Recently a friend of mine asked me to write something about the word cuenta and being the blogger that I am agreed to it without hesitation. And for a brief moment I thought “the word cuenta is pretty straight-forward, what is there to write about?”
A few days later when I really sat down and started thinking about all the uses of the word cuenta, I realized why she asked.
With that said, let’s take a look at 9 uses of the word cuenta.
1. To ask for the check in a restaurant
¿La cuenta por favor?
The check please?
2. To talk about an account
¿Tienes cuenta bancaria?
Do you have a bank account?
¿Tienes cuenta de Facebook?
Do you have a Facebook account?
3. For counting and keeping track of things
Here’s an example of doing some simple counting. Like right before you take a picture.
A la cuenta de tres. A la una, a las dos, a las tres
On the count of three. One, two, three
Use “la cuenta atrás” to talk about a count down.
Estoy empezando la cuenta atrás para mis vacaciones de verano
I’m starting the count down of the days until my summer vacation
You can use the expression llevar la cuenta to express the idea of keeping track of things.
Llevo la cuenta de los días que faltan para poder verte
I’ve been counting the days left to until I can see you
Hace tiempo que no llevo la cuenta de los años que tengo, me da igual
I stopped keeping tracking of how old I am a long time ago, it doesn’t matter
¿Cómo llevo la cuenta de mis actividades de búsqueda de trabajo?
How do I keep track of all my job search activities?
4. To count on something or someone
Cuenta con ello
Count on it
Cuenta conmigo
You can count on me
5. To talk about who is paying for something
Todos las bebidas fueron por cuenta de la casa
All the drinks were on the house
Tómate una cerveza a mi cuenta
Have a beer on me
6. To keep in mind, to have in mind
Cuenta teams up with tener in this case, tener en cuenta
Hay que tener en cuenta que este es un año electoral
You have to keep in mind this is an election year
Ten en cuenta que no tienes dinero
Keep in mind you don’t have any money
Si tienes en cuenta lo poco que estudió, sus notas son buenas
If you keep in mind how little he studies, his grades are good
Here’s an idiomatic expression using tener en cuenta.
No me lo tengas en cuenta
Don’t hold it against me
Es su sentido del humor, no se lo tengas en cuenta
It’s his sense of humor, don’t hold it against him
No te lo tengo en cuenta
I won’t hold it against you
7. To realize something
You may be tempted to use realizar to talk about something you just realized, but that’s a false amigo and you actually want to use Darse cuenta.
Me di cuenta de que dejé mi billetera en casa
I realized that I left my wallet at home
¿No te das cuenta de que te amo?
You don’t realize that I love you?
8. To talk about who you work for or to do things for yourself
Trabajo por cuenta propia
I work for myself
Trabajo por cuenta ajena
I work for a company
Lo hice por mi propia cuenta
I did it myself
No lo puedes hacer por tu propia cuenta
You can’t do it by yourself
9. To talk about amenities offered by a hotel, house, apartment, etc.
La casa cuenta con dos dormitorios y un baño
The house has two bedrooms and one bathroom
El hotel cuenta con piscina, gimnasio, jacuzzi , sauna y baño turco
The hotel has a pool, gym, jacuzzi, sauna and a Turkish bath
¿Quiero saber si el hotel cuenta con servicio de parqueadero?
I want to know if the hotel has parking
By the way, cuenta con might be a bit much for everyday conversation with your friends, as you’ll typically only see it used in this context for advertisements. Feel free to use tiene or hay for more casual situations.
And there you have it. 9 extremely common ways to use the word cuenta.
Hasta la próxima, ¡Chao!