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Lesson 186 of 238

New here? This is lesson 186 of a free 238-lesson Spanish course.

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Got a minute in Spanish

Someone from your work chat shows up at your desk in person for the first time.

You'll ask how long he's worked there, excuse a quick question, and check whether he's heard the office news.

These are the polite moves of a two-minute desk visit: signal you won't take long, then get to the point.

By the end, you can run the whole exchange yourself.

By the end of this lesson

Handle a polite, quick conversation at a coworker's desk.

  • ¿Llevas mucho trabajando aquí?Have you worked here long?
  • Avísame si interrumpoTell me if I'm interrupting
  • No te quiero quitar tiempoI don't want to take your time
  • ¿Cómo te fue con ___?How did ___ go?
  • ¿Supiste lo de ___?Did you hear about ___?
  • Qué gusto por fin conocerte en personaSo good to finally meet you in person

Scene — someone at your desk

Justin's desk at the office, mid-morning. He's typing away at a half-finished email when a guy from the company group chat appears next to his chair.

They've traded messages for weeks but have never met face to face.

Justin typing at his laptop at a café table while a cheerful coworker he has never met stands beside his chair.

Learn — desk-visit politeness

Six lines cover a full desk visit: small talk about time on the job, two polite openers, asking how something went, and asking if someone heard the news.

Two of them take a word in the blank, so you can reuse them for anything.

  1. The coworker asks Justin how long he has worked at the company.

    ¿Llevas mucho trabajando aquí?

    Have you worked here long?

    When to use it: Ask this to find out how long someone has been at their job.

    Llevar plus a time says how long something has been going on, like English 'for'.

  2. The coworker checks politely whether he is interrupting Justin's work.

    Avísame si interrumpo

    Tell me if I'm interrupting

    When to use it: Say this when you walk up to someone busy and want to be polite about it.

    This is the visitor's line; the busy person usually answers that it's fine.

    Say it: ah-VEE-sah-meh see een-teh-RROO-po

  3. The coworker says he does not want to take up Justin's time.

    No te quiero quitar tiempo

    I don't want to take your time

    When to use it: Say this right before a quick question, to promise you'll keep it short.

    Quitar tiempo literally means to take time away from someone.

  4. The coworker asks Justin how something went, leaning in with curious interest.

    ¿Cómo te fue con ___?

    How did ___ go?

    When to use it: Ask this to check how something turned out for someone, like an interview or a report.

    Fue is the preterite of ir; it's irregular, so learn the whole chunk.

  5. The coworker shares surprised news, hand over his mouth in a gossiping whisper.

    ¿Supiste lo de ___?

    Did you hear about ___?

    When to use it: Ask this to check whether someone has already heard a piece of news.

    Supiste is the preterite of saber, used for the finished act of finding out.

  6. The coworker shakes Justin's hand warmly, delighted to finally meet him in person.

    Qué gusto por fin conocerte en persona

    So good to finally meet you in person

    When to use it: Say this when you finally meet someone you've only chatted with online.

    Conocerte means to meet you; the te is attached to the end of the verb.

Story — Ben from the chat

Ben from the group chat finally shows up at Justin's desk. Watch how the visit stays polite and short, with the highlighted lines doing that work.

Turn on Show English if a turn gets slippery.

  1. Mid-morning at the office. A guy from the company chat stops next to Justin's desk.
  2. Ben¿Qué onda? Soy Ben. Chateamos ayer, ¿no?What's up? I'm Ben. We chatted yesterday, right?
  3. Justin¡Qué gusto por fin conocerte en persona!So good to finally meet you in person!
  4. BenIgual. ¿Llevas mucho trabajando aquí?Same here. Have you worked here long?
  5. JustinComo un año. ¿Y tú?About a year. And you?
  6. BenYo apenas llevo un mes.I've only been here a month.
  7. Ben glances at Justin's screen, which is full of half-written emails.
  8. BenAvísame si interrumpo, ¿va?Tell me if I'm interrupting, okay?
  9. JustinNo pasa nada. Dime.It's fine. Go ahead.
  10. BenNo te quiero quitar tiempo. Es solo una pregunta rápida.I don't want to take your time. It's just one quick question.
  11. JustinClaro, dime.Sure, go ahead.
  12. Ben¿Supiste lo de la junta del viernes?Did you hear about Friday's meeting?
  13. JustinNo, ¿qué pasó?No, what happened?
  14. BenLa cambiaron para el lunes.They moved it to Monday.
  15. Ben¿Y cómo te fue con el reporte, por cierto?And how did the report go, by the way?
  16. JustinBastante bien, creo.Pretty well, I think.
  17. BenMe alegro. Luego hablamos.Glad to hear it. Talk later.
  18. JustinSale. Nos vemos.Deal. See you.

Practice — pick and build

You'll listen, match, fill gaps, and build lines from scratch here. Watch the two frames closely: they change meaning completely depending on what you drop in the blank.

Take the harder build items slowly; skip is always there if you need it.

0 of 11 done

  1. What did you hear?

  2. Match the pairs

    Spanish

    ¿Cómo va todo?Drop the English here
    Avísame si interrumpoDrop the English here
    No te quiero quitar tiempoDrop the English here

    English

    Drag an English line onto its Spanish, or tap one and then the other.

  3. What do you say?

    You walk up to a busy coworker's desk. You can see he's in the middle of something and want to give him a way to send you away if now is a bad moment.

  4. Fill the gap

    I don't want to take your time

    No te quiero ____ tiempo

  5. Swap the word

    You've only ever messaged Ben in the work chat, and now he's standing at your desk.

    Qué gusto por fin ____ en persona

  6. Build the line

    Tell me if I'm interrupting

    Tap the words in order.

  7. What do you say?

    A coworker you've never seen before stops you in the hallway for ten seconds to introduce himself. Keep it short and standard.

  8. Put the chat in order

    1. BenWhat comes first?
    2. Justin…
    3. Ben…
    4. Justin…

    Tap the line that comes next, or drag it into the chat.

  9. What does it mean?

    ¿Qué onda?

  10. What do you say?

    You heard the meeting got moved to Monday. Ben was out sick, so check whether he got the news. Ask him: ¿Supiste lo de la junta del lunes?

  11. Fill the gap

    How did ___ go?

    ¿Cómo ____ fue con ___?

Say it — you visit Ben

Now the roles flip: you visit Ben's desk. Tap the microphone when it's your turn and say the line.

Tap ▶ first if you want to hear the model. Your recording stays on your device.

  1. Ben¿Qué onda, Justin? ¡Qué bueno que pasas!What's up, Justin? Great that you stopped by!
  2. Justin (you)Say you're glad to finally meet him in person.

    Qué gusto por fin conocerte en persona

    So good to finally meet you in person

0 of 6 said

Recap — what you can say now

SpanishEnglish
¿Llevas mucho trabajando aquí?Have you worked here long?
Avísame si interrumpoTell me if I'm interrupting
No te quiero quitar tiempoI don't want to take your time
¿Cómo te fue con ___?How did ___ go?
¿Supiste lo de ___?Did you hear about ___?
Qué gusto por fin conocerte en personaSo good to finally meet you in person
Next: lesson 187Can I be straight with you

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Keep practicing with Yak Cards

Want to keep these desk-visit lines handy? Grab the Yak Cards for this lesson and review them anywhere.

A quick round with the Yak Cards each day keeps your polite openers ready for the next desk visit.

Open Yak Cards