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Lesson 2.1.5 · Cortesía colombiana

🙏 Polite Phrases

Colombians are famously polite. These twelve phrases will carry you through 90% of small interactions — at the bakery, on the bus, in someone's home.

01

The everyday twelve

Memorize these as a set. 'Por favor' before, 'gracias' after, 'disculpe' to start a question, 'lo siento' if anything goes wrong, 'no se preocupe' to defuse it.

gracias[GRAH-syas]

thanks

muchísimo[moo-CHEE-see-moh]

very much

por favor[por fah-BOR]

please

sí, por favor[SEE por fah-BOR]

yes please

lo siento[loh SYEN-toh]

I'm sorry

disculpe[dees-KOOL-peh]

excuse me

está bien[es-TAH byen]

alright

por supuesto[por soo-PWES-toh]

of course

por ejemplo[por eh-HEM-ploh]

for example

no olvide[noh ol-BEE-deh]

don't forget

no se preocupe[noh seh preh-oh-KOO-peh]

don't worry

bien hecho[byen EH-choh]

well done

Example sentences

  • Hoy estoy gracias.

    Today I feel thanks.

  • Mi amigo es muy muchísimo.

    My friend is very very much.

  • Una persona amable diría: "por favor".

    A kind person would say, "please."

Mini-diálogo

A

Mi amigo es muy gracias.

My friend is very thanks.

B

La comida está muchísimo.

The food is very much.

MEM

Memory lab

Five research-backed techniques — active recall, mnemonics, elaboration, interleaving, and production — applied to this lesson's vocabulary. Your progress trains a spaced-repetition schedule under the hood.

Force the answer from memory before peeking. The struggle is the workout — that's the testing effect.

01 / 12New card

Recall from English

well done

EX

Practice exercises

Test what stuck. Multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank — pulled live from this lesson's vocabulary.

01
What does this mean?

no olvide

02
What does this mean?

lo siento

03
How do you say this?

yes please

04
How do you say this?

of course

05
What does this mean?

bien hecho

06
What does this mean?

está bien

07

Fill the blank

Mi amigo es muy _____.

My friend is very very much.

08

Fill the blank

Hoy estoy _____.

Today I feel thanks.

Score: 0 / 8

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