acerca tu tarjeta
/aθeɾka tu taɾxeta/from spelling rules
To tap your card in Spanish is to say acerca tu tarjeta.
This phrase is used to instruct someone to hold a contactless payment card near a reader to make a payment. In many retail settings, a cashier will use the definite article la (the) instead of the possessive tu (your) when giving this instruction, saying acerca la tarjeta (tap the card).
Is it said differently in some regions?
In many Latin American countries, people colloquially use pasa la tarjeta to mean both swiping and tapping a card.
How do you pronounce it?
/aθeɾka tu taɾxeta/
Did you know?
- The word tarjeta comes from tarja, which originally referred to a notch or a mark made on a piece of wood to keep accounts before modern currency.
- In some Spanish-speaking regions, if a card reader is broken, a cashier might say no lee, meaning 'it does not read', treating the machine as if it were a person reading a book.
- The word tarjeta shares a common ancestor with the English word 'target', both tracing back to the Latin 'targeta' or 'tarja', which referred to a small shield or plate.
Examples in context
- Acerca tu tarjeta al lector, por favor.Tap your card to the reader, please.
- No hace falta el PIN, solo acerca tu tarjeta.You don't need the PIN, just tap your card.
- Para pagar, acerca tu tarjeta aquí.To pay, tap your card here.
Example conversation
Lucía is helping Mateo pay for a coffee at a cafe.
- LucíaMateo, acerca tu tarjeta al lector.Mateo, tap your card on the reader.
- Mateo¿Dónde está el lector?Where is the reader?
- LucíaEstá justo aquí, frente a ti.It is right here, in front of you.
- MateoAh, ya entendí. Gracias, Lucía.Oh, I see. Thanks, Lucía.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries acerca, tarjeta, tu, CC BY-SA 4.0.
