conducir vs. manejar

Question

This question is related to a recent post.

I use "conducir" for when a specific person is driving, and I use "manejar" when driving is in general terms.

---

For example:

conducir:

• Mi madre nos conducirá a la tienda. -- specific, we know who is driving

  (My mother will drive us to the store.)

• Voy a conducir mis amigos a la fiesta. -- specific, we know who is driving

  (I am going to drive my friends to the party.)

manejar:

• Vamos a manejar a México. --- general, we do not know who is driving

(We are going to drive to Mexico.)

• Hoy todo el mundo están manejando a la playa. --- general, we do not know who is driving

(Everyone is driving to the beach today.)

---

Any thoughts or opinions, or does it matter?

• Good question. - --Mariana-- Oct 28, 2009

Answer 1

Hola Daniel: Hecho es que manejar en España significa algo completamente diferente. Manejar es to handle/manage/to operate a machine.

WE do not use manejar for conducir, exclusively used like this is American countries.

conducir:

*

  Mi madre nos conducirá a la tienda. -- specific, we know who is

driving

  (My mother will drive us to the store.)
*

  Voy a conducir mis amigos a la fiesta. -- specific, we know who is

driving

We do not use conducir here either, we say:

Llevar

voy a llevar a mis amigos a la fiesta.

manejar:

* Vamos a manejar a México. --- general, we do not know who is driving

Only used in America, in Spain:

Vamos a conducir a México.

Hoy día todo el mundo conduce.

Answer 2

Hoy todo el mundo está manejando.*** Theres no difference between the two

Answer 3

Well sounds like "conducir vs. manejar " discussion has a open end, and has rigional differecnes.

---

After your responses I think I will use "conducir" as my tool-box verb for "to drive" and use "manejar" as posted by Heidita. However "manejar" is quite common in Mexico -- this I know by experience.

---

Thank you for responding.

• Es verdad, Daniel. "Manejar" es mas común que "conducir," en Sonora o Sinaloa. - 005457e3 Oct 28, 2009

Answer 4

Muy interesante... I just googled "conducir vs. manejar" and I got all sorts of opinions from people representing many Spanish-speaking countries. In a nutshell: it depends on the country. In some countries there appear to be shades of difference in meaning, such as you mentioned in your post.

Answer 5

driving a car:

Conducir: España Manejar: Latinoamérica

There are other meanings for conducir and manejar not related to driving: conducir: lead to, take to manejar: handle, manipulate