En la Farmacia y el Supermercado - Pharmacy and Supermarket

You know how to point, replace nouns, and plan errands. This last lesson gives you the words you need when you actually walk into the shops: sizes and colours at the supermarket and clothing store, and a survival kit of pharmacy phrases for when you've got a headache and your Spanish flatmate won't lend you any paracetamol. We'll also clear up the coger caveat — a verb that's perfectly polite in Spain and very much not in most of Latin America.

Sizes — Tres Tamaños y la Talla

For most things — coffees, drinks, packets, portions — three sizes are enough:

Spanish	English
pequeño / pequeña	small
mediano / mediana	medium
grande	large (no gender change)

Notice grande doesn't change for gender — un café grande, una camiseta grande. The other two follow the regular -o / -a pattern.

For clothes, the word talla (clothing size) takes a number, and shoes use número (shoe size):

• ¿Qué talla usas? – What size do you wear?
• Uso la 38. – I wear a 38.
• ¿Qué número calzas? – What shoe size do you wear?
• Calzo el 42. – I wear a 42.

Spanish clothing sizes are different from US/UK sizes. A 38 in Spain is roughly a US 6 or a UK 10. A 42 shoe is roughly a US 9 or a UK 8.5.

Colours With Gender Agreement

Spanish colours mostly follow the -o / -a rule, but a few don't change. Here's the full beginner set:

Spanish (m. sg.)	f. sg.	plural variations	English
rojo	roja	rojos / rojas	red
negro	negra	negros / negras	black
blanco	blanca	blancos / blancas	white
amarillo	amarilla	amarillos / amarillas	yellow
azul	azul	azules	blue
verde	verde	verdes	green
gris	gris	grises	grey
marrón	marrón	marrones	brown
naranja	naranja	naranjas	orange
rosa	rosa	rosas	pink

Three patterns to lock in:

• Colours ending in -o (rojo, negro, blanco, amarillo) follow the regular -o / -a / -os / -as pattern.
• Colours ending in -e, a consonant, or a vowel that isn't -o (azul, verde, gris, marrón) don't change for gender — only for number, by adding -es.
• Naranja and rosa are still nouns at heart (orange the fruit, rose the flower). They don't change for gender or number when used as colours: camisas naranja, jerseys rosa.

Try a few real sentences:

• Quiero el jersey rojo. – I want the red jumper.
• Las camisetas verdes están en oferta. – The green t-shirts are on sale.
• ¿Tenéis estos pantalones en azul? – Do you have these trousers in blue?
• Me encantan los zapatos negros. – I love black shoes.

The Coger Caveat

In Spain, coger is one of the most useful verbs in the language. It means "to take, to grab, to catch, to pick up":

• Cojo el metro a las ocho. – I take the metro at eight.
• ¿Puedes coger el pan? – Can you grab the bread?
• Voy a coger un taxi. – I'm going to catch a taxi.
• Coge una bolsa. – Grab a bag.

It's irregular only in the yo form: cojo (with a j), not cogo. The other forms follow the regular -er pattern: coges, coge, cogemos, cogéis, cogen.

The caveat: in most of Latin America — especially Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Venezuela — coger is a vulgar verb meaning to have sex. There, people use tomar ("take") or agarrar ("grab") instead. So voy a coger un taxi in Mexico City is a sentence nobody wants to hear.

In Spain, none of that applies. Coger is everywhere — buses, taxis, keys, grocery bags, cold germs. This course is Castilian-first, so we embrace it. Just be aware that if you switch continents, you'll need to switch verbs.

At the Pharmacy

Spanish pharmacies (farmacias) sell more than US or UK ones. Many medications that need a prescription elsewhere are available sin receta ("without a prescription") in Spain — the farmacéutico is a real consultant, not just a counter.

The basic moves:

• Tengo dolor de cabeza. – I have a headache.
• ¿Tienen algo para el dolor de garganta? – Do you have anything for a sore throat?
• ¿Esto necesita receta? – Does this need a prescription?
• Una caja de paracetamol, por favor. – A box of paracetamol, please.

Useful pharmacy vocabulary:

Spanish	English
la pastilla	the pill / tablet
el jarabe	the syrup
la pomada	the cream / ointment
la receta	the prescription
el dolor de cabeza	headache
el dolor de garganta	sore throat
la fiebre	fever
la tos	cough
el resfriado	cold (illness)
la alergia	allergy

A small Castilian note on pronunciation: farmacia, receta and dolor de cabeza all carry the theta on their c before e or i — far-MAH-thee-ah, reh-THEH-tah, ka-BEH-thah. You'll hear it constantly in any Madrid pharmacy.

Practice

Words to Remember

Spanish	English
pequeño / mediano / grande	small / medium / large
la talla	the size (clothes)
el número	the size (shoes)
rojo / azul / verde	red / blue / green
negro / blanco	black / white
amarillo / naranja	yellow / orange
coger	to take / to grab (Spain)
la pastilla	the pill / tablet
el jarabe	the syrup
la receta	the prescription
el dolor de cabeza	headache
la fiebre	fever
el resfriado	cold (illness)
la bolsa	the bag
una caja	a box
sin receta	without a prescription

Conversation

At the pharmacy

Pablo: Tengo dolor de cabeza. ¿Tiene algo? I have a headache. Do you have anything?

Elena: Le doy estas pastillas. Una cada ocho horas. I'll give you these pills. One every eight hours.

Pablo: ¿Necesita receta? Does it need a prescription?

Elena: No, sin receta. No, without a prescription.

Buying a jumper

Pablo: ¿Tenéis este jersey en azul? Do you have this jumper in blue?

Carlos: Sí, ¿qué talla usas? Yes, what size do you wear?

Pablo: La mediana. Me lo llevo. Medium. I'll take it.

At the supermarket

Pablo: Voy a coger una bolsa grande. I'm going to grab a big bag.

Carmen: Yo cojo el pan y la leche. I'll grab the bread and the milk.

Pablo: Vale, nos vemos en la caja. OK, see you at the till.