Enjoy Punta del Este in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to enjoy Punta del Este in Spanish in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• use vocabulary related to being at the ocean

• use the subjunctive to express conditional outcomes

• talk about vacation activities

Vocabulary

Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!

Nouns

SpanishEnglish
la bateríabattery
el chaparróndownpour
el chivitochivito
la olawave
el rincóncorner, part, special place
examples
Mientras tengas batería, haz videos.
While you have battery, make videos.
Sí, mientras no caiga un chaparrón.
Yes, as long as there's not a downpour.
En cuanto pruebes el chivito, te encantará.
As soon as you try chivito, you'll love it.

Noun Phrases

SpanishEnglish
el león marinosea lion
Punta del EstePunta del Este
examples
Mientras veamos leones marinos, estaré feliz.
As long as we see sea lions, I'll be happy.
Vamos a ir a Punta del Este.
We're going to go to Punta del Este.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

SpanishEnglish
anochecerto get dark
desconectarseto disconnect
pescarto fish

Anochecer

Anochecer(to get dark) is an -er verb that has a stem change in the present subjunctive.

ConjugationTranslationNotes
anochezcait gets dark

Pescar

Pescar(to fish) is an -ar verb that has a stem change in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)ConjugationTranslationNotes
yopesqueI fish
pesquesyou fishinformal singular you
vospesquesyou fishinformal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ellapesquehe, she fishes
ustedpesqueyou fishformal singular you
nosotros, nosotraspesquemoswe fish
vosotros, vosotraspesquéisyou fishinformal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellaspesquenthey fish
ustedespesquenyou fishplural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

The Present Subjunctive

The Spanish present subjunctive (el presente de subjuntivo) is used to talk about situations of doubt, desire, emotion, necessity, or uncertainty. We can also use the subjunctive to talk about conditional outcomes.

Conditional Outcomes

This type of sentence describes what will happen if another action is completed. These actions are conditional upon another action being completed, so the subjunctive is used to convey a sense of uncertainty. Many phrases with conditional circumstances have a connecting phrase or conjunctive expressions which introduce time limitations, conditions, concessions, or results. The key action—the one that must be completed for the second action to occur—is in the subjunctive.

examples

En cuanto amanezca, iremos a pescar.
As soon as the sun comes up, we'll go fishing.

Tan pronto como llegues allí, te desconectarás.
As soon as you get there, you'll disconnect.

Conjugating Verbs in the Present Subjunctive

To conjugate a verb in the present subjunctive, you must first remember what the present indicative yo form of the verb in question is. This is because the stem of present subjunctive verbs comes from the yo form of the present indicative. For many verbs, this will be the same as the infinitive stem, but for many others, such as verbs with spelling changes, stem-changing verbs, and irregular verbs, it will be different.

Present Subjunctive Stem Formula

The formula for finding the present subjunctive stem of a verb is the following:

  • present subjunctive stem = yo form of present indicative minus o ending

Regular Present Subjunctive Endings

Once you have the stem, you will add the present subjunctive ending that matches your subject. There are only two ending sets for the present subjunctive: one for -ar verbs and one for both -er and -ir verbs.

Subject-ar Verb Endings-er and -ir Verb Endings
yoea
, vosesas
usted, él, ellaea
nosotros, nosotrasemosamos
vosotros, vosotraséisáis
ustedes, ellos, ellasenan

Irregular Verbs in the Present Subjunctive

There are only six truly irregular verbs in the subjunctive. You'll find the conjugations for each of these verbs in the tables below.

Present Subjunctive Conjugations of Dar, Estar, and Ser

SubjectDarEstarSer
yoestésea
, vosdesestésseas
usted, él, ellaestésea
nosotros, nosotrasdemosestemosseamos
vosotros, vosotrasdeisestéisseáis
ustedes, ellos, ellasdenesténsean

Present Subjunctive Conjugations of Haber, Ir, and Saber

SubjectHaberIrSaber
yohayavayasepa
, voshayasvayassepas
usted, él, ellahayavayasepa
nosotros, nosotrashayamosvayamossepamos
vosotros, vosotrashayáisvayáissepáis
ustedes, ellos, ellashayanvayansepan

To remember these six verbs, just think of the mnemonic DISHES:

Dar

Ir

Saber

Haber

Estar

Ser

Stem Changes and the Present Subjunctive

While they’re not entirely irregular, the following verbs do have certain changes that we need to keep in mind while conjugating verbs in the subjunctive:

1. e> ie and o> ue Stem Changes with -ar and -er Verbs

For verbs in this group, the e in the last syllable of the stem (the yo form of the present indicative) changes to ie, or the o in the last syllable of the stem (the yo form of the present indicative) changes to ue. All subjunctive forms follow the stem change except for nosotros and vosotros, which use the infinitive stem.

2. e> ie and o> ue Stem Changes with -ir Verbs

All e> ie and o> ue stem-changing -ir verbs follow the same changes as in the present indicative, except the nosotros and vosotros forms, in which the e changes to i and the o changes to u.

3. e> i Stem Changes with -ir Verbs

All e> i stem-changing -ir verbs in the present indicative maintain the stem change in all forms of the present subjunctive.

Subjunctive Trigger Words

WEIRDO

Many of the verbs and phrases that require the subjunctive fit into the acronym WEIRDO: Wishes, Emotions, Impersonal expressions, Recommendations, Doubt/Denial, and Ojalá.

Quiz Yourself!

Want more practice with the vocabulary you learned in these lessons? Click here!

Spanish Conversation

Fantastic! Let's put the grammar and vocab from above to the test in the following example of a conversation in Spanish.

Pedro José:
Vamos a ir a Punta del Este.
We're going to go to Punta del Este.
Lucía:
¡Me encanta Punta del Este! Tan pronto como llegues allí, te desconectarás. Tan pronto como llegues, mándame un mensaje.
I love Punta del Este! As soon as you get there, you'll disconnect. As soon as you arrive, send me a message.
Pedro José:
Tan pronto como encienda el celular.
As soon as I turn on my cell phone.
Lucía:
¡Gracias! Te gustará la comida allí. En cuanto pruebes el chivito, te encantará. ¿Vas a nadar?
Thank you! You’ll like the food there. As soon as you try chivito, you'll love it. Are you going to go swimming?
Pedro José:
Sí, mientras no caiga un chaparrón.
Yes, as long as there's not a downpour.
Lucía:
Mientras nades, ten cuidado con las olas.
While you swim, be careful with the waves.

Want to learn more about how to enjoy Punta del Este in Spanish? Check out the following articles!

Summer Words in Spanish

Spanish-Speaking Travel Destinations for Every Type of Person

Hotel Vocabulary in Spanish