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.
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Claudio
Claudio
Professional Spanish Coach with 15+ years of experience.
