Speaking Practice - Role Play: Everyday Transactional Scenarios
Handle a café, shop or station in Spanish. Learn the polite phrases, the tú/usted rule and the question words you need to ace the speaking role play.
Practise it out loud, together
A free interactive activity you can put in front of a class in a few minutes.
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The role-play task
In the Speaking exam you act out a short role play: an everyday situation such as ordering in a café, buying something in a shop, or asking at a station. Pearson Edexcel sets this as Task 2: five short prompts, two marks each, drawn from a closed list of everyday settings. This module practises transferable language for that task.
Tú and usted
Spanish has two ways to address "you" here, and the safer exam choice depends on who you are speaking to.
Tú or usted?
You are in a shop, speaking to a shopkeeper you do not know. Should you use tú or usted?
- usted (formal, for someone you do not know)
- tú (informal, for friends and family)
- It never matters which you use
- nosotros (we)
Polite phrases
These short chunks help you sound polite without building a long sentence from scratch.
Match each Spanish phrase to its meaning
- quería
- por favor
- la cuenta
- gracias
- I would like
- please
- the bill
- thank you
Question words
In the role play, at least one prompt can ask you to ask a question. Pick the question word that matches the need.
Match each question word to its meaning
- cuánto
- dónde
- cuándo
- a qué hora
- how much / how many
- where
- when
- at what time
Spot useful question lines
Tap the TWO lines that would help in a café, shop or station role play.
- ¿Cuánto cuesta?
- ¿A qué hora sale el tren?
- ¿Dónde está el gato?
- Usted es una mesa.
Order in a café
You are ordering in a Spanish café. Choose the best thing to say at each step.
- To order a coffee politely, you say...
- To ask how much it costs, you ask...
- To ask for the bill, you say...
Useful role-play phrases
Select the THREE phrases that would be useful in a transactional role play.
- Quería... (I would like)
- ¿Tiene...? (Do you have?)
- ¿Dónde está...? (Where is?)
- El perro es azul (The dog is blue)
- Usted es una mesa (You are a table)
- Buenos días cuánto pizza gato
At the station
Station language is useful because role-play settings include the train station. Keep it direct and polite.
Buy a ticket
Which phrase asks for a train ticket?
- Un billete, por favor
- Un café, por favor
- La cuenta, por favor
- Muchas gracias
Complete the role play
To order politely: _____ un café, por favor. To ask the price: ¿_____ cuesta? To ask for the bill: La _____, por favor. To say thanks: _____.
Prepare a role-play answer
Write two short Spanish lines you could say to an adult in a café, shop or station role play.
- Use usted-level politeness, not tú-level informality.
- Include one request such as quería, un billete, or la cuenta.
- Include one question word such as cuánto, dónde, cuándo, or a qué hora.
- Keep accents and question marks where you know them, for example ¿Cuánto cuesta?