Costa Rica (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Matthew Firestone [508]
s not lisped (unlike in Spain)
The letter ‘h’ is invariably silent (ie never pronounced) in Spanish.
Note also that the Spanish b and v sounds are very similar – they are both pronounced as a very soft ‘v’ in English (somewhere between ‘b’ and ‘v’).
There are some variations in spoken Spanish as part of the regional accents across Latin America in general. The most notable of these variations is the pronunciation of the letter ll. In some parts of Latin America it’s pronounced as the ‘ll’ in ‘million,’ but in Costa Rica it’s pronounced as ‘y’ (eg as in ‘yes’), and this is how it’s represented in our pronunciation guides.
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WORD STRESS
In general, words ending in vowels or the letters n or s have stress on the next-to-last syllable, while those with other endings have stress on the last syllable. Thus vaca (cow) and caballos (horses) both carry stress on the next-to-last syllable, while ciudad (city) and infeliz (unhappy) are both stressed on the last syllable.
Written accents will almost always appear in words that don’t follow the rules above, eg sótano (basement), América and porción (portion). When counting syllables, be sure to remember that diphthongs (vowel combinations, such as the ue in puede) constitute only one. When a word with a written accent appears in capital letters, the accent is often not written, but is still pronounced.
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GENDER & PLURALS
Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine, and there are rules to help determine gender (with the obligatory exceptions). Feminine nouns generally end with -a or with the groups -ción, -sión or -dad. Other endings typically signify a masculine noun. Endings for adjectives also change to agree with the gender of the noun they modify (masculine/feminine -o/-a). Where both masculine and feminine forms are included in this chapter, they are separated by a slash, with the masculine form given first, eg perdido/a.
If a noun or adjective ends in a vowel, the plural is formed by adding -s to the end. If it ends in a consonant, the plural is formed by adding -es to the end.
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ACCOMMODATIONS
Where’s a …? ¿Adónde hay …? a·don·de ai …
cabin una cabina oo·na ka·bee·na
camping una área para oo·na a·re·a pa·ra
ground acampar a·kam·par
ecolodge un ecolodge oon e·ko·loj
guesthouse una casa de oo·na ka·sa de
huéspedes wes·pe·des
hostel un hospedaje oon os·pe·da·khe
hotel un hotel oon o·tel
youth hostel un albergue oon al·ber·ge
juvenil khoo·ve·neel
MAKING A RESERVATION
(for phone or written requests)
To … A …
From … De …
Date Fecha
I’d like to book … Quisiera reservar …
in the name of … en nombre de …
for the nights of … para las noches del …
credit card tarjeta de crédito
number número
expiry date fecha de vencimiento
Please confirm … ¿Puede confirmar …?
availability la disponibilidad
price el precio
Do you have a room available?
¿Tiene una habitación? tye·ne oo·na a·bee·ta·syon
Does it include breakfast?
¿Incluye el desayuno? een·kloo·ye el de·sa·yoo·no
May I see the room?
¿Puedo ver la habitación? pwe·do ver la a·bee·ta·syon
I’d like a … Quisiera una kee·sye·ra oo·na
room. habitación … a·bee·ta·syon …
double doble do·ble
single sencilla sen·see·ya
twin con dos camas kon dos ka·mas
How much is it ¿Cuánto cuesta kwan·to kwes·ta
per …? por …? por …
night noche no·che
person persona per·so·na
week semana se·ma·na
cheaper más barato mas ba·ra·to
discount descuento des·kwen·to
full board pensión pen·syon
completa kom·ple·ta
private/shared baño privado/ ba·nyo pree·va·do/
bathroom compartido kom·par·tee·do
too expensive demasiado caro de·ma·sya·do ka·ro
I don’t like it. No me gusta. no me goos·ta
It’s fine. Está bien. es·ta byen
I’ll take it. La tomo. la to·mo
I’m leaving now. Me voy ahora. me voy a·o·ra
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CONVERSATION & ESSENTIALS
Latin Americans are very conscious of civilities. Never approach a stranger for information without extending a greeting, such as buenos