volver versus regresar

Question

Are there any examples of situations where volver sounds better than regresar? Can they always be used interchangeably?

Great question and great answers everyone! - Izanoni1, Feb 20, 2010

Answer 1

They are interchangeable only when they mean to come back somewhere.

Volver has some other meaning:

Turn (into) = Se volvió invisible

turn over (a page) = al volver la pàgina encontrò la solución.

retell = volver a contar la historia

get back to = volver a la normalidad

volver a + verb = to do again: reopen= volver a abrir.

Great examples, I think in LatinAmerica a few could also be used w/regresar - pilipina, Feb 20, 2010

Answer 2

I said before:

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It depends. I guess "volver" is like "come back" and "regresar" is like "return"

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To sum up... they are NOT always interchangeable... As mediaterruneo said

They are interchangeable only when they mean to come back somewhere.

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Take this example:

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You return a book to the library, which is Spanish is "regresas el libro a la biblioteca" BUT not "come back"... it's the same in Spanish.

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Hope it's clear now

Answer 3

They are interchangeably for me.

I can add that regresar is a bit more used by latin-americans (although spanish people use it sometimes too) and volver more used in Spain.

For example, when I go to class and after coming back I tell it to my lady, I say:

"Volví de clase más pronto de lo normal" (I came back from class sooner than expected)

A friend I have from Colombia always says "Yo regresé ahorita mismo" (I came back right now)

Answer 4

It depends. I guess "volver" is like "come back" and "regresar" is like "return"

Hmmm retornar sounds better for me as the definition of "return" :D But in the end we are talking about synonyms. - Zizoun, Feb 19, 2010

Zizoun, "Retornar" is closer to "Turn around," but not so much for people, ie: Road signs of "No Retorno," which means, "No U-Turn." - 005faa61, Feb 19, 2010

Answer 5

I think they are interchangeable most of the times and using one or the other is a regional thing.

In this example: "no voy a volver a cometer el mismo error" (I'm not going to make the same mistake again" yo cannot use "regresar". It would change the meaning of the phrase.

"No voy a regresar a cometer el mismo error" means: "I'm not coming back to make the same mistake"