Scene: You've finished your tapas (the ones you ordered yesterday). Now: the check. You're with one other person, want to split it, and have to handle the question every American gets wrong — how much to tip.
| ES — Spanish | CA — Catalan | PT — Portuguese | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
You
La cuenta, por favor.
The check, please.
|
You
El compte, si us plau.
The check, please.
|
You
A conta, por favor.
The check, please.
|
|
Server
Sí, ahora mismo se la traigo.
Yes, I'll bring it right away.
|
Server
Sí, ara mateix l'hi porto.
Yes, I'll bring it right away.
|
Server
Sim, já trago.
Yes, I'll bring it right away.
|
|
| 2 |
You
¿Podemos pagar por separado?
Can we pay separately?
|
You
Podem pagar per separat?
Can we pay separately?
|
You
Podemos pagar separadamente?
Can we pay separately?
|
|
Server
Claro, ¿cuántas cuentas?
Of course, how many bills?
|
Server
I tant, quants comptes?
Of course, how many bills?
|
Server
Claro, quantas contas?
Of course, how many bills?
|
|
| 3 |
You
¿La propina está incluida?
Is the tip included?
|
You
La propina està inclosa?
Is the tip included?
|
You
A gorjeta está incluída?
Is the tip included?
|
|
Server
No, no está incluida, pero no es obligatorio.
No, it's not included, but it's not required.
|
Server
No, no està inclosa, però no és obligatori.
No, it's not included, but it's not required.
|
Server
Não, não está incluída, mas não é obrigatório.
No, it's not included, but it's not required.
|
|
| 4 |
You
¿Aceptan tarjeta?
Do you accept card?
|
You
Accepten targeta?
Do you accept card?
|
You
Aceitam cartão?
Do you accept card?
|
|
Server
Sí, claro. ¿Con o sin propina?
Yes, of course. With or without tip?
|
Server
Sí, és clar. Amb o sense propina?
Yes, of course. With or without tip?
|
Server
Sim, claro. Com ou sem gorjeta?
Yes, of course. With or without tip?
|
|
| 5 |
You
Deje un par de euros, gracias.
Leave a couple of euros, thank you.
|
You
Deixi un parell d'euros, gràcies.
Leave a couple of euros, thank you.
|
You
Deixe uns dois euros, obrigado.
Leave a couple of euros, thank you.
|
|
Server
¡Perfecto! Gracias a usted. ¡Vuelvan pronto!
Perfect! Thank YOU. Come back soon!
|
Server
Perfecte! Gràcies a vostè. Tornin aviat!
Perfect! Thank YOU. Come back soon!
|
Server
Perfeito! Obrigado eu. Voltem em breve!
Perfect! Thank YOU. Come back soon!
|
Spain (ES): Tipping is light and optional. At a tapas bar — round up to the nearest euro, or leave €1–2 on the table. At a sit-down restaurant — 5–10% for genuinely good service. Service charge is almost never automatically added. Do not tip 18–20% U.S.-style — you'll feel generous, but Spaniards will read it as foreign and faintly condescending.
Catalonia (CA): Same conventions as Spain. Barcelona service culture is brisk; tipping more doesn't get you faster service, and locals don't do it. The Catalan attempt to thank the server (gràcies a vostè) is worth more than another euro.
Portugal (PT): Even lighter than Spain. €1 at a café for a coffee + pastry; €2–5 at dinner; 10% only if the meal was an event. In Lisbon, many locals just round up. Saying obrigado warmly counts.
The rule for the trip: if the bill is €38, leave €40 and don't think about it. If service was excellent at a sit-down dinner, €3–5 extra. Anything more and you're tipping America, not Iberia.
The tip is the only word that splits cleanly: ES propina and CA propina are identical (both from Latin propinare, "to drink to / toast"). PT gorjeta is a Lusophone outlier — likely from old Portuguese gorja (throat), the idea being a coin slipped down the gullet of the server. Three Iberian neighbors, one common Romance root for two of them, one rogue for the third.
"Card" is the small surprise: ES tarjeta → CA targeta is a single vowel shift (ar → ar with hardened g). PT cartão goes the other direction entirely — from carta (paper/card-as-document), with the augmentative -ão ending that Portuguese loves. You'll hear cartão de crédito at the till; tarjeta de crédito works in Spain and Catalonia.
"Separately" tracks the preposition: ES por separado and CA per separat mirror each other (ES "por" = CA "per" — Catalan keeps the Latin per, Spanish softened to por). PT collapses it into an adverb: separadamente. The pattern shows up elsewhere — "by car" is ES en coche / CA amb cotxe / PT de carro. The three Iberian languages have the same underlying logic but pick different prepositional knobs.
Feminine agreement is the gimme: la propina está incluida / la propina està inclosa / a gorjeta está incluída. All three nouns are feminine; all three adjectives agree. If you know one, you know the other two — the only effort is the slight ending shift (ES -ida, CA -osa, PT -ída).
Tap to mark. State persists to localStorage. (Server-side persistence and SRS resurfacing will land via the C3 SRS skill in Sprint 4.)