Taking once in Valparaíso at seven in the evening
In Chile the afternoon meal is called la once: bread, tea and avocado on Cerro Alegre. An A2 reading with encantar, preferir and odiar plus the infinitive.
Tomar once en Valparaíso, a las siete de la tarde
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An afternoon with the Contreras family in Valparaíso explains what the Chilean once is, what goes on the bread, and how long the talk at the table can last.
En el cerro Alegre de Valparaíso, la familia Contreras se sienta a la mesa cuando todavía hay luz. Camila, la hija menor, pone las tazas. A ella le encanta partir el pan todavía caliente, pero odia esperar el hervidor.
El pan es marraqueta. En Valparaíso mucha gente la llama «pan batido», y en el sur del país le dicen «pan francés»: es el mismo pan con tres nombres.
En esta casa, encima del pan casi siempre hay palta. En Chile, en Perú y en Argentina el aguacate se llama «palta»; en México y en España, «aguacate». La abuela prefiere comerla con sal y un poco de limón. Su nieto Matías prefiere untar manjar, un dulce que en otros países se llama dulce de leche.
Nadie sabe con seguridad de dónde viene el nombre «once». Una historia muy repetida dice que viene de la palabra «aguardiente», porque tiene once letras. Es una explicación bonita, pero no está confirmada.
La once puede durar dos horas. La familia sigue conversando cuando ya no queda pan en la mesa. A los adultos les encanta quedarse sentados, y el hervidor se enciende dos o tres veces más.
Camila mira la hora: las nueve. «Odio levantarme de la mesa cuando todos siguen hablando», dice. «Prefiero quedarme y hacer la tarea después».
¿Y tú? ¿Prefieres cenar temprano o comer algo ligero por la tarde? ¿Te encanta quedarte en la mesa después de comer, o prefieres levantarte enseguida? ¿Cómo se llama en tu país la comida de la tarde?
About this article
What you'll learn
Preference verbs (encantar, preferir, odiar) with the infinitive; reflexive pronouns attached to the infinitive; Chilean table vocabulary: once, marraqueta, palta, manjar.
An afternoon with the Contreras family in Valparaíso explains what the Chilean once is, what goes on the bread, and how long the talk at the table can last.
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.
toman once
newto have the Chilean afternoon meal
In Chile the afternoon meal is called la once, and the verb that goes with it is tomar: tomamos once, ¿tomamos once? The usual verb here is tomar, not comer.
Without this phrase a whole part of the Chilean day stays invisible.
encima del pan
newon the bread
Encima de means on top of. Note the de: encima de la mesa, encima del pan. Without de it works as an adverb: ponlo encima.
It is the everyday way to say where something sits.
ya no queda pan
newthe bread has run out
Two pieces: ya no means not any more, and quedar here means to be left over. Ya no queda pan, ya no quedan sillas.
Ya no is one of the most useful small phrases in Spanish, and this sense of quedar is easy to miss.
hacer la tarea
newto do my homework
In Chile and in much of Latin America schoolwork done at home is la tarea, and the verb that goes with it is hacer: hacer la tarea. In Spain the usual word is los deberes.
The same thing under two different words, depending on where you are.
algo ligero
newa light bite
Algo plus an adjective is a fixed pattern: algo ligero, algo caliente, algo dulce. The adjective stays masculine singular.
It saves you from naming the dish when you do not know the word.
Key words
Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.
La marraqueta
marraqueta
a crusty Chilean bread roll
One of the most common breads in Chile: crisp outside, soft inside, made of joined pieces that you pull apart with your hands. In Valparaíso many people call it pan batido, and in the south of the country many say pan francés.
This word tells you what kind of bread is on a Chilean table.
La palta
palta
avocado
The same fruit has two names. Palta is used in Chile, Peru, Argentina, Bolivia and Uruguay; aguacate in Mexico, Central America, Colombia and Spain. Both are correct Spanish.
Which of the two you use often hints at where you learned your Spanish.
El manjar
manjar
milk caramel spread
In Chile the sweet caramel made from milk is called manjar. In Argentina and Uruguay it is dulce de leche, and in Mexico cajeta when it is made with goat milk.
It is one of the words a Chilean menu assumes you already know.
El hervidor
el hervidor
electric kettle
From hervir, to boil. In Chile the appliance that heats the water is usually called el hervidor. The verb itself is useful too: el agua hierve.
You need it in any kitchen conversation about tea or coffee.
Untar
untar
to spread
The verb for spreading something soft on bread: untar mantequilla, untar manjar, untar palta. It is regular: unto, untas, unta.
It is the everyday verb for this, and it comes up at every breakfast.
Grammar in context
Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.
A ella le encanta partir el pan
A ella le encanta partir el pan
she loves breaking the bread open
Encantar marks the person with a pronoun, me te le nos les, and here it takes an infinitive: le encanta partir. The a ella in front only makes clear who is meant; le cannot be dropped. Notice that odia, in the same sentence, works the opposite way, with an ordinary subject.
One sentence shows both patterns side by side.
A los adultos les encanta quedarse
A los adultos les encanta quedarse sentados
the adults love staying at the table
When the person is plural the pronoun becomes les: a los adultos les encanta, a mis primos les encanta. The verb still stays singular, because its subject is the infinitive quedarse. The reflexive pronoun rides on the end of that infinitive: quedarse, quedarme, quedarte.
Plural people with a singular verb is exactly the place where learners hesitate.
Prefiero quedarme: infinitive, not gerund
Prefiero quedarme
I would rather stay
After verbs of liking and preferring (gustar, encantar, preferir, odiar, detestar, interesar) Spanish uses the infinitive: prefiero quedarme, le encanta partir, odio levantarme. English says I prefer staying with -ing, and that pattern does not carry over. The Spanish gerund is perfectly correct after other verbs, and this text uses it twice: sigue conversando and siguen hablando. The same goes for estar, continuar and llevar.
It is a very common mistake for English speakers, and it turns up the moment you talk about what you like.
Odio levantarme de la mesa
Odio levantarme de la mesa
I hate getting up from the table
Odiar takes an ordinary subject (yo odio, tú odias, ella odia) and an infinitive after it. Here the infinitive is reflexive, levantarse, and its pronoun changes with the person: odio levantarme, odias levantarte, odia levantarse.
Many verbs about meals and daily routine are reflexive, so this change appears constantly.
Le dicen pan francés
le dicen «pan francés»
they call it pan francés
Two ways of giving something a name. Llamar usually takes a direct object: la llaman pan batido. Decir takes an indirect one: le dicen pan francés. Both are common, and decirle X a algo is especially frequent in Latin America.
You can hear both in the same conversation about the same thing.
La hija menor
la hija menor
the youngest daughter
Menor and mayor are the irregular comparatives of pequeño and grande when you talk about age: mi hermano mayor, la hija menor. With the article in front they point to the oldest and the youngest of a group.
In a family, Spanish normally reaches for these two words rather than más pequeño.
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