Locating things, people, and animals in space in Spanish. How to do it properly?
In Spanish we use “allá” as a translation of THERE, when something or someone is far from you, and we use “allí” when the thing or person is far from you but not as far as before…
The same thing happens with “aquí”, that we use as a translation of HERE, when something or someone is super close to you, and we use “acá” when the thing or person is still close to you but not as close as before…
As you can see, all this makes it very difficult to establish what is the actual difference in distance, and people use it more based on the context:
- The dog is there, at the park just outside the house
- El perro está ALLÁ, en el parque apenas afuera de casa
And…
- The dog is there, right at the entrance of the house
- El perro está ALLÍ, exactamente en la entrada de la casa
___
- The dog is here, in the house
- El perro está ACÁ, en la casa
And…
- The dog is here, with me
- El perro está AQUÍ, conmigo
___
Last but not least…, we also have “AHÍ” and we use it as a “wildcard” to represent anything that it’s NOT super close to you, so…, “AHÍ” can be used interchangeably with:
ACÁ
ALLÍ
ALLÁ
But…, not with AQUÍ 🙂
That being said, in case you want to push yourself beyond the art of locating things in Spanish, maybe finding new and powerful resources, plus the opportunity to practice your Spanish by talking in a professionally managed environment, if you want, you can take a look at our Live Conversation Classes (384 Classes available per YEAR — 1 to 6 students per class) 🙂
Complete Spanish Courses — from Zero to HERO in 6 months — can be found through our homepage 🚀
Qué tengas un maravilloso día!
Claudio
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Claudio
Professional Spanish Coach with 15+ years of experience.
"Do what you love and focus your energy on creating what you want in your life. Your energy goes where your thoughts go, and so does your life itself. You have to believe that you are worthy of what you want, you have to believe that you deserve what you want, and you have to act.
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