What's the difference between caminar and andar?

Question

Don't they both mean to walk, so how do you know when to use what?

Answer 1

Andar; En sentido estricto, moverse dando pasos. (Andar en bicicleta se puede decir, abusando del lenguaje).

Caminar; dar pasos por un camino. (Camino, lugar marcado en el suelo por pasos dados anteriormente. Se hace camino al andar). Si no hay camino se puede andar, pero no caminar.

Mucho español dice "caminar" cuando en realidad deben decir "andar". En general los españoles no superarían un examen de idioma español.

Los periodistas hablan especialmente mal.

Are you saying we shouldn't read newspapers in order to learn spanish Nativo? :-) - 0095ca4c, Oct 5, 2013

Pretty much. :-) - chileno, Oct 6, 2013

Answer 2

Hi Spacestar10,

There are several threads that deal with this distinction. Here is what Lazarus had to say in a previous thread:

"Andar" means "to walk" (and other non-relevant meanings for your question) in general.

"Caminar" is also "to walk", but the distance is often more specific than in "andar".

Have a look at these threads and see if they help to answer your questions

andar, caminar, pasear, marchar

andar, caminar, ir

andar v. caminar

Answer 3

There is a well-known drawing, sorry I could not find it, of a man taking very long strides with the caption, "keep on keeping on". This is what comes to my mind with the verb Andar. It has so many uses and "to walk" is only a minor one at that. Andar is much more commonly used than caminar, including to mean to walk. Vamos a andar en la malecón. Let's talk a walk on the waterfront. ¿Cómo andas? Él anda borracho. Ando mal, duele la cabeza. And on and on.

Nativo said: Mucho español dice "caminar" cuando en realidad deben decir "andar". En general los españoles no superarían un examen de idioma español.

And yet so many here are totally concerned about fluency and speaking only with native speakers. By the way I don't think many of us would do well on a college level grammar exam in English either. I know I wouldn't.

Well said gringo! I couldn't agree more. - chileno, Oct 6, 2013

Answer 4

Andar is one of the verbs of motion that can be used in conjunction with the gerundio. I don't know if caminar would have the same connotation of meaning.

Ese tipo anda quejándose de todo.

That guy goes around complaining about everything.

Answer 5

Dónde vivo yo, los niños bilingües se encantan usar la palabra andar. Dicen ellos, andamos aqui, andamos allá, andamos caminando, andamos cantando, asi, al jugar. Casi te vuelves loco escuchar tanta esta palabra

To add some commentary in english, andar can be used in lieu of estar in both the (progressive) present and past tense. Children seem to be particularly fond of using the word in that manor. I believe that's "grammatically" correct, but learned by listening,