Asking About Allergens at a Restaurant
Asking about allergens · a free Spanish immersion capsule
Useful sentences · 10
Phrases you'll actually use today. Tap Explain for the why behind each one.
¿Este plato contiene gluten?
Does this dish contain gluten?
Literal This dish contains gluten?
A direct question using 'contener' in present tense to ask about a specific allergen.
- 'Contiene' is the third-person singular present tense of 'contener'
- Yes/no questions in Spanish use rising intonation; word order stays the same as a statement
Soy alérgico a los mariscos.
I am allergic to shellfish.
Literal I am allergic to the shellfish.
Uses the adjective 'alérgico' to state an allergy. Gender agreement is essential here.
- 'Alérgico' changes to 'alérgica' for female speakers
- 'A los' is used before plural masculine nouns
¿Podría decirme si la salsa tiene nueces?
Could you tell me if the sauce has nuts?
Literal Could you tell me if the sauce has nuts?
A polite conditional question using 'podría' to ask about ingredients in a sauce.
- 'Podría' is the conditional form of 'poder', softening requests
- 'Si' here introduces an embedded clause, not a question by itself
El huevo no me sienta bien.
Eggs don't agree with me.
Literal The egg doesn't sit well with me.
Uses the idiomatic construction 'sentar bien/mal' to describe a food intolerance naturally.
- 'Sienta' is the third-person singular present indicative of 'sentar'.
- In the 'sentar bien/mal' construction, 'me' is an indirect object pronoun (dative), not a reflexive pronoun: the food is the grammatical subject and the person affected is the indirect object, working exactly like 'gustar'.
¿Hay riesgo de contaminación cruzada con el maní?
Is there a risk of cross-contamination with peanuts?
Literal Is there risk of cross-contamination with peanut?
Asks about cross-contamination risk using 'hay' (there is) and the phrase 'contaminación cruzada'.
- 'Hay' expresses existence and does not change for singular or plural
- 'Maní' is common in Latin America; 'cacahuete' is preferred in Spain
Por favor, avíseme si el plato lleva lácteos.
Please let me know if the dish contains dairy.
Literal Please, let me know if the dish carries dairy products.
Uses the formal imperative 'avíseme' and 'llevar' in its culinary sense of 'to contain'.
- 'Avíseme' is the formal imperative of 'avisar' with attached indirect object pronoun 'me'
- 'Llevar' in food contexts means 'to include as an ingredient'
¿Sabe usted si este pan tiene soja?
Do you know if this bread has soy?
Literal Do you know if this bread has soy?
A formal question using 'saber' with an embedded clause to ask about soy in a product.
- 'Sabe usted' is the formal second-person construction for 'do you know'
- The embedded clause 'si este pan tiene soja' uses present indicative
Quisiera pedir el pollo sin salsa de mostaza.
I would like to order the chicken without mustard sauce.
Literal I would like to order the chicken without mustard sauce.
Uses 'quisiera', the polite imperfect subjunctive of 'querer', for a courteous order.
- 'Quisiera' is more polite than 'quiero' and is the standard restaurant form
- 'Sin' means 'without' and is followed directly by a noun
¿Podría revisar los ingredientes de este producto?
Could you check the ingredients of this product?
Literal Could you review the ingredients of this product?
Uses 'podría' for a polite conditional request to verify a food label at a grocery store.
- 'Podría' + infinitive forms polite requests equivalent to 'could you'
- 'Revisar' means to check or look over carefully
Tengo alergia a las nueces y al trigo.
I have an allergy to nuts and wheat.
Literal I have allergy to the nuts and to the wheat.
States two allergies using 'tener alergia a' with nouns connected by 'y'.
- 'Tengo alergia a' means 'I have an allergy to'
- 'A las' before feminine plural nouns; 'a + el = al' before masculine singular nouns
New words · 10
Themed vocabulary, each with an example you can borrow.
alérgico/a
allergic
Soy alérgica al gluten.
I am allergic to gluten.
Ends in -o for male speakers, -a for female speakers
contener
to contain
¿Este plato contiene nueces?
Does this dish contain nuts?
Irregular stem-changing verb: contiene in present tense
alergia
allergy
Tengo una alergia grave al gluten.
I have a serious allergy to gluten.
ingrediente
ingredient
¿Puede decirme los ingredientes?
Can you tell me the ingredients?
podría
could (polite)
¿Podría verificar la etiqueta?
Could you check the label?
Conditional of 'poder'; signals polite requests
lácteos
dairy products
No puedo comer lácteos.
I cannot eat dairy products.
sentar bien/mal
to agree/disagree with (food)
El gluten no me sienta bien.
Gluten doesn't agree with me.
Used like 'gustar': the food is the subject, person is indirect object
avíseme
let me know (formal)
Avíseme si contiene mariscos.
Let me know if it contains shellfish.
Formal imperative of 'avisar' + indirect object pronoun 'me'
contaminación cruzada
cross-contamination
¿Hay riesgo de contaminación cruzada?
Is there a risk of cross-contamination?
sin
without
Quisiera el plato sin gluten.
I would like the dish without gluten.
Followed directly by a noun to exclude an ingredient
Short reading
A tiny story stitched from today's words. Translation is hidden, tap to peek.
María entró al restaurante y llamó al mesero con calma. «Perdone, soy alérgica a los lácteos y al trigo», le explicó con una sonrisa. «¿Podría decirme si la pasta del menú contiene alguno de estos ingredientes?» El mesero asintió y fue a consultar con el chef. Regresó unos minutos después: «La pasta lleva mantequilla, pero podemos prepararla sin lácteos. Avíseme si desea algún otro cambio». María agradeció la atención y pidió el plato modificado, sintiéndose segura de poder comer sin preocupaciones.
Sentence by sentence
soy alérgica a los lácteos y al trigo
I am allergic to dairy and wheat
'Alérgica' uses the feminine form for María. 'A los' before plural masc. noun; 'al' before singular masc. noun.
¿Podría decirme si la pasta contiene alguno de estos ingredientes?
Could you tell me if the pasta contains any of these ingredients?
'Podría' marks polite conditional. 'Si' introduces the embedded clause using present indicative.
Avíseme si desea algún otro cambio
Let me know if you would like any other change
'Avíseme' is the formal imperative of 'avisar' + 'me'. 'Desea' is the formal third-person for 'you want'.
podemos prepararla sin lácteos
we can prepare it without dairy
'Prepararla' attaches the direct object pronoun 'la' to the infinitive, referring back to 'la pasta'.
Pattern of the day
One grammar move, explained once, that unlocks dozens of sentences.
Polite Conditional Requests with 'podría'
Use 'podría' (conditional of 'poder') to make courteous requests or ask questions politely. It is the Spanish equivalent of 'could you' and significantly softens the tone compared to a direct imperative or present-tense question.
¿Podría + [infinitive] + [complement]?
¿Podría decirme si este plato contiene gluten?
Could you tell me if this dish contains gluten?
¿Podría revisar los ingredientes del menú?
Could you check the ingredients on the menu?
¿Podría preparar el plato sin mariscos?
Could you prepare the dish without shellfish?
¿Podría hablar con el chef un momento?
Could you speak with the chef for a moment?
Mini practice · 5
Low-pressure, never graded. Just enough to make it stick.
I'm allergic to shellfish. How would you inform a waiter about this in Spanish?
Hint Start with 'Soy' and remember the word for shellfish
¿Hay riesgo de contaminación cruzada con el maní?
Hint contaminación cruzada = cross-contamination, maní = peanuts
Soy alérgico a las ___. (I'm allergic to nuts.)
Hint Think of a tree nut in Spanish, starting with 'n'
Which is the most polite way to ask a waiter about an ingredient?
Rewrite more naturally using 'sin' (without): 'Quisiera el pollo, pero no quiero salsa de mostaza.'
Hint 'Sin' + noun is more natural than 'no quiero'
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