# Chilean Spanish **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 2, 2004, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilean-spanish/243170 "2004-05-02T17:46:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilean-spanish/243170/1 "2004-05-02T17:46:45Z")
I’m heading to Chile in 3 weeks and I’m trying to find a website that can assist me with some of the differences between the Spanish I can speak (North American/Mexican/Spanglish) and what is spoken in Chile. I know the accent will be much different, but what I’m most concerned with is knowing two things: 1. the major differences in grammar. Is Chile a country that uses the second person familiar form (which is rarely taught in the U.S.) 2. the names of various foods, which I think have a fairly wide variation throughout the Spanish-speaking world and can lead to some unfortunate consequences, especially since one of my travelling party shuns red meat. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilean-spanish/243170/2 "2004-05-02T17:57:26Z")
I’ve not been to Chile, but Colombia, and I believe, several other S. A. countries use Castilian spanish, if that helps. ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilean-spanish/243170/3 "2004-05-02T18:01:55Z")
Well I have been to Chile, but since I don’t speak Spanish I can’t help either. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilean-spanish/243170/4 "2004-05-02T18:07:53Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > Is Chile a country that uses the second person familiar form (which is rarely taught in the U.S.) You really do mean second personal _plural_ familiar, right? I can’t speak specifically for Chile, but I’ve never, ever heard the use of this form except from movies from Spain, and in the Bible. Everything I’ve ever been taught indicates that Latin- and South-America don’t use the second person plural familiar. On the other hand, even if they do use it in Chile, it won’t really hurt you to say _ustedes_ to everyone anyway. Of course if you mean they don’t teach second person singular familiar in the US, then what the hell kind of Spanish are they teaching? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilean-spanish/243170/5 "2004-05-02T18:21:03Z")
Yep, left out “plural” there. That would have made more sense. But no, it is not usually taught in U.S. schools. Most text books here will list verb forms in this way soy somos eres (sois) es son Also, I came across this sentence on a Chilean observatory’s website: > [@](#): > > Los tours parten desde la oficina del Observatorio (cerca de la Plaza de Armas de Vicuña), para lo cual os visitantes deberan presentarse con media hora de anticipacion a la salida del respectivo tour. ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilean-spanish/243170/6 "2004-05-02T18:27:47Z")
While this site isn’t too official, it seems to be fairly well made. It also has a guide to Chilean foods. [Chilean Spanish Guide](http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Cabana/6234/) Chileans and some other South Americans call their language “Castillian” (a perfectly valid name for Spanish in general). This doesn’t mean they use the same Castillian accent as in Spain. Chilean is actually more like Andalusian. In fact, to a superficial listener (someone like me who isn’t completely fluent). Chilean sounds quite a bit like some of the Caribbean Spanish dialects, because the “s” before other consonants and at the end of words is aspirated or even absent. This can make it hard for someone used to Mexican Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilean-spanish/243170/7 "2004-05-02T18:35:08Z")
Thanks, this looks great. I can just tell from starters that since the word Chileans use for pen is the word that Mexicans use for pencil, I’m in for an interesting time. ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilean-spanish/243170/8 "2004-05-02T20:11:44Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > Also, I came across this sentence on a Chilean observatory’s website: > > Los tours parten desde la oficina del Observatorio (cerca de la Plaza de Armas de Vicuña), para lo cual \*\*os visitantes \*\* deberan presentarse con media hora de anticipacion a la salida del respectivo tour. It is the bit that I bolded that led to your question? ‘os’ is a typo, nothing to do with vosotros. It should read ‘los visitantes’. Chilean Spanish is one of the clearer varieties of Spanish, and therefore easier to understand, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilean-spanish/243170/9 "2004-05-02T20:21:06Z")
It was just a typo! :smack: I’ll just be polite to everybody because that way I know I won’t make any mistakes! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilean-spanish/243170/10 "2004-05-03T16:37:00Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > I can just tell from starters that since the word Chileans use for pen is the word that Mexicans use for pencil, I’m in for an interesting time. Just as long as the word that Mexicans use for pen isn’t the one that Chileans use for penis . . . 😃 ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilean-spanish/243170/11 "2004-05-03T17:34:21Z")
> [@](#): > > I know the accent will be much different, but what I’m most concerned with is knowing two things: > > 1. the major differences in grammar. Is Chile a country that uses the second person familiar form (which is rarely taught in the U.S.) Note: I spent 2 years in Chile as a Mormon missionary, speaking Spanish (“Castellano”). I returned in January 1995, so it has been a few years. Which part of Chile will you be in? There are three general regions: North, Central (including Santiago and Vina Del Mar) and South. The North and South are similar to each other whereas Central is a little different. The grammar is pretty standard. The [site already mentioned](http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Cabana/6234/) is okay, but fails to mention a few things. The ‘vos’ form they talk about is limited to the poorer city areas. In Santiago (where I spent almost all of my time) a few areas like La Victoria and Las Flores used this form a lot. The web page describes it as using the vosotros form, and says that the ‘s’ is often asperated. However, when the ‘vos’ form was used, the ‘s’ was **always** dropped. So instead of saying: ¿Cómo estás? people say: ¿Cómo estái, loco? If you’re not in poor areas in Santiago, you’ll probably not see it. Also there are different words used for common things than in Argentine or European Spanish. > [@](#): > > 1. the names of various foods, which I think have a fairly wide variation throughout the Spanish-speaking world and can lead to some unfortunate consequences, especially since one of my travelling party shuns red meat. I only found local foods to have odd names. As far as the accent goes, the double-l is more of a “zh” sound. Ending consanants tend to be aspirated, and the “ado” on the end of a word does tend to turn into “ao”, so “pelado” becomes “pelao” though I didn’t see “ada” turn into “a” often, and this is more common in poor areas. The site mentioned reminded me of the “po” ending which I had forgotten. It’s pretty amusing. Also, the diminuative “ito/a” is often used as emphasis, e.g. “justo” for “right!” and “justito” for “got it on the nose!”. How long will you be there, and where will you be going? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilean-spanish/243170/12 "2004-05-03T17:38:05Z")
Thanks for the advice. I will be flying in to Santiago and then heading north to La Serena and then back down to Vina del Mar and Valparaiso. Then back to Santiago to catch a flight to Easter Island. And then back to Santiago before heading home. In Santiago we will be staying in the nicer parts of town. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilean-spanish/243170/13 "2004-05-03T18:19:55Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Just as long as the word that Mexicans use for pen isn’t the one that Chileans use for penis . . . 😃 Which reminds me of a favorite mistranslation story, which just happens to involve Chile. Now this may be apocryphal and maybe a Chilean Spanish speaker could confirm or deny the basic facts, but reputedly _picos_, Spanish for peaks, is slang for ‘prick’ in Chile. The story goes that the late Indira Ghandi was visting Chile for some reason or another and had to meet with a bunch of ribbon-encrusted generals that used to run the place. Thinking to make a good impression she memorized a little opening speech in Spanish that included several alliterative references to Chile’s magnificent mountain peaks and how they were in so many ways representative of the countries character. She was more than a little perplexed when, during the course of her speech, even by the standards of the normally reserved Chilean brass, her audience were becoming more and more grim and stony-faced as her speech progressed :p. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilean-spanish/243170/14 "2004-05-04T00:45:42Z")
> [@emarkp](#): > > As far as the accent goes, the double-l is more of a “zh” sound. Ending consanants tend to be aspirated, and the “ado” on the end of a word does tend to turn into “ao”, so “pelado” becomes “pelao” though I didn’t see “ada” turn into “a” often, and this is more common in poor areas. The site mentioned reminded me of the “po” ending which I had forgotten. It’s pretty amusing. Also, the diminuative “ito/a” is often used as emphasis, e.g. “justo” for “right!” and “justito” for “got it on the nose!”. I hear both of these a lot in Mexico in various socio-economic classes. I don’t know if it’s local variation, or people making fun of foreigners. For example one of my Spanish teachers (college educated dentist [not my wife]) would always pronounce _ll_ or _y_ like you describe – “yzho soy el mero mero.” “Yzhamame mañana.” And I hear the _-ado_ turned into _ao_ more than rarely. Hell, I even do it myself when speaking just to vary. ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilean-spanish/243170/15 "2004-05-04T17:26:34Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > For example one of my Spanish teachers (college educated dentist [not my wife]) would always pronounce _ll_ or _y_ like you describe – “yzho soy el mero mero.” “Yzhamame mañana.” Ouch. At least in Chile, only the “ll” gets the ‘zh’ treatment. I remember when I was introducing myself to my Spanish literature class at college after returning from Chile, and my teacher (from Spain) got a kick out of my pronunciation of “alla” as “azha”. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilean-spanish/243170/16 "2004-05-04T18:31:30Z")
This leads me to a related question. A few years back a Chilean woman gave me her business card. Her last name was Llull. How would she have pronounced that? I chickened out and called her by her first name. ---
**Author:** ![wireless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@wireless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wireless)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilean-spanish/243170/17 "2004-05-04T23:15:44Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > …but reputedly _picos_, Spanish for peaks, is slang for ‘prick’ in Chile. Yes, it is. It was one of my Chilean ex-BF’s favorite words (nevermind) along with _pendejo_ (which is not exclusively Chilean spanish) which, I believe, literally translates as “pubic hair”, but is more of an all-purpose insult - loser, idiot, etc. My funny story: The female “parallel” for _pico_ in Chilean spanish is _champa_. There used to be a reporter on CNN named Linda Champa, so, translated, her name meant “pretty p\*\*\*y”. All those years together and all I learned was the dirty words… ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilean-spanish/243170/18 "2004-05-05T01:18:35Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > This leads me to a related question. A few years back a Chilean woman gave me her business card. Her last name was Llull. > > How would she have pronounced that? > > I chickened out and called her by her first name. There is a famous medieval Catalan author named Ramón Llull. I think it would simply be pronounced “lul”, as it isn’t a “Castillian” name. Maybe they use the term “Castellano” in Chile and Argentina since quite a few Catalans, Galicians, and Basques imigrated - and they were more keen on this distinction?