Explore Santiago in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to explore Santiago in Spanish in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• talk about recommendations and requests using the imperfect subjunctive

• use vocabulary related to Santiago, Chile

• discuss typical city activities

Vocabulary

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

Adjectives

Spanish	English
bohemio	bohemian
chileno	Chilean
mapuche	Mapuche

examples
Que disfrutara del barrio bohemio de Bellavista. To enjoy the bohemian neighborhood of Bellavista.
Me aconsejó que probara la empanada chilena. She advised me to try Chilean empanadas.
Nos dijo que compráramos artesanías mapuches. She told us to buy Mapuche crafts.

Nouns

Spanish	English
los Andes	Andes
el asado	barbecue
el choclo	corn
la cueca	cueca
la escultura	sculpture
el espectáculo	show
el flash	flash
la misa	mass
Santiago	Santiago
la viña	vineyard

examples
Me propuso que esquiáramos en los Andes. She suggested we ski in the Andes.
Me propuso que fuéramos a un asado. She suggested we go to a barbecue.

Noun Phrases

Spanish	English
el barrio Bellas Artes	Bellas Artes neighborhood
el barrio Bellavista	Bellavista neighborhood
el barrio Lastarria	Lastarria neighborhood
el barrio Patronato	Patronato neighborhood
el barrio Providencia	Providencia neighborhood
el cerro Santa Lucía	Santa Lucia Hill
el jardín botánico	botanical garden
el Museo Precolombino	Pre-Columbian Museum
el Palacio de la Moneda	La Moneda Palace
el Parque Forestal	Forest Park
el paseo Ahumada	Ahumada Promenade
la plaza de Armas	main square
el río Mapocho	Mapocho River

examples
Que comiéramos sushi en el barrio Bellas Artes. To eat sushi in the Bellas Artes neighborhood.
Nos dijo que subiéramos al cerro Santa Lucía. She told us to climb Santa Lucia Hill.
Nos prohibió que fumáramos en el jardín botánico. She prohibited us from smoking in the botanical garden.
Me propuso que camináramos por el paseo Ahumada. She suggested we walk along Ahumada Promenade.

What’s in a Name?

Typically, when you’re translating a proper noun into English, you don’t change it. There are a few exceptions, like Sevilla(Seville), but—in many cases—the name will remain unchanged. We saw this with many of the proper nouns and proper noun phrases you learned in this skill. Most of them are the names of specific neighborhoods in Santiago. But did you know some of these names have other meanings? Let’s check them out!

Spanish	English	Part of Speech in Spanish
ahumada	smoked, smoky	adjective
bellas artes	fine arts	plural noun
bella vista	beautiful view	phrase
Palacio de la Moneda	Palace of the Mint	phrase
providencia	providence, ruling, measure	noun
Santiago	James, Saint James	proper noun

Verb

In this skill, you learn the following verb!

Spanish	English
alimentar	to feed

Alimentar

Alimentar(to feed) is an -ar verb that is regular in the imperfect subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	alimentara	I fed
tú	alimentaras	you fed	informal singular you
vos	alimentaras	you fed	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	alimentara	he, she fed
usted	alimentara	you fed	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	alimentáramos	we fed
vosotros, vosotras	alimentarais	you fed	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	alimentaran	they fed
ustedes	alimentaran	you fed	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

The Imperfect Subjunctive

The imperfect subjunctive (el imperfecto de subjuntivo) follows many of the same rules as the present subjunctive. Introduced with a preterite, imperfect, conditional, or past perfect WEIRDO verb in the independent clause, the imperfect subjunctive often refers to a previous experience, but it can also refer to unlikely events or possibilities.

Finding the Imperfect Subjunctive Stem

The imperfect subjunctive uses the third person plural of the preterite (minus the -ron). The third person preterite form of a verb, whether regular or irregular, becomes the base for the imperfect subjunctive stem.

Imperfect Subjunctive Endings

When conjugating the imperfect subjunctive, you can choose from two different sets of endings. Both are correct, though the first set, whose yo ending is -ra, is more widespread. For this reason, we use the -ra endings in these lessons.

Subject	Subjunctive 1 Endings	Subjunctive 2 Endings
yo	-ra	-se
tú	-ras	-ses
él, ella, usted	-ra	-se
nosotros, nosotras	-ramos	-semos
vosotros, vosotras	-rais	-seis
ellos, ellas, ustedes	-ran	-sen

Imperfect Subjunctive Uses

The imperfect subjunctive can be used to talk about past occurrences, current opinions of past events, doubts and wishes, as well as in if clauses and polite requests.

The following phrases, which indicate recommendations and requests, signal that we need to use the imperfect subjunctive:

Spanish	English
me aconsejó que	she advised me to
me propuso que	she suggested that
nos prohibió que	she prohibited us from
nos dijo que	she told us to