Keep the change

[Beto]

How do I say: “Keep the change?”

[Rusty]

Quédese con el cambio. (formal or respectful speech)
Quédate con el cambio. (familiar speech - can be considered offensive if the waiter has not already addressed you in familiar fashion)

There are a few alternatives, but the sayings above are commonly used. In northern Mexico, you may hear older folks say 'el vuelto' instead of 'el cambio'.

It's uncommon to wait for the change to be brought to your table by the waiter and then say something about keeping the change. Say this up front, when paying.
If you're leaving a tip, and the tip amount exceeds the amount of 'cambio', add enough to the payment to cover or almost cover the tip and then indicate that you don't expect any change.

[Beto]

Thanks Rusty!

[pinosilano]

Originally Posted by Rusty

[I]
There are a few alternatives, but the sayings above are commonly used. In northern Mexico, you may hear older folks say 'el vuelto' instead of 'el cambio'.

En Sudamérica se puede escuchar decir: "Quédese con el resto".

[Aprendo]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Quédese con el cambio
Quédate con el cambio

In the first sentece, the verb quedarse is in subjuntive.

In the second sentence, the quedarse is in the indicative.

Why is this?


Cheers.

[Rusty]

The imperative mood was used in both sentences. Both are commands to another person. The first uses formal/respectful address; the second, familiar address. Have a look at the imperativo here.

[Aprendo]

Originally Posted by Rusty

The imperative mood was used in both sentences. Both are commands to another person. The first uses formal/respectful address; the second, familiar address. Have a look at the imperativo here.

Gracias,

la letra "a" cambia con imperativo en estas circunstancias.

[Rusty]

When giving this command to someone you're addressing formally/respectfully (usted), the verb ending is 'e' and the reflexive pronoun is 'se'; a third-person ending and a third-person reflexive pronoun are used because usted is a third-person subject pronoun. The 'e' verb ending is used for an AR- verb when conjugated in the third-person.
If the person being commanded is addressed familiarly (subject pronoun: tú), the second-person verb ending is 'a' and the second-person reflexive pronoun is 'te'.

Quedarse is a reflexive verb. When conjugated in the imperative mood, the reflexive pronoun is tacked onto the end of the verb and a tilde is added to the second-to-last syllable of the verb to maintain proper accentuation.