Speaking Spanish
How to describe something in Spanish when you don't know the word
If you are in the chair right now
No sé cómo se llama, pero sirve para apretar tornillos.
I don't know what it's called, but it's for tightening screws.
If that gets brushed off
Es como un destornillador, pero más pequeño.
It's like a screwdriver, but smaller.
Sirve para plus an infinitive is the single most useful structure in the language for this, because almost anything can be defined by what it does. Es como X pero Y is the second. Between them you can describe most objects without a single specialist noun.
This is a skill rather than a situation, which is why almost nobody teaches it. Sooner or later you will need a thing whose name you do not know, and hunting for the noun is the slowest possible way through it. Describing what the thing does gets you there in one sentence.
The structures that do the work
neutral
Sirve para abrir latas.
It's for opening tins. Sirve para plus infinitive defines almost anything by its function.
neutral
Es como una cuchara, pero más plana.
It's like a spoon, but flatter. Anchor to something they know, then say how it differs.
neutral
Es lo que se usa para limpiar el cristal.
It's the thing you use for cleaning glass. Impersonal se, so you avoid needing a subject.
softest
¿Cómo se llama esto en español?
What's this called in Spanish? Ask once they have understood — that is when the word actually sticks.
Two things worth knowing
This is a skill, not a vocabulary list, which is why almost nobody teaches it.
Function beats appearance
Describing what a thing looks like sends the other person hunting through everything of that shape. Describing what it does narrows it immediately, because shops are organised by purpose. Sirve para is worth drilling until it arrives without thinking, and it is the same structure whether you are after a tool, an ingredient or a form at the town hall.
Say that you do not know the word
Opening with «no sé cómo se llama» is not an apology, it is instructions. It tells the other person to stop waiting for a noun and start guessing with you, which changes the whole exchange. People who skip it tend to stall mid-sentence hunting for a word that was never coming.
What Felipe actually said
What you have to get done
- Explain what the object is for
- Reply to questions about its size and material
- Check if they make the correct one
Felipe
Good morning. What do you need?
You
I'm looking for a tool that helps me cut pieces of wood precisely, but I can't remember its name. Do you have anything like that?
Felipe
I see, that sounds interesting. Is it a small tool or a bit bigger?
You
It's a medium size, roughly like a toolbox, and it's generally made of metal and plastic.
Felipe
That sounds very useful! Maybe you're looking for a jigsaw or a small circular saw. Could that be it?
You
Exactly! I think a jigsaw might be what I need. Do you have any recommendation on where to buy one?
Felipe
You could try shops like "Ferretería La Casa" or "Todo Para el Hogar". Good luck with your purchase! Have a good day.
The whole conversation, unedited
A real run in the app, nothing scripted on the shopkeeper's side. The transcript above is taken from this recording, and the objectives tick off on screen as they are met.
Turn sound on to hear it.
Now say it yourself
Reading that is not the same as producing it with someone waiting, which is the entire difficulty. You can have this exact conversation in the app: Felipe is a third of the way through, and you have three things to get done.
It is free, it takes about a minute to start, and the first attempt is allowed to be terrible.
Practise this conversation
- How to say the haircut is going wrong, in Spanish
- How to tell a restaurant about a food allergy, in Spanish
- How to report a theft to the police, in Spanish
- How to describe a symptom at the pharmacy, in Spanish
- How to question a charge on the bill, in Spanish
- How to return something without a receipt, in Spanish
- How to decline an invitation politely, in Spanish
- How to raise a noise problem with a neighbour, in Spanish
- How to get rebooked after a cancelled flight, in Spanish
- Practise speaking Spanish