¿Cuánto cuesta?
/ˈkwanto ˈkwesta/word by word
The English phrase "what is the cost?" is translated into Spanish as ¿Cuánto cuesta?
To ask about the cost of an item or service, you can use several different phrases depending on your needs. You might use ¿Qué precio tiene? to ask what price an object has, or ¿Cuál es el precio? For a polite approach, you can use ¿Podría decirme cuánto cuesta? to ask "Could you tell me how much it costs?" or ¿Me podría informar sobre el precio? to ask "Could you inform me about the price?"
Which one should you use?
While ¿Cuánto cuesta? asks for the price of an object, if you are referring to a total bill, it is more common to use ¿Cuánto es? to ask "How much is it?"
Did you know?
- In some regions, if a price is ridiculously high, a person might react by saying ¡Me quieres desplumar! which translates to 'you want to pluck me' like a chicken.
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, asking ¿Cuánto cuesta? in a traditional market is only the start of a negotiation called regateo where the buyer expects the price to drop.
- The word cuesta comes from the Latin costa meaning 'rib' or 'side'. Over time it evolved to mean 'slope' or 'coast' before becoming the verb for 'to cost'.
Examples in context
- ¿Podría decirme cuánto cuesta el hotel?Could you tell me how much the hotel costs?
- ¿Me podría informar sobre el precio de este servicio?Could you inform me about the cost of this service?
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (cuánto, cuesta) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries cuesta, cuánto, CC BY-SA 4.0.
