Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Caminamos por el bosque en silencio.

Ayer caminamos por el bosque en silencio.
Yesterday we walked through the forest in silence. (past)
Siempre caminamos por el bosque en silencio.
We always walk through the forest in silence. (present, habitual)

If the sentence appears alone with no context, it can technically mean either.

Why isn’t nosotros written before caminamos? Don’t we need the subject pronoun?

Spanish verb endings already show who the subject is, so subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, nosotros…) are usually optional.

Caminamos por el bosque en silencio.
The -amos ending tells us the subject is we (nosotros).

You add nosotros mainly for emphasis, contrast, or clarity:

Nosotros caminamos por el bosque, ellos corren.
We walk through the forest, they run.
NOSOTROS caminamos por el bosque en silencio.
Emphasizes we as opposed to someone else.

In everyday speech, omitting the pronoun when it’s clear is more natural.

Why is por used here instead of para?

In this sentence, por expresses movement through or around a place:

Caminamos por el bosque…
We walked (around/through) the forest…

Some common uses of por:

Route or area: Caminamos por el parque. – We walked around the park.
Duration: Caminamos por dos horas. – We walked for two hours.

Para does not work for route or general location like this.
Caminamos para el bosque is unnatural if you mean through the forest.

Use para more for purpose, goal, or destination in a different sense:

Caminamos para llegar temprano.
We walk in order to arrive early. (purpose)

What’s the difference between por el bosque, en el bosque, al bosque, and a través del bosque?

They all involve a forest but express different ideas:

por el bosque – through / around / in the area of the forest
Focus on route or general movement within or around it.
- Caminamos por el bosque. – We walked through/around the forest.
en el bosque – in the forest
Emphasizes location, not movement.
- Estábamos en el bosque. – We were in the forest.
al bosque = a + el bosque – to the forest
Focus on destination.
- Fuimos al bosque. – We went to the forest.
a través del bosque – through the forest / across the forest
Emphasizes going from one side to the other, crossing it.
- Cruzamos a través del bosque. – We crossed through the forest.

In your sentence, por el bosque is ideal because it highlights moving within/through that area.

Why do we say el bosque and not un bosque?

El = the, un = a / an.

el bosque – the forest (a specific or known one, or “the” forest in context)
un bosque – a forest (one forest, not specified which)

So:

Caminamos por el bosque en silencio.
Suggests a particular forest both speaker and listener likely know (e.g., the forest near the town).
Caminamos por un bosque en silencio.
Means “through a forest” – some forest, not important or not identified.

Spanish often uses the definite article el / la where English might drop it, but here it lines up with English fairly well.

Could we also say Caminamos en silencio por el bosque? Does the word order matter?

Yes, both are correct:

Caminamos por el bosque en silencio.
Caminamos en silencio por el bosque.

Spanish word order is somewhat flexible, especially for adverbial phrases (of manner, place, time). Changing the order here:

doesn’t change the basic meaning
only slightly shifts the rhythm or emphasis

Many speakers would naturally say it either way; both sound normal. If anything:

por el bosque en silencio = a tiny bit more focus on where first, then how
en silencio por el bosque = a tiny bit more focus on how first, then where

But this nuance is very subtle.

Why is it en silencio and not silenciosamente?

Both are grammatically correct, but en silencio is much more common and sounds more natural in everyday speech.

Caminamos por el bosque en silencio.
Literally we walked through the forest in silence – very idiomatic.
Caminamos por el bosque silenciosamente.
Means we walked silently, but it sounds more formal, literary, or descriptive.

There can be a small nuance:

en silencio often emphasizes that no one spoke or that there was no sound.
silenciosamente emphasizes the manner of walking (quiet footsteps).

In practice, en silencio is the usual choice for this kind of sentence.

Is bosque always masculine? How would I say “forests”?

Yes, bosque is a masculine noun:

el bosque – the forest
un bosque – a forest

Plural:

los bosques – the forests
unos bosques – some forests

Examples:

Caminamos por el bosque. – We walked through the forest.
Caminamos por los bosques de la región. – We walked through the forests of the region.

Adjectives must match masculine singular/plural:

un bosque oscuro – a dark forest
bosques oscuros – dark forests

How would I say “We were walking through the forest in silence”? Is that still caminamos?

To express “were walking” (past continuous / background action), Spanish normally uses the imperfect or estar + gerundio:

Imperfect (simple form):
- Caminábamos por el bosque en silencio.
  We were walking through the forest in silence.
Past progressive (estar + gerund):
- Estábamos caminando por el bosque en silencio.
  Also We were walking through the forest in silence, with a bit more emphasis on the ongoing action.

Caminamos por el bosque en silencio is the preterite and usually translates as:

We walked through the forest in silence (a completed action, seen as a whole event).

So if you want that “ongoing past” idea (background, in progress), use caminábamos or estábamos caminando.

What’s the difference between caminamos and andamos? Both mean “we walk”, right?

Both verbs can mean “to walk”, but they’re used a bit differently:

caminar – specifically to walk (as opposed to running, driving, etc.).
- Caminamos por el bosque. – We walk / walked through the forest.
andar – can mean to walk, but also to go around, to move, to be going/doing, to work/function.
- Andamos por el bosque. – We walk / we wander around the forest.
- ¿Cómo andas? – How are you doing?
- El reloj no anda. – The clock doesn’t work.

In many parts of Latin America, andar is very common for walking, especially andar por… for “to wander around a place”. In your exact sentence, you could say:

Andamos por el bosque en silencio.

It’s natural, but caminamos is the more neutral/straightforward “we walked”.

Could I say Fuimos caminando por el bosque en silencio? How does that change the meaning?

Yes, that’s correct, and it slightly changes the focus.

Fuimos caminando por el bosque en silencio.

Ir + gerundio (fuimos caminando) often emphasizes the way you went somewhere:

Literally: We went walking through the forest in silence.
Natural English: We went on foot through the forest in silence or We made our way walking through the forest in silence.

So:

Caminamos por el bosque en silencio.
Focus: the activity of walking in/through the forest.
Fuimos caminando por el bosque en silencio.
Focus: how we went (by walking, not by car, bus, etc.), often heading toward some destination implied by the broader context.

Any pronunciation tips for Caminamos por el bosque en silencio in Latin American Spanish?

Yes, some key points:

Stress (where your voice goes up):
- Caminamos → ca-mi-NA-mos (stress on na)
- bosque → BOS-que (two syllables)
- silencio → si-LEN-cio
Vowel sounds are pure and clear:
- a, e, i, o, u are always pronounced the same way, never like English “ay, ee, oh,” etc.
Consonants:
- c in caminamos = like k in cat (before a).
- qu in bosque = k sound: bos-ke.
- c in silencio (before i) = s sound in Latin America: si-LEN-sio.
- r in por is a single tap, like a very quick d in ladder (American English).
Linking words:
- Say por el almost as one word: po-rel.
- Don’t mute final vowels or consonants; pronounce the s in bosque, silencio, etc.

Spoken slowly and clearly:
ca-mi-NA-mos po-rel BOS-ke en si-LEN-syo.