¡Oiga (usted)!, sus llaves.
Excuse me!, your keys.
¡Oye, ven aquí un momento, por favor!
Hey, come here a moment, please.
Disculpe, ¿dónde están los servicios/está el baño (L. Am)?
Excuse me, where are the toilets?Por favor, la carretera para el aeropuerto, ¿cuál es?
Excuse me, which is the road to the airport?
The words señor, señora and señorita are often used to attract someone’s attention.
This usage is especially common in Latin America.
Señor, ha olvidado su pasaporte.
Excuse me, you’ve left your passport behind.
Perdón señora, ¿es suya esta maleta?
Excuse me, is this suitcase yours?30.1.2 The most common and neutral ways of responding to a call for attention are¿sí?, ‘yes?’,
and dígame (formal) or dime (familiar), ‘yes?, can I help you?’, imperative forms of
decir, ‘to say’, ‘to tell’.
¡Oiga!, por favor... Excuse me, please!
Sí, dígame. Yes, can I help you?
¡Oye! Hey!
¿Sí?, (dime). Yes?
In parts of Latin America, especially in Mexico, you will hear the word mande as a
response in this context.
¡Lupita! – ¿mande señora? Lupita! – yes señora?30.3 (p. 172)
30.2 Starting up a conversation
The most common opening words and phrases for starting up a conversation, apart
from the name of the person we want to speak to, are mire (usted) (formal) and mira
(familiar), from mirar, to look.
Lola, tú y yo tenemos que hablar.
Lola, you and I have to speak.
Mire (usted), quería decirle algo.
Look, I wanted to tell you something.
Mira, quiero preguntarte una cosa.
Look, I want to ask you something.21.4 (p. 101); 21.5 (p. 102)
Starting up a conversation 30.2