Con and Sin: Describing What You Want Included in Spanish

Con — With and Sin — Without: Describing What You Want Included in Spanish

In this lesson, you will learn two very useful Spanish words for food and drink: con — with and sin — without.

Use con when you want something included. Use sin when you want something left out.

Using con for something included

Use con — with before the ingredient or item you want included.

• café con leche — coffee with milk
• pan con queso — bread with cheese
• ensalada con tomate — salad with tomato
• arroz con pollo — rice with chicken
• sopa con verduras — soup with vegetables

Con does not change. Place it directly before the noun or ingredient that is included.

Using sin for something excluded

Use sin — without before the ingredient or item you do not want included.

• café sin leche — coffee without milk
• pan sin queso — bread without cheese
• ensalada sin tomate — salad without tomato
• arroz sin pollo — rice without chicken
• sopa sin cebolla — soup without onion

Sin also stays unchanged.

Comparing con and sin

Spanish	English	Meaning
con	with	the item is included
sin	without	the item is excluded

Compare:

• café con leche — coffee with milk
• café sin leche — coffee without milk
• ensalada con tomate — salad with tomato
• ensalada sin tomate — salad without tomato

Only the preposition changes, but the meaning changes completely.

Using con with drinks

Con is common when describing what is added to a drink.

• café con leche — coffee with milk
• té con leche — tea with milk
• agua con limón — water with lemon

You can combine these phrases with querer.

• Quiero café con leche. — I want coffee with milk.
• Quiero té con leche. — I want tea with milk.
• Quiero agua con limón. — I want water with lemon.

Using sin with drinks

Use sin when you want to exclude an ingredient from a drink.

• café sin leche — coffee without milk
• té sin leche — tea without milk
• agua sin limón — water without lemon

You can also use these phrases with querer.

• Quiero café sin leche. — I want coffee without milk.
• Quiero té sin leche. — I want tea without milk.
• Quiero agua sin limón. — I want water without lemon.

Using con with food

Con is also useful for describing food with an included ingredient.

• pan con queso — bread with cheese
• ensalada con tomate — salad with tomato
• arroz con pollo — rice with chicken
• sopa con cebolla — soup with onion
• pasta con queso — pasta with cheese

Using sin with food

Use sin when you want an ingredient removed or not included.

• pan sin queso — bread without cheese
• ensalada sin tomate — salad without tomato
• arroz sin pollo — rice without chicken
• sopa sin cebolla — soup without onion
• pasta sin queso — pasta without cheese

Using querer with con and sin

You already know querer — to want. Add a con or sin phrase after the food or drink.

• Quiero una ensalada con tomate. — I want a salad with tomato.
• Quiero una ensalada sin cebolla. — I want a salad without onion.
• Quiero arroz con pollo. — I want rice with chicken.
• Quiero pasta sin queso. — I want pasta without cheese.
• Quiero café con leche. — I want coffee with milk.

The structure is simple: quiero + food or drink + con / sin + ingredient.

Using preferir with con and sin

You can also use preferir — to prefer to describe how you prefer food or drinks.

• Prefiero café con leche. — I prefer coffee with milk.
• Prefiero té sin leche. — I prefer tea without milk.
• Prefiero ensalada con tomate. — I prefer salad with tomato.
• Prefiero sopa sin cebolla. — I prefer soup without onion.

Asking whether someone wants something with an ingredient

A simple practical question is:

¿Con leche? — With milk?

Possible answers include:

• Sí, con leche. — Yes, with milk.
• No, sin leche. — No, without milk.

This short exchange is useful when the food or drink is already clear from the context.

Asking between two options

You can contrast con and sin directly.

¿Con leche o sin leche? — With milk or without milk?

Possible answers include:

• Con leche, por favor. — With milk, please.
• Sin leche, por favor. — Without milk, please.

The connector o — or presents two alternatives.

Using con and sin with several familiar ingredients

Practice with ingredients from the previous food lesson.

• con tomate — with tomato
• sin tomate — without tomato
• con cebolla — with onion
• sin cebolla — without onion
• con queso — with cheese
• sin queso — without cheese
• con pollo — with chicken
• sin pollo — without chicken

Learning these as short chunks makes them easier to use quickly.

Including two ingredients

You can connect two included ingredients with y — and.

• ensalada con tomate y cebolla — salad with tomato and onion
• pasta con tomate y queso — pasta with tomato and cheese
• arroz con pollo y tomate — rice with chicken and tomato

Con introduces the included ingredients, and y joins them.

Including one ingredient and excluding another

You can use con and sin in the same phrase when you want one thing included and another left out.

• ensalada con tomate y sin cebolla — salad with tomato and without onion
• pasta con tomate y sin queso — pasta with tomato and without cheese
• arroz con pollo y sin cebolla — rice with chicken and without onion

This gives a clear contrast between what you want and what you do not want.

Using the full request with por favor

Add por favor — please to make the request polite.

• Quiero una ensalada sin cebolla, por favor. — I want a salad without onion, please.
• Quiero café con leche, por favor. — I want coffee with milk, please.
• Quiero pasta con tomate y sin queso, por favor. — I want pasta with tomato and without cheese, please.

You already know por favor, so this does not require a new politeness structure.

Listening for the important contrast

When you hear a food or drink phrase, listen carefully for con or sin.

Compare:

• Quiero café con leche. — I want coffee with milk.
• Quiero café sin leche. — I want coffee without milk.

The food or drink is the same. The small word con or sin determines whether the ingredient is included.

A short practical exchange

Person A: ¿Con leche o sin leche? — With milk or without milk?

Person B: Con leche, por favor. — With milk, please.

Another example:

Person A: ¿Con cebolla? — With onion?

Person B: No, sin cebolla, por favor. — No, without onion, please.

A short food-preference conversation

Person A: ¿Qué prefieres? — What do you prefer?

Person B: Prefiero ensalada con tomate y sin cebolla. — I prefer salad with tomato and without onion.

Person A: ¿Y para beber? — And to drink?

Person B: Quiero agua con limón. — I want water with lemon.

The con and sin phrases make the person’s preferences more precise.

A practical form-building method

When you describe what you want included or excluded, use this sequence:

1. Name the food or drink.
2. Use con before something you want included.
3. Use sin before something you want excluded.
4. Use y if you need to connect two ingredients.
5. Add querer or preferir when you want a complete sentence.

From Con and Sin to describing quantities

You can now use con and sin to say what you want included or excluded in familiar foods and drinks. The next lesson introduces Spanish quantity expressions such as mucho, poco, bastante, and un poco de.