
Vale, ¿y dónde quedamos? Okay, and where shall we meet? Tip: 'Quedar' is Spain's everyday verb for meeting up with people. | ||
| Me apetece mucho | meh ah-peh-TEH-theh MOO-choh | I'd really like that |
¿Cenamos el sábado? Sí, me apetece mucho. Shall we have dinner on Saturday? Yes, I'd really like that. Tip: Warmer than a plain 'vale'; it shows you actually want to go. | ||
| Entonces, el jueves a las siete | en-TON-thes el HWEH-behs ah lahs SYEH-teh | Thursday at seven, then |
Entonces, el jueves a las siete en la plaza. Thursday at seven in the square, then. Tip: Repeating the plan back is how Spaniards seal it before leaving. | ||
Your objective
Invite them for a coffee and agree on a day and a time to meet.
- an invitation
- a day
- a time
Lines that get it done
- ¿Tomamos un café?
- Entonces, el jueves a las siete en la plaza. · Thursday at seven in the square, then.
In the live scene the objective stays on screen, and the Replay afterwards says whether you got it done.
Check yourself
1. You want to invite a colleague out for a coffee. What do you say?
- ¿Tomamos un café?
- ¿Tomo un café?
- Un café con leche, por favor.
- ¿Café tomamos tú?
Show the answer
¿Tomamos un café?
The 'we' form as a question is how you propose doing something together.
2. You want to check that Thursday at seven works for your friend. What do you ask?
- ¿Te va bien el jueves a las siete?
- ¿Vas bien el jueves a las siete?
- ¿Tienes el jueves a las siete?
- ¿Está bueno el jueves a las siete?
Show the answer
¿Te va bien el jueves a las siete?
'¿Te va bien...?' is the normal way to ask if a day and time suit someone.
3. The day and time are agreed. How do you ask about the place?
- ¿Dónde quedamos?
- ¿Cuándo quedamos?
- ¿Cuánto cuesta?
- ¿Qué tal el día?
Show the answer
¿Dónde quedamos?
'¿Dónde quedamos?' asks where you two will meet up.