Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Instalamos la carpa cerca del río y guardamos comida. - We set up the tent near the river and store food.

For regular -ar verbs, the nosotros form is identical in the simple present and the simple past (preterite): -amos. So instalamos and guardamos can mean either we install/store (present) or we installed/stored (past). Context or time markers make it clear:

Past: Ayer instalamos la carpa y guardamos comida.
Habitual present: Siempre instalamos la carpa y guardamos comida.
Very recent past: Acabamos de instalar la carpa… (in Latin America this is common; hemos instalado is less frequent than in Spain).

Why is there no nosotros? Do I need to say it?

Spanish usually drops subject pronouns because the verb ending shows the subject. Instalamos already means we. Add nosotros only for emphasis or contrast:

Nosotros instalamos la carpa, no ellos.

Is instalar the most natural verb for “pitch a tent”?

It’s correct, but in everyday Latin American Spanish you’ll hear these more:

armar la carpa (very common)
montar la carpa
In Mexico: armar/poner la casa de campaña In Spain, montar/poner la tienda de campaña is very common.

What’s the difference between carpa, tienda de campaña, and casa de campaña?

carpa = tent (widely used in Latin America; also a big tent like a circus tent).
tienda de campaña = tent (very common in Spain; understood across the board).
casa de campaña = tent (very common in Mexico). Note: tienda by itself usually means store/shop.

Could carpa also mean a fish? How do I avoid confusion?

Yes, la carpa can mean carp (the fish). Context disambiguates:

Instalamos la carpa clearly means a tent because of instalar/armar/montar. If needed, you can say la carpa (tienda) for clarity, or for the fish el pez carpa.

Why is it la carpa and not una carpa or just carpa?

la carpa = the tent (a specific/known tent, often implicitly “our tent”).
una carpa = a tent (non-specific). Spanish normally needs an article with countable nouns. Saying just Instalamos carpa is not standard, though in some Southern Cone speech you might hear armamos carpa colloquially. As a learner, stick to the article.

Why is it cerca del río and not cerca de el río or cerca al río?

de + el contracts to del: cerca del río.
Standard Spanish uses cerca de before nouns. cerca al/a is regional (heard in parts of Colombia/Peru), but cerca de is safest everywhere.

Why does río have an accent? Is it the same as rió?

The accent marks a hiatus and the stressed syllable: rí-o. Compare:

río = river; also first person present of reír (I laugh).
rió = he/she/it laughed (preterite). In modern Spanish, accents are kept even in ALL CAPS: RÍO.

Do I need the article before río? What if I mean “near a river” in general?

Specific/known river: cerca del río.
Any river: cerca de un río. With named rivers Spanish typically uses the article: cerca del (río) Amazonas, often shortened to cerca del Amazonas.

Does guardar mean “to save,” “to keep,” or “to store”? What if I mean money or a life?

guardar = to put away/keep/store; also to save a file: guardar un archivo. Not for money or rescuing:

Save money: ahorrar dinero.
Save/rescue a person: salvar. So guardamos comida = we put food away/we stored food.

Should y change to e here?

No. y becomes e only before words starting with the i sound (i-/hi-): padres e hijos, agua e hielo. Since guardamos starts with a hard g sound (gua = gwa), keep y: …río y guardamos…

Does the position of cerca del río change the meaning?

Yes, it can:

Instalamos la carpa cerca del río y guardamos comida. → Near the river modifies where you set up the tent.
Instalamos la carpa y guardamos comida cerca del río. → Near the river likely attaches to where you put the food away. To make it apply to both actions: Cerca del río, instalamos la carpa y guardamos comida.

Why no accent on instalamos/guardamos in the past? Is instálamos correct?

There’s never an accent on nosotros forms of regular -ar in present or preterite: instalamos, guardamos (both tenses look the same). Instálamos/guardámos are incorrect.

How would I say “We settled in near the river” (not specifically pitching a tent)?

Use the reflexive: Nos instalamos cerca del río. Alternatives: Nos acomodamos cerca del río.

Is comida here “some food”? How do I say that explicitly?

Mass nouns like comida can appear without an article to mean an unspecified amount. To be explicit, say algo de comida or un poco de comida. If it’s specific/known food, use la comida: Guardamos la comida.

Pronunciation tips?

instalamos: in-sta-LA-mos
carpa: KAR-pa
cerca: SER-ka (Latin America; in much of Spain, THER-ka)
río: REE-o (two syllables; the accent breaks the diphthong)
guardamos: gwar-DA-mos (the gua sounds like gwa)