VOLVER or REGRESAR in Spanish

Both VOLVER and REGRESAR mean “to return/come back”, and are perfectly interchangeable and used all across the Spanish-speaking world.

That being said, the use of VOLVER or REGRESAR in Spanish can change regionally. VOLVER is “slightly” more used in Spain, and REGRESAR is “slightly” more used in Latin America.

VOLVER is an interesting verb, because if you ad to it the preposition A, and another verb in the infinitive form (without being conjugated), it could be used to express the concept of “resumption of doing something”:

VOLVER + A + Infinitive

• Desde hoy, vuelvo a creer en mí mismo

• From today, I believe in myself again :)

Last but not less important, depending on the context, you could also say:

• Ayer volví al hotel

• Yesterday I returned to the hotel

Using the SIMPLE PAST (Pretérito Indefinido), because the timeframe (“yesterday”) doesn’t include the present moment. It would be the same with “last week” (la semana pasada), “last month” (el mes pasado), “last summer” (el verano pasado), etc.

or…

• Hoy he vuelto al hotel

• Today I’ve returned to the hotel

Using the PRESENT PERFECT (Pretérito Perfecto), because the timeframe (“today”) include the present moment. It would be the same with “this week” (esta semana), “this month” (este mes), “this summer” (este verano), etc.

In case you wanted some extra guidance on how to study effectively, you can find the answer here, in our complete guide to learning Spanish online.

Qué tengas un día maravilloso!

Claudio