Vocabulario: Accidentes geográficos Posted by Adir on Sep 17, 2010 in Spanish Vocabulary
Hi, there!
Let’s learn today some vocabulary related to geographical features en español.
1. el acantilado – cliff
La tormenta arrojó el bote contra los acantilados. – The storm threw the boat against the cliffs.
2. el cañón – canyon
Fuimos a visitar el Gran Cañón del Colorado el año pasado. – We went to visit the Grand Canyon in Colorado last year.
3. la cima – top, peak, summit
Alcanzaron la cima a primeras horas de la mañana. – They reached the summit in the early morning.
4. la colina – hill
Levantaron una casa en la cima de la colina. – A house was built on the top of the hill.
5. la desembocadura – mouth (of a river)
6. el desfiladero – ravine, narrow gorge
Subieron la montaña en una mula, por un desfiladero estrechísimo. – They went up the moutain on a mule, along a very narrow ravine.
7. el islote – small island, islet
Nadie se acerca de aquel islote en Brasil, dicen que es poblado solamente por culebras. – Nobody gets near that islet in Brasil, people say it’s inhabited only by snakes.
8. la laguna – lagoon
La laguna se llena de patos en el verano. – The lagoon is filled with ducks in the summer.
9. el litoral – coast, coastline
Me gusta ir a las playas del litoral sureño. – I like to go to the southern coast beaches.
10. el macizo – massif
La región está ocupada por un macizo central, donde nos encontramos ahora. – The region is occupied by a central massif, where we are now.
11. el nevero – place of perpetual snow
El año pasado subimos al nevero de la Sierra de Béjar. – Last year we went to the nevero of Sierra de Béjar.
12. la orilla – shore (sea), bank (river)
Estaban sentados en la orilla del río. – They were sitting by the river bank.
13. el pantano – marsh, swamp; reservoir
Es peligroso andar por la zona de los pantanos. – It’s dangerous to walk around the swamp region.
14. la península – peninsula
Estaban hablando de la Península Ibérica. – They were talking about the Iberian Peninsula.
15. el precipicio – precipice
Estábamos en una carretera llena de curvas al borde de un precipicio. – We were on a road full of curves on the edge of a precipice.
16. el sendero / la senda – path, track
Por este sendero llegamos al río. – Through this path we can get to the river.
Nos vemos prontito.
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About the Author: Adir
English / Spanish teacher and translator for over 20 years. I have been blogging since 2007 and I am also a professional singer in my spare time.
Comments:
Margaret Nahmias:
Adir, The Grand Canyon is in Arizona. Unless you´re talking about the Colorado River, you have the wrong state.
Em:
Also–it is not THE Grand Canyon–it is Grand Canyon. Putting “the” in front of it is silly–like saying, “I went to the New York last year!” “I went to the Six Flags last year.” “I went to the Mount St. Helens last year.”
Proper names should never, ever have THE in placed before them except when emphasizing (for celebrity status): “I saw THE Brad Pitt at the baseball game last weekend!”
David Carmona:
@Em Not true, Em. The Grand Canyon is always written after the definite article. You´re obviously not from THE United States, or perhaps never heard about THE Great Wall of China. You can´t judge something as silly without considering all the options.
David:
David is right…but so, at times, is Em. We we would “visit the Grand Canyon,” just as we would visit “the Mississippi River,” “the Eiffel Tower,” “the Columbia River gorge,” etc. And we would say “The President is returning to the White House” (two proper nouns both preceded by “the”). But we don’t go to “the Pike’s Peak,” “the Yosemite National Park,” “the Montana,” etc. Alas, the English language (another proper noun preceded by “the”) is notorious for its lack of consistency.
David Carmona:
@David Em is not right, since he said that you should “never” use the article before proper nouns. The right way is defined by usage only, so blanket statements on this topic are wrong.