Who hasn't heard of Black Friday? The most popular day of the year, which has turned into a whole month of discounts, has arrived in Spain and the Spanish-speaking world to stay.

As a Spanish language school, don Quijote also has its own Black Friday discounts, but we also want to bring you this article with Spanish shopping vocabulary that will be useful for this event and for the rest of the year.

It doesn't matter what you want to buy: clothes, technology, food, or even Spanish courses in Spain. Knowing all this vocabulary, words, and expressions will help you get by better in physical stores, on e-commerce websites, and in real-life situations.

If you're learning Spanish, stick around because in this guide you'll find essential vocabulary, useful phrases, and practical dialogues for Black Friday. Plus, we've included a special section with our offers and discounts to improve your Spanish with don Quijote.

Practical guide to learning Spanish with Black Friday

Learn essential shopping vocabulary in Spanish before diving into Black Friday expressions. You need to master the basic vocabulary you'll need in any buying or selling situation in Spanish.

• Tienda (Store)
• Comercio (Shop)
• Comprar (Buy)
• Caro (Expensive)
• Barato (Cheap)
• Comprador (Buyer)
• Vendedor (Seller)
• Precio (Price)
• Producto (Product)
• Oferta (Offer)
• Descuento (Discount)
• Rebaja (Sale)
• Carrito / cesta (Cart / basket)
• Caja (Checkout)
• Ticket
• Devolución (Return)
• Garantía (Warranty)
• Envío (Shipping)
• Entrega (Delivery)
• Política de devoluciones (Return policy)
• Acceso exclusivo (Exclusive access)
• Rebajas anticipadas (Early sales)
• Condiciones del descuento (Discount conditions)
• Términos y condiciones (Terms and conditions)

Black Friday vocabulary

Below you will find essential vocabulary for Black Friday, although you will also use it during the sales season, in specific offers, or in special campaigns throughout the year:

• Black Friday
• Cyber Monday (online promotions on the Monday after Black Friday)
• Oferta limitada (Limited offer)
• Descuento especial (Special discount)
• Últimas unidades (Last few items)
• Solo hoy (Today only)
• Precio final (Final price)
• Rebajas anticipadas (Early sales)
• Cupón / Código promocional (Coupon/promotional code)
• Hasta agotar existencias (While supplies last)
• Hasta ocupar todas las plazas (Until all spots are filled)

Useful phrases for shopping in Spanish

Once you have internalized all the basic words you need for Black Friday, here are some expressions that will help you in physical stores and when shopping online. Remember that all these words and phrases can also be useful throughout the year.

• ¿Cuánto cuesta este artículo? (How much does this item cost?)
• ¿Tienen otras tallas / colores? (Do you have other sizes/colors?)
• ¿Puedo probármelo? (Can I try it on?)
• ¿Cuál es el precio con descuento? (What is the discounted price?)
• ¿Puedo devolverlo si no me queda bien? (Can I return it if it doesn't fit?)
• ¿Cuánto tarda el envío? (How long does shipping take?)
• ¿Incluye gastos de envío? (Does it include shipping costs?)
• ¿Cómo puedo aplicar el cupón de descuento? (How can I apply the discount coupon?)
• ¿Cuáles son los términos y condiciones? (What are the terms and conditions?)
• ¿Cuál es el precio de este producto? (What is the price of this product?)
• ¿Puedo pagar con tarjeta? (Can I pay by card?)
• ¿Tienen política de devoluciones? (Do you have a return policy?)
• Tenemos un descuento especial del 40% solo hoy (We have a special discount of 40% today only)
• Esta oferta es válida hasta agotar existencias (This offer is valid while supplies last)
• Introduce el código promocional para obtener tu descuento (Enter the promotional code to get your discount)

Origin of Black Friday

Black Friday originated in the United States and is associated with the day after Thanksgiving, when millions of people officially begin their Christmas shopping.

However, the term Black Friday began to gain popularity in the 1960s in Philadelphia, when the police started using it to describe the enormous traffic and chaos on the streets due to the massive increase in shoppers.

Over time, this concept evolved and stores began to offer big discounts. In this way, it came to symbolize the moment when businesses went from being “in the red” to “in the black” thanks to increased sales due to the approach of the Christmas season.

Black Friday in Spain

In Spain, Black Friday has grown significantly in recent years, although it only began to gain popularity in 2012. Why? Because in 2012, the regulation limiting sales campaigns was eliminated, allowing stores to launch promotions at any time of the year.

Currently, there is no business or company that does not participate in this day of massive discounts. People have even begun to “celebrate” Singles’ Day on November 11, and the discounts are often added to Black Friday.

The most popular stores where you can find exclusive discounts on this day are large fashion chains, supermarkets, technology stores, online academies, courses, and training programs.

In addition, many brands extend their promotions throughout the week, in what they call “Black Week,” or even almost the entire month of November. Many brands and companies have also jumped on the Cyber Monday bandwagon.

Black Friday is much more than a day of discounts and shopping; it's an excellent opportunity to continue learning useful Spanish vocabulary. Mastering these words and expressions will allow you to communicate better in stores, understand advertisements, and take advantage of offers at any time of the year.

And if you also want to improve your Spanish with courses or training activities, this is the perfect time to discover special promotions!

If you are just starting to learn Spanish and you can't find some words in the dictionary, it may be because they have a Spanish suffix or prefix that modifies their intensity. These words are called augmentatives or diminutives and are commonly used in colloquial language.

In this article, we explain what Spanish augmentatives are and give you useful examples to help you understand how they are used. At don Quijote, we know that learning a new language is a challenge, so in addition to this article, we recommend that you browse our Spanish courses in Spain and take a look to find the one that best suits your needs.

What are Spanish augmentatives?

Spanish augmentatives are suffixes that are added to a word to express an increase in size, intensity, or importance. They serve to give an idea of grandeur, exaggeration, or anger to the word, depending on the context in which it is used. In addition, augmentatives can modify the meaning of a noun, adjective, or adverb.

For example, to say that a casa (house) is big, we can use the word “casoplón”.

In Spanish, augmentatives not only indicate physical size but can also refer to emotional or expressive nuances. Thus, augmentatives in Spanish can have a positive or negative tone, depending on the context. For example:

• ¡Qué cochazo tienes! (What an amazing car you have!) à Here, the word cochazo refers to a new or very nice car, so it is an augmentative with a positive tone.
• En menudo problemón te has metido (What a big problem you've gotten yourself into) à In contrast, here, the word problemón has a negative meaning because it refers to a huge problem.

Unlike augmentatives, Spanish diminutives indicate smallness, affection, or softness. Thus, both are resources used in Spanish that allow for nuance in conversation without the need to add, for example, more adjectives.

When to use augmentatives in Spanish?

As we have seen, augmentatives in Spanish are used to express different meanings, depending on the speaker's intention. In informal conversation, augmentatives are not used to indicate that something is big, for example, but to reflect an emotional or evaluative attitude toward an object or person.

Here are some of the most common augmentatives in Spanish:

1. Size

The most common use of augmentatives in Spanish is to indicate that something is physically large. For example:

• Dio un portazo que hizo temblar todo el edificio (He slammed the door so hard that the whole building shook)
• Viven en un casoplón enorme a las afueras de la ciudad (They live in a huge mansion on the outskirts of the city)

2. Intensity

Another way to use augmentatives in Spanish is to indicate intensity or exaggerate something. These suffixes emphasize the noun or adjective. Examples:

• Se dio un golpetazo al tropezar con una piedra (He gave himself a bump when he tripped over a rock)
• Menudo problemón que no puedas venir el viernes a la reunión (What a big problem that you can't come to the meeting on Friday)

3. Admiration

Some words can be modified with augmentatives to show admiration, affection, love, or surprise.

• Te mando un abrazote desde aquí (I'm sending you a big hug from here)
• Tu primo es un pezado de artista (Your cousin is a real artist)

4. Mockery

In other cases, augmentatives are used to give a word an ironic or derogatory nuance. For example:

• Ese grandullón no puede levantar tanto peso (That big guy can't lift that much weight)
• No seas cabezota y deja que te ayude (Don't be stubborn and let me help you)

How are Spanish augmentatives formed?

You may have noticed that Spanish augmentatives are formed by adding a suffix to the root of a word. The most common are: -ón / -ona; -ote / -ota; -azo / -aza; -uco / -uca; -ón / -ona; -acho / -acha.

Remember that, in some cases, adding the suffix to a word can change its spelling, for example, casa becomes “casoplón”.

Practical exercises with Spanish augmentatives

As you have seen, Spanish augmentatives are used in everyday and colloquial language and, often, in formal situations, adding expressiveness to speech.

If you feel confident using augmentatives in Spanish, here is an exercise for you to complete. Add the correct form of the word to form augmentatives. Don't worry, you'll find the answers below.

• El perro era tan grande que todos lo llamaban el (perro) ________.
• Cuando cerró la puerta, dio un (puerta) ________.
• ¡Qué (calor) ________ hace hoy!
• Mi abuela siempre me da un (abrazo) ________ cuando la visito.
• Compraron un (casa) ________ con cinco habitaciones y jardín enorme.
• Se dio un (golpe) ________ al caerse de la bicicleta.
• Ese (grande) ________ no quiso ayudar a nadie y se fue molesto.
• Mi amigo es un (amigo) ________: siempre está cuando lo necesito.
• En la calle diluviaba cuando se dio un (golpe) ________ con la bici en una esquina.
• Ese niño es un poco rebelde, pero en el fondo es un (bueno) ________.

Augmentatives in Spanish are useful and easy-to-use words that add nuance and variety to your conversations. They indicate that something changes in size, but you can also use them to express intensity or affection. Keep practicing and use augmentatives every day to become a fluent Spanish speaker.

Answers: perrazo, portazo, calorazo, abrazote, casoplón, golpazo, grandullón, amigazo, golpetazo, buenazo.