There is, however, much variation in the Spanish spoken by different social classes; this is a prevalent reality in Chile given the presence of stark wealth inequality.

In general, the intonation of Chilean Spanish is recognized in the Spanish-speaking world for being one of the fastest-spoken accents among Spanish dialects and with tones that rise and fall in its speech, especially in Santiago and its surroundings; such intonation may be less strong in certain areas of the north of the country and more pronounced in southern areas.

[10] Speakers of Chilean Spanish who also speak German or Mapudungun tend to use more impersonal pronouns (see also: Alemañol).

[11] Dialects of southern Chile (Valdivia/Temuco to Chiloé) are considered to have a melodic intonation (cantadito) relative to the speech in Santiago.

[12] A survey among inhabitants of Santiago also shows that people in the capital consider southern Chilean Spanish to be variously affected by Mapudungun, have poor pronunciation, be of rural character and, in the case of Chiloé, to be rich in archaisms.

[12] The same study does also show a perception that the speech of northern Chile is influenced by the Spanish spoken in Peru and Bolivia.

The Chilean Spanish dialect of Easter Island, most especially the accent, is influenced by Rapa Nui language.

[14] The features include the following:[15][16] Chileans use the voseo and tuteo forms for the intimate second-person singular.

In Chile there are at least four grades of formality: The Chilean voseo conjugation has only three irregular verbs in the present indicative: ser 'to be', ir 'to go', and haber 'to have' (auxiliary).

Some examples of distinctive Chilean slang include al tiro (right away), gallo/a (guy/gal), fome (boring), pololear (to go out as girlfriend/boyfriend), pololo/polola (boyfriend/girlfriend),[27] pelambre (gossip), pito (marijuana cigarette i.e. joint) poto (buttocks),[28] quiltro (mutt) and chomba (knitted sweater)[27] wea [ we.

Another popular Chilean Spanish slang expression is poh, also spelled po', which is a term of emphasis of an idea, this is a monophthongized and aspirated form of pues.

The Mapudungun language has left a relatively small number of words in Chilean Spanish, given its large geographic expanse.