One question about direction both in English and Spanish.
On the north of the desk. Or at the north of the desk or in the north of the desk?
En el norte de la mesa?
9 Answers
When you use compass points you are referring to large, generally geographical areas. In general, north south etc are used to refer to areas which cannot be held in the hand and are probably too distant to be seen. Think: "Very big".
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Smaller spaces and objects are described using terminology such as "to the left, "on the left" The book is on the right hand side of the desk/table/shelf etc. The object can be easily seen. "Turn left at the next set of lights" "When you see the supermarket turn right and you'll see the garage on the left of that street.
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The northern part of the UK is called Scotland. There was a strong southerly wind blowing. The term "Far East" refers to countries such as China. The "Wild West" is a term that was applied to the as yet not fully settled "cowboy" lands of the USA in the 19th century. Andalucia is in the south of Spain.
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East and West= Left and right. North and South= Top and bottom. The book was in the bottom of the bag. He put the bag on top of the box.
It's more complex in English.
To the north of the hotel - relative
In the north of England - absolute
On the north side of town - absolute
There are probably more prepositions that you can use but I have to go to sleep (on the north side of my bed, really).
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To the north of the desk, if the object is not on the desk.
It would be odd though to refer to the position of an object relative to a desk in terms of points of the compass. You would normally, in English, define position relative to things more tangible
Usualmente la presposición "en" indica posición:
Ejemplos:
Canadá está en el hemisferio norte.
En el norte de España llueve mucho.
En cambio "a" o "hacia" indican dirección.
Voy al norte.
Este tren va hacia el norte.
Al norte de la plaza está la catedrál. (implica una dirección).
I usually say that objects are ,"at the front or , at the back of the desk . Or
on the left or the right."
In my book, it says
En el norte de España llueve mucho.
So, I was wondering about the article, whether only with En or something else?
The point of my question is, I forgot what Article to use before directions both in English and Spanish. on,in,at + direction,
also Spanish, en norte de algo?
First of all, you would say at the Northern point or the northern most point, but when talking about a desk, why would you use North, West, etc... You would say left side, bottom side etc....
En el lado norte de la mesa???? On the North side of the table? North of the table? I am not sure what you mean.
