A Saturday in Chapultepec, Mexico City
A1 Spanish reading about the Bosque de Chapultepec: the Nahuatl name, the castle museum, the ahuehuete trees and the pandas, with «me gusta», «le encanta» and «les gustan».
Un sábado en el Bosque de Chapultepec
Reading for practice
Read for free. Create an account to translate words, save progress, and practise.
A Saturday walk through the Bosque de Chapultepec in Mexico City: where the Nahuatl name of the park comes from, the castle that is now the national history museum, the Piedra del Sol, the ahuehuete trees and the pandas in the zoo.
El nombre del parque viene del náhuatl. «Chapultepec» significa «cerro del chapulín», y un chapulín es un saltamontes, un insecto pequeño que salta. A mí me gusta mucho ese nombre.
Hoy muchas personas hablan náhuatl en México. También hay palabras del náhuatl en el español de todos los días: chocolate, tomate, aguacate.
En el cerro hay un castillo. Ahora el castillo es el Museo Nacional de Historia. A mi hermano le encanta subir allí, porque desde arriba ve la ciudad y el bosque.
En el parque también está el Museo Nacional de Antropología. Allí está la Piedra del Sol, un gran disco de piedra azteca. Es una pieza famosa en todo el país.
Cerca del agua hay ahuehuetes. Son árboles altos y muy viejos. El ahuehuete es el árbol nacional de México y su nombre significa «viejo del agua» en náhuatl. ¿Te gustan los árboles muy viejos?
En el lago hay lanchas pequeñas. A mi madre y a mí nos gusta remar despacio. El agua está tranquila y el sol no quema.
Dentro del parque hay un zoológico. Su zoológico es famoso por los pandas gigantes. A los niños les gustan mucho estos animales.
Por la tarde comemos en el pasto y escribo estas líneas en mi cuaderno. Chapultepec no es solo un parque: es un cerro, un castillo, un lago y varios museos.
¿Hay un parque grande en tu ciudad? ¿Cómo se llama? ¿Qué te gusta hacer allí?
About this article
What you'll learn
The gustar construction across the persons me, te, le, nos and les, the choice between gusta and gustan, and gustar before an infinitive.
A Saturday walk through the Bosque de Chapultepec in Mexico City: where the Nahuatl name of the park comes from, the castle that is now the national history museum, the Piedra del Sol, the ahuehuete trees and the pandas in the zoo.
After reading
Article learning block
Phrases, words, grammar, and quick practice from this text.
Phrases for training
Add useful phrases to SRS or mark them as already known.
También
newalso, too
«También» means "also". It goes before the verb or at the start of the sentence: «También hay palabras del náhuatl». Its negative counterpart is «tampoco».
One of the most common linking words in speech: it adds a second idea.
de todos los días
neweveryday, of every day
«De todos los días» describes something ordinary and daily. Here it means everyday Spanish.
It is a fixed phrase that replaces the adjective «diario» in normal speech.
no es solo un parque
newit is not just a park
«No es solo» means that there is more than one thing. Here «solo» means only and is written without an accent.
It is a natural way to say that something is more than it looks.
Key words
Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.
el chapulín
chapulín
grasshopper
«Chapulín» is the Mexican word for a grasshopper; in Spain people say «saltamontes».
It comes from Nahuatl and it is the word hidden inside the name Chapultepec.
el cerro
cerro
hill
«Cerro» is a hill, smaller than a mountain («montaña»).
It appears in place names all over Latin America, Chapultepec included.
el ahuehuete
ahuehuete
Montezuma cypress
The ahuehuete is the national tree of Mexico. Its Nahuatl name, «viejo del agua», means old man of the water.
One word that carries a fact you can repeat: the tree grows near water and lives a very long time.
la lancha
lanchas
small boat
«Lancha» is a small boat. In «lanchas pequeñas» both words take the plural -s.
You need it to talk about a lake, a river or a harbour.
el pasto
el pasto
grass, lawn
In Mexico the lawn is «el pasto»; in Spain the same thing is «el césped».
Two countries, two words for one ordinary thing.
remar
remar
to row
«Remar» means to row a boat. It is a regular -ar verb: «yo remo», «tú remas».
It turns the boats on the lake into something you can do.
Grammar in context
Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.
What you like is the subject
A mí me gusta
I really like that name.
In «A mí me gusta mucho ese nombre», the subject is «ese nombre» and «me» marks the person. The verb agrees with the name, not with «yo», so it is «gusta».
English puts the person first, Spanish puts the thing first. Everything else about «gustar» follows from this.
«a + person» together with «le»
A mi hermano le encanta
My brother loves going up there.
«Le» already means to him, and «a mi hermano» says who that is; Spanish uses both at once. «Encantar» behaves exactly like «gustar», and stays singular before the infinitive «subir».
Alone, «le» could mean to him, to her or to you (usted). The «a + person» phrase removes the doubt.
«les» for several people
A los niños les gustan
Children really like the pandas.
«Les» is the form for more than one person. «Gustan» is plural because «los pandas» is plural, not because «los niños» is.
Deciding between «gusta» and «gustan» means looking at the thing, never at the people.
«gusta» + infinitive stays singular
nos gusta remar
My mother and I like rowing slowly.
Here two people like something, yet the verb is «gusta». What is liked is the action «remar», and an infinitive counts as one thing.
It stops the commonest mistake: writing «gustan» because the people are plural.
Asking someone what they like
¿Te gustan los árboles muy viejos?
Do you like very old trees?
«Te» is the form for «tú», the person you are speaking to. «Gustan» is plural because «los árboles» is plural.
This is the question a Spanish speaker will actually ask you, and the one you need to ask back.
«grande» shortens to «gran»
un gran disco
a large stone disc
Before a singular noun, «grande» becomes «gran»: «un gran disco». After the noun it keeps its full form: «un disco grande».
The short form looks like a different word, and it is very common in Spanish.
Comments
Log in to leave a comment
LoginNo comments yet. Be the first!
