Shopping and buying things covers an enormous area and the phrases you need will depend to some extent on what you want to buy. The links on the left have more specific phrases for different situations. The shopping expressions in this section are more general and useful is most common situations.
The Key Shopping Phrases
First, when you walk into a shop and can't see what you are looking for, you need to communicate what it is you want to buy:-Quisiera comprar .. 'I'd like to buy ..'
and then add the name of the item.
So if you want to buy a toothbrush un cepillo de dientes the phrase you would use is:- Quisiera comprar un cepillo de dientes
If you can see what you are looking for (but can't reach), you can point and say:-
Quisiera comprar esto 'I'd like to buy this'.
You might want to know how much the item costs:-
¿Cuánto cuesta esto? 'How much does this cost'.
It is quite possible that Spanish reply is too fast to be understood - especially if you have spoken with some confidence yourself. So another key phrase is :-
¿Podría escribirlo? 'Could you write it down?".
You might want to bargain. Throw up your hands in horror, roll your eyes and say:-
Es demasiado caro 'It's too expensive'
or
¡Es muy caro! 'It's very expensive'
In a market, grocers, bakers and similar (i.e. food shopping) the usual way of asking for something is:-
Me da ... Can I have ...'
The section on food shopping illustrates this in more detail.