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B115 words5 phrases

Museums and art

Spanish museums reward a little vocabulary: the ticket desk, the free slot and the temporary exhibition all have their own words.

Quick answer

¿A qué hora es la entrada gratuita?

What time is free entry? La entrada is both the ticket and the way in, so context decides.

The words

SpanishEnglish
el museothe museum
el cuadrothe painting
el pintorthe painter
la esculturathe sculpture
la exposiciónthe exhibition
la entradathe ticket
la salathe room
la obrathe work
el retratothe portrait
el paisajethe landscape
el marcothe frame
el dibujothe drawing
la taquillathe ticket office
la visita guiadathe guided tour
exponerto exhibit

The phrases you will actually say

¿A qué hora es la entrada gratuita?What time is free entry?
Dos entradas para la exposición, por favor.Two tickets for the exhibition, please.
Este cuadro es de Velázquez.This painting is by Velázquez.
La sala de escultura está cerrada hoy.The sculpture room is closed today.
¿Hay visita guiada en inglés?Is there a guided tour in English?

Worth knowing

El arte is the classic gender trap: masculine in the singular, el arte moderno, but feminine in the plural, las bellas artes. Distinguish el cuadro, a framed painting hanging on a wall, from la pintura, which is painting as a discipline and also the paint itself; la obra is any work, including a play or a building site, so it needs context. Attribution uses de and not por: un cuadro de Goya. La taquilla is the ticket desk and also a locker, which is why signs use it for both. Many large Spanish museums, including the Prado and the Reina Sofía in Madrid, open a free window in the last hours of the day, which is worth checking on the museum website because the times change; queues at that hour are long. Photography rules vary by room, and flash is normally forbidden.

Practice

Practise your museums and art words

0/8 matched — tap a Spanish word, then its translation

Check yourself

Which form is correct for "modern art"?

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