Spanish for Learning What People Eat on Holidays: Asking and Following Up
Learn to ask Spanish speakers what people eat on holidays, then follow up with polite questions that turn an answer into a real conversation.
By MarcusFood & cafés · Yapr Learn
When you travel or make friends in Latin America, holiday food is one of the easiest topics to start a conversation with, but only if you can do more than ask one question. This lesson teaches you a small set of question patterns: how to ask what people eat on holidays, how to ask about a specific holiday, how to ask who prepares the food, and how to react so the other person keeps talking. You will practice the difference between asking for general information and asking about someone's own experience, which is usually more interesting to answer.
By the end, you can…
- ask what people eat on holidays in Spanish and name a specific holiday.
- follow up with questions about who cooks, when the food is eaten, and whether it is sweet or savory.
- react naturally to an answer and ask for a recipe or a recommendation.
Listen once. Try it slowly. Then say it without looking.
Checking available voices…
¿Qué come la gente aquí en los días festivos?
What do people eat here on holidays?
keh KOH-meh lah HEN-teh ah-KEE en los DEE-as fes-TEE-vos
General question about a place. Use it with a new acquaintance or a guide; it does not ask about that person's family specifically.
¿Qué se acostumbra comer en Navidad?
What is customarily eaten at Christmas?
keh seh ah-kos-TOOM-brah koh-MEHR en nah-vee-DHAD
Asks about the usual custom for one holiday. You can swap Navidad for Semana Santa, Año Nuevo, Día de Muertos, or another holiday.
¿Y en tu familia, qué preparan?
And in your family, what do you all make?
ee en too fah-MEE-leeah keh preh-PAH-rahn
Moves from general custom to personal experience. The tú form is fine with friends and people your age; use su familia with older or more formal acquaintances.
¿Quién cocina eso normalmente?
Who usually cooks that?
KYEN koh-SEE-nah EH-so nor-mahl-MEN-teh
Good follow-up after someone names a dish. It invites a story about a person, not just a list of ingredients.
¿Es dulce o salado?
Is it sweet or savory?
es DOOL-seh oh sah-LAH-dhoh
Useful when the dish name is unfamiliar. In much of Latin America, salado means savory or salty, not just salty.
Pronunciation guides are approximate. Slow playback keeps the original pitch.
Make it make sense
Useful pattern
The core pattern is ¿Qué come la gente...? for general custom, and ¿Qué preparan en tu familia? for personal practice. Notice that Spanish often uses the present tense for customs: En México se come tamales en Navidad. The pronoun se with a third-person verb (se come, se acostumbra, se prepara) lets you talk about what people do in general without naming anyone. To ask about one holiday, use en plus the holiday name: ¿Qué se come en Año Nuevo? To ask about a place, use aquí or en plus a country or city: ¿Qué se come aquí? / ¿Qué se come en Guatemala?
When to use it
Start with a general question when you do not know the person well: ¿Qué se acostumbra comer en Semana Santa? Then follow up with a personal question if the conversation is friendly: ¿Y ustedes qué preparan? Use ¿Quién cocina...? to learn about the social side of the meal, and ¿Es dulce o salado? when you need to understand an unfamiliar dish. Avoid asking ¿Qué comes en los días festivos? too early; it can sound like you are asking about their private habits. The plural preparan is common for family or a group, while preparas addresses one person informally.
Listen to each line, then take one part and reply out loud.
¿Qué se acostumbra comer aquí en Navidad?
What is customarily eaten here at Christmas?keh seh ah-kos-TOOM-brah koh-MEHR ah-KEE en nah-vee-DHADDepende de la familia, pero muchas preparan tamales y ponche.
It depends on the family, but many make tamales and ponche.deh-PEN-deh deh lah fah-MEE-leeah PEH-roh MOO-chas preh-PAH-rahn tah-MAH-les ee PON-cheh¿Y en tu familia quién cocina los tamales?
And in your family, who cooks the tamales?ee en too fah-MEE-leeah KYEN koh-SEE-nah los tah-MAH-lesMi abuela y mis tías; nos reunimos desde la noche anterior.
My grandmother and my aunts; we get together from the night before.mee ah-BWEH-lah ee mees TEE-as nos reh-oo-NEE-mos DES-deh lah NOH-cheh an-teh-RYORA little context goes a long way
Holiday food varies enormously by country and even by family, so treat any answer as one example, not a rule. In much of Mexico and Central America, tamales are common at Christmas and Día de Muertos, while in parts of South America, panettone and turrón appear at Christmas, and in the Andean region, cuy or hornado may be served at local festivals. In casual conversation, asking about food is warm and welcome, but asking who cooks can lead to gendered assumptions; phrase it neutrally with ¿Quién cocina? or ¿Quiénes preparan la comida?
One thing to watch for
Assuming that ¿Qué comes en los días festivos? is the natural way to ask what people eat on holidays.
Try this instead: That question asks what you personally eat, and it can sound too direct with a new acquaintance. For general custom, use ¿Qué se acostumbra comer en los días festivos? or ¿Qué come la gente aquí en los días festivos? Use ¿Qué comes tú...? only when you already have a friendly, informal relationship.
Your turn
Try answering out loud before checking a possible answer.
1Ask a new acquaintance in Guatemala what people customarily eat at Christmas.
Show a sample answer
¿Qué se acostumbra comer en Navidad aquí?
This uses the impersonal se acostumbra and the holiday name with en, which fits a general question about local custom. ¿Qué come la gente aquí en Navidad? is also correct and slightly more direct.
2Your friend mentions that her family makes tamales. Ask who usually cooks them.
Show a sample answer
¿Y quién cocina los tamales normalmente?
Quién cocina asks about the person, and normalmente softens the question. ¿Quiénes preparan los tamales? is also valid if you expect more than one cook.
3You hear the name of a dish you do not know. Ask whether it is sweet or savory.
Show a sample answer
¿Es dulce o salado?
This is the standard either-or question for taste. If the dish is a drink, you might instead ask ¿Es dulce o amargo? to ask whether it is sweet or bitter.
Ask about custom with ¿Qué se acostumbra comer...?, then follow up with ¿Y en tu familia...? to turn a general answer into a real conversation.
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