ahí, allí, allá - what's the difference?
 

i know they translate to "there" but when should you use each of them, also is there a similar rule for aquí and acá ?

Re: ahí, allí, allá - what's the difference?
 

Alli y alla are adverbs. "There is" and "There are" Ahi = There
Aqui y aca are equal "Here"

Re: ahí, allí, allá - what's the difference?
 

In most cases they are very similar, but with slight differences in meaning.

allí, ahí = there (allí & ahí are basically the same, usage varies by region.)
allá = over there
aquí = here
acá = over here

Examples:
Ven aquí = Come here.
Ven acá = Come on over here.
Allí está = There it is.
Está allá = It's over there.
Está hasta allá = It's all the way over there.

Wait for some native speakers to give you their take on this.

Re: ahí, allí, allá - what's the difference?
 

thanks for the help, but like you said it'd be interesting to hear a native speakers thoughts on this.

Re: ahí, allí, allá - what's the difference?
 

Yes, I'd be interested in hearing what some native speakers have to say on this too.

Re: ahí, allí, allá - what's the difference?
 

general information: It's like Tomisimo says
allí, ahí = there (allí & ahí are basically the same, usage varies by region.)
allá = over there
aquí = here
acá = over here

Examples:
Ven aquí = Come here.
Ven acá = Come on over here.
Allí está = There it is.
Está allá = It's over there.
Está hasta allá = It's all the way over there.
aquí, acá : "here" (near the speaker)
allí, allá, ahí: "there" (away from the speaker)

so basically it's OK. For more information we must hear the wise people:
I use information of D. Fernando Diez Losada, from a interesting article (Spanish) with ahora/ya, detrás/atrás, solo/sólo, mucho/demasiado
http://www.pulso.org/Espanol/Idioma/guardian25.htm

Distance (near the speaker)
1. aquí, acá;
2. ahí;
3. allí, allá.
it have a connection with "este","ese","aquel"

In fact, "aquí" & "acá" mean "in this place" (near the speaker)
"ahí" means "in that place" (near the other person with I speak)
"allí" & "allá" mean "in that place" (near the person/thing I'm speaking about).
The difference, then between "El libro está aquí (acá), ahí o allí (allá)",is only how far (from me) the book is.

The difference between aquí and acá depends on different customs in different countries. But "acá" and "allá" refers to a more vague, undefined place, or a distance. With "aquí" or "allí" the indication it's clear, the distance is fixed. Then, "acá" and "allá" allow some comparison, not usable with "aquí" and "allí". You can say "tan acá","muy allá", "más acá" but never "tan aquí", "muy allí", "más aquí" (you must use "más acá" or "más hacia aquí" )

Ahí refers to an intermediate distance, for a indeterminate places not far enough: "Anda por ahí diciendo que..." (he goes (around) saying....); "Voy a dar una vuelta por ahí"; (I'm going (around)...) "Por ahí va la cosa".

In fact the meaning of aquí, acá, ahí, allí y allá is not fixed, depends on the position of the speaker, you can say "el médico vive ahí/allí/allá" or "el médico vive aquí/acá", but it's the speaker's choice to define a position as near or far. For a standing person, a book two meters away is near ("el libro está aquí") but for the same person seated in a sofa, can be far ("el libro está allí").

Personal details. I live in Spain, so for me "acá" (commonly used in other countries, and approved by the RAE) doesn't sound good. I sometimes use it in as comparative "más acá", but usually I use "más hacia aquí". I use commonly aquí/ahí/allí, and allá for things far away "allá lejos" and comparatives "más allá".

for more information here other comments (same person):
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"La distinción concreta entre aquí y acá, así como entre allí y allá, se fundamenta simplemente en costumbres y usos en las diversas zonas hispanohablantes. Sin embargo, acá y allá expresan un lugar menos circunscrito y definido que aquí y allí. Por eso acá y allá admiten cierto grado de comparación y superlación, que rechazan aquí y allí. Decimos: tan acá, muy allá, más acá; pero nunca: tan aquí, muy allí, más aquí...".
Tanto el Diccionario de la RAE como reconocidos autores de manuales gramaticales hacen hincapié en que aquí representa un concepto más explícito, preciso, definido y concreto que acá. Manuel Seco, por ejemplo, en su Diccionario de dudas, afirma: "Los dos adverbios [aquí y acá] designan el lugar donde 'yo' estoy; pero el primero lo hace con más precisión que el segundo: Ven aquí significa 'ven a este mismo punto donde yo estoy, ven a mi lado'; Ven acá significa 'ven a esta parte, aproxímate...".

¿Está claro? Yo creo que no tanto. ¿Es acaso cuestión de distancias? ¿A cuántos centímetros debe situarse alguien o algo para estar aquí, y a cuántos para estar acá? Si yo estoy en la Tierra, en América, en Costa Rica, en Tibás, en La Nación, en mi silla del escritorio, ¿a cuáles de estos lugares corresponde aquí y a cuáles acá?

El mismo Manuel Seco, en la obra citada, reconoce que esta diferencia teórica del aquí/acá se pliega a la tradición y usos lingüísticos de las diversas zonas hispanohablantes. Así expresa: "En la lengua coloquial de varias zonas americanas, especialmente en el Río de la Plata, tal diferencia [entre aquí y acá] se borra, asumiendo acá el sentido de los dos adverbios...".

Si volvemos al DRAE, hallamos que aquí se define como "en este lugar". Por su lado acá aparece como equivalente a "en este lugar o cerca de él". Entonces -pura lógica-, la idea de "en este lugar" puede expresarse, indiferentemente, por aquí o por acá; la idea de "cerca de este lugar" se expresa únicamente por acá.

La experiencia de mi español peninsular de origen y mi contacto de más de 40 años con el español de América me empujan a afirmar un uso generalizado de aquí en España (salvo, desde luego, en los casos de más acá, muy acá y tan acá, como se explicó) y una mezcla, un tanto imprecisa, de acá y aquí en casi toda la América hispana."

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Re: ahí, allí, allá - what's the difference?
 

Gracias sosia por toda la información. Me gustó también el artículo "Los guardaespaldas del verbo"- muy útil. :)

Hola
Ahí denota mas cerca que allí
esa es la diferencia
;)

What is your basis for saying that? In my experience, ahí and allí are fairly synonymous, while allá is further away.

Welcome, by the way. :)

I also think that "ahí" is nearer than "allí".

He dejado las llaves ahí, encima de la mesa.
He aparcado el coche por allí, a dos manzanas de casa.

I wanted to look it up in the RAE:

ahí.
(De a-1 y el ant. hi, y, en tal lugar).
1. adv. l. En ese lugar, o a ese lugar.
2. adv. l. En esto, o en eso. Ahí está la dificultad.
3. adv. l. Esto o eso. DE ahí se deduce. POR ahí puede conocerse la verdad.
4. adv. l. desus. allí.

allí.
(Del lat. illic).
1. adv. l. En aquel lugar.
2. adv. l. U. en correlación con aquí, para designar sitio indeterminado. Por dondequiera se veían hermosas flores; aquí, rosas y dalias, allí, jacintos y claveles.
3. adv. l. A aquel lugar.
4. adv. t. Entonces, en tal ocasión. Allí fue el trabajo.


Por cierto, Sosía, muy buen enlace y muy buena información. :)

Thanks irmamar, that was time ago, when I was young :D :D

Gracias a ti ;)

We all are young :D

Hola amiga

Yo confundo, sobre esta frase "we are all young"
¿En español es "nosotros somos todos jovenes"?

En inglés se diría "we were all young" . El preterit es usado, o significaste decir "we are all young (at this moment)"

English was my first lanuage = Inglés es mi primera lengua
We were all young = Somos todos jovenes


Muchas gracias ;)
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Tambien querría añadir la palabra, "aquel/ella" la cual significa "that, over there"

¿Cuánto distancia entre la hablante y el objectivo hay cuando se usa "aquel"?

Gracias

Irmamar wasn't trying to use the past tense. She is taking the stance of a positive outlook. 'We are all young (somos todos jóvenes)' means that we're only as old as we feel.

'We were all young (once) (éramos todos jóvenes)' is another view. We all were certainly young once, but some of us still feel young. That is what she was trying to convey, I believe.

Gracias Rusty, tuve dudas porque ví alguien usa "Castellano es mi primera lengua". ¿Es incorrecto?

En absoluto. El hablante habló de un hecho que no cambia.
English is my mother tongue (it always was, it is right now and it always will be - I can't change that fact).

Yes, Rusty is right, I wanted to say todos somos jóvenes :)

But.. why "we are all" instead "we all are". Is it the same? or it must be the first.

Bob, "aquel" está lejos, pero depende del contexto.

Me gustan aquellos zapatos (you're in a shoe store; the shoes aren't very far, but "estos zapatos" are nearer than "aquellos zapatos").

Me gusta aquel jugador de fútbol que está sentado en el banquillo, al fondo (you're watching TV and you see in a corner a player who you like a lot. He is more far than the players who you're watching close-up, those would be "estos jugadores") -I'm not sure if player is jugador :confused: -

"Estos jugadores" are much more far than "aquellos zapatos". So it's difficult to say the distance of "aquel".

I hope I've been able to explain myself :)

I think the differencies are neither here nor there.

we are all = we all are
However, 'we are all' is far more popular; it rolls off our tongue better. And the contraction "we're all" is very popular, too.

Jugador es player;)
Futbolista = footballer si quieres saber;)

Gracias lo entiendo muy bien ;)

Sí como Rusty dijo, "we're" es muy popular, los dos son correcto

@Rusty: so you mean one word combination is preferred over the other because of euphony reasons, not because of a grammar rule, right?

I guess you could say that (I just did). It doesn't make any difference, grammatically, which way it's said, but more people will choose to say it the way I wrote it. Do a search on the two phrases on Google. You'll see what I mean.

Pretty clear. Thank you! :rose:

Just I want to give my own opinion. Rusty Do you remember when I was using the contraction in the verbs.

For example I said.

My Laptop's very popular between the pupils from my school.

It's wrong because you taught me that it was bad written, therefore, I turned to change the contraction.

But Just I saw some movies that the contraction is used as I written it before.

I don't know why is happened.

In some songs also is used. I mean.

'cause.
Can'

Between other ones.

Please you can explain me it.

Hola mi agimo;) ¿que tal?

'cause es jerga (slang)

What?

In english the word ('cause) is slang

I'm not sure which contractions you're talking about. We frequently use contractions. There's nothing inherently wrong with using them, but some contractions are not acceptable in everyday speech and some people choose not to use certain contractions. The use of contractions very much depends on who your audience is.

I remember that I provided you with a list of words that can be made into contractions. I also remember that you began inventing contractions, using words which we don't generally see in contractions. Stick to the list I gave you, and have fun!

There's nothing wrong, by the way, with the contractions you wrote above (except for the one I added a 't' to).
The word 'cause isn't a contraction (two words are combined to make a contraction). It's a colloquial way of writing how some people say the word because. Using this can be a sign to others that you're uneducated, so I might have cautioned you about using colloquial writing - like 'cause, wanna, hafta, etc.

If you've other questions, or if I didn't understand what you were asking, let me know.

I've seen these words ('cause, wanna, etc.) in songs.

Thanks for helping me with my doubts. In this case was a bit clearer because the verb was to be. But I'm not sure if it is the same with another verb, for instance:

We all think the same.
We think all the same.

Or:

We all eat
We eat all (as if we were eating everything, or it sounds like this to me)

Is it correct? The first ones sound better to me :thinking:

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me avisas si hay algo que escribí que no entiendes.

Do you eat detergente? ;) I knew you used to eat strange things, but not so much strange :D (I'll prepare a "salmorejo" for you :) )

So, it is better to say "we all". In this way I avoid confussions, isn't it?

I just wanted to say: todos nosotros. I knew "All of us" and I had a doubt with "we all".

No. ¡Soy viejo!

If you think you are old, you will be old. If you think you're young with more experience and knowledge than younger people, you'll be young. Youth is an attitude more than a moment in our lives. Words are useful for us, not on the contrary (that's my philosophy):)

Another sentence from mine: youth is like an illness that "se cura" (I am not sure the best word for "se cura") with years. ;)

Youth is like an illness that gets better with the years.
Youth is like an illness that improves over the years.
:applause:

Strange way of saying that :thinking:. I'll explain in Spanish:

Si yo digo que la enfermedad mejora con la edad, parece que la enfermedad va bien, pero entonces el enfermo va peor. Por eso me parece que tendría que ser al revés, la enfermedad empeora :confused:. Nosotros decimos "curar" la enfermedad o al enfermo.

Well, semantic questions :)

Well, I was just trying to translate your phrase without looking at all the pieces. :eek:

curarse = to get better from an illness

An illness that improves or gets better is the opposite of what you were trying to say, as you thought. ;)

We are the ones who are improving or getting better, not the illness. The illness is going away.

Sorry about the misunderstanding.

Youth improves with age.

OK, thanks, Rusty :)