Food and Drink (Junior Cert Spanish): Revision Notes

Food and drink

Learning food and drink vocabulary is essential for everyday conversations in Spanish. This topic covers everything you need to know about expressing food preferences, ordering in restaurants, shopping for groceries, and understanding Spanish food culture.

Basic food vocabulary

Understanding different food categories will help you organise your Spanish vocabulary more effectively. Each category contains essential items you'll encounter in daily life.

Meat and protein

Spanish	English
la carne	the meat
el pollo	the chicken
el jamón	the ham
el jamón serrano	the cured ham
el cerdo	the pork
el cordero	the lamb
la carne de res	the beef
el bistec	the steak
el pavo	the turkey
el huevo	the egg

Example sentences:

• Me gusta mucho el pollo con patatas. (I really like chicken with potatoes.)
• Mi hermana no come carne. (My sister doesn't eat meat.)
• ¿Tienes jamón serrano? (Do you have cured ham?)

Fish and seafood

Spanish	English
el pescado	the fish
el bacalao	the cod
las gambas	the prawns
los mejillones	the mussels
los calamares	the squid
los mariscos	the seafood

Example sentences:

• El pescado está muy fresco hoy. (The fish is very fresh today.)
• Me encantan las gambas a la plancha. (I love grilled prawns.)

Fruits

Spanish	English
la fruta	the fruit
la manzana	the apple
la naranja	the orange
el plátano	the banana
las fresas	the strawberries
las frambuesas	the raspberries
las uvas	the grapes
la piña	the pineapple
las cerezas	the cherries
la sandía	the watermelon

Example sentences:

• Como una manzana cada día. (I eat an apple every day.)
• Las fresas están muy dulces. (The strawberries are very sweet.)
• ¿Cuánto cuestan las naranjas? (How much do the oranges cost?)

Vegetables

Spanish	English
las verduras	the vegetables
las patatas	the potatoes
los tomates	the tomatoes
las zanahorias	the carrots
los pimientos	the peppers
las cebollas	the onions
los champíñones	the mushrooms
los guisantes	the peas
los pepinos	the cucumbers
la espinaca	the spinach

Example sentences:

• Las verduras son muy sanas. (Vegetables are very healthy.)
• Necesito patatas para hacer tortilla. (I need potatoes to make an omelette.)

Drinks vocabulary

Non-alcoholic drinks

Spanish	English
las bebidas	the drinks
el agua	the water
el agua con gas	the sparkling water
el agua sin gas	the still water
el café	the coffee
el té	the tea
el zumo	the juice
la limonada	the lemonade
el batido	the smoothie/milkshake

Alcoholic drinks

Spanish	English
el vino	the wine
el vino blanco	the white wine
el vino tinto	the red wine
la cerveza	the beer

Example sentences:

• Bebo mucha agua durante el día. (I drink lots of water during the day.)
• ¿Prefieres té o café? (Do you prefer tea or coffee?)
• Una cerveza, por favour. (One beer, please.)

Dairy products and other items

Spanish	English
los lácteos	the dairy products
la leche	the milk
el queso	the cheese
la mantequilla	the butter
el yogur	the yoghourt
los huevos	the eggs
el helado	the ice cream
el pan	the bread
el arroz	the rice

Restaurant vocabulary

Understanding restaurant terminology helps you navigate dining experiences more confidently.

Spanish	English
el entrante	the starter
el plato principal	the main course
el plato	the dish/plate
el sabor	the taste
fresco/a	fresh
casero/a	homemade
la miel	the honey
la crema	the cream
batido/a	whipped

Example sentences:

• ¿Qué vas a tomar de entrante? (What are you going to have as a starter?)
• El plato principal está delicioso. (The main course is delicious.)
• Esta comida casera está muy buena. (This homemade food is very good.)

Shopping for food

When shopping for groceries, you'll need to know containers and quantities.

Spanish	English
el cartón	the carton
el frasco	the jar
el paquete	the packet
el kilo	the kilo
la lata	the tin
la docena	the dozen

Example sentences:

• Quiero un kilo de manzanas, por favour. (I want a kilo of apples, please.)
• ¿Tienes una lata de tomates? (Do you have a tin of tomatoes?)
• Necesito una docena de huevos. (I need a dozen eggs.)

Table setting vocabulary

Knowing table setting terms is useful for dining situations.

Spanish	English
la mesa	the table
el tenedor	the fork
el cuchillo	the knife
la cuchara	the spoon
el plato	the plate
el vaso	the glass
la taza	the cup
el bol	the bowl
la servilleta	the napkin
la botella	the bottle
la jarra	the jug
la pajita	the straw

Example sentences:

• Pon los tenedores a la izquierda del plato. (Put the forks to the left of the plate.)
• ¿Puedes traer otro vaso, por favour? (Can you bring another glass, please?)

Grammar focus: expressing preferences with gustar and encantar

The verb gustar (to like) works differently from English. The thing you like is the subject of the sentence, and the person doing the liking is the indirect object.

Gustar conjugation patterns:

• me gusta = I like (+ singular item)
• me gustan = I like (+ plural items)
• te gusta/gustan = you like
• le gusta/gustan = he/she likes / you (formal) like
• nos gusta/gustan = we like
• os gusta/gustan = you (plural, Spain) like
• les gusta/gustan = they like / you (plural, formal) like

Example sentences:

• Me gusta el pescado. (I like fish.)
• Me gustan las naranjas. (I like oranges.)
• ¿Te gusta la paella? (Do you like paella?)
• Nos gustan los caramelos. (We like sweets.)

Encantar (to love/really like)

Encantar follows exactly the same pattern as "gustar" but expresses stronger preference.

Example sentences:

• Me encanta la paella. (I love paella.)
• Me encantan los caramelos. (I love sweets.)

Spanish food culture

Spain has a rich gastronomic tradition that varies by region. Understanding these dishes helps you appreciate Spanish culture.

Las tapas

Tapas are small portions or servings of food. Some of the most famous tapas include Spanish omelette, cured ham, prawns, mussels, cheese, olives and spicy potatoes. Traditionally tapas are served in bars with a drink. Tapas are eaten throughout Spain but are known as pinchos in the north of the country.

El gazpacho

Gazpacho is basically a cold soup. The ingredients include tomatoes, peppers, garlic and peppers. It's very refreshing and very popular in places like Andalusia where it gets very hot during summer.

La tortilla española

It's very important to note that a tortilla in Latin America is not the same as a tortilla in Spain. In Spain tortillas are made with eggs, potatoes and onions. Sometimes there's chorizo, ham or spinach as well.

La paella

Paella originally comes from Valencia. The ingredients for making paella include chicken or seafood, vegetables and much more. But the key to a delicious paella is the rice. You have to use Calasparra Rice because it absorbs all the flavours of the paella. Sometimes the rice in paella is yellow because another ingredient is saffron, which is a spice.

Useful restaurant phrases

Understanding these essential dining phrases will help you communicate confidently in Spanish restaurants.

Phrase bank for dining out:

• ¿Qué vas a tomar? (What are you going to have?)
• Quisiera... (I would like...)
• Me gustaría... (I would like...)
• ¿Qué hay de entrante? (What is there for starter?)
• La cuenta, por favour. (The bill, please.)
• ¿Cuánto cuesta? (How much does it cost?)
• ¿Algo más? (Anything else?)
• No, gracias. Es todo. (No, thanks. That's everything.)

Common mistakes and fixes

Using muy vs mucho with food

• Correct: La comida está muy buena. (The food is very good.)
• Incorrect: La comida está mucho buena.
• Fix: Use muy before adjectives, mucho before nouns or after verbs.

Gustar agreement errors

• Correct: Me gustan las manzanas. (I like apples.)
• Incorrect: Me gusta las manzanas.
• Fix: Use gustan with plural items, gusta with singular items.

Article usage with food

• Correct: Me gusta el café. (I like coffee - in general)
• Correct: Quiero un café. (I want a coffee - specific)
• Fix: Use definite articles when talking about food in general, indefinite when ordering specific items.

Translation practice