"alli" y "alla"
What is the difference between "Allí" and "alla" Can anybody give examples? Muchas gracias.
2 Answers
You might find this lesson helpful.
Here's an excerpt
DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES OF LOCATION/PLACE
In English there are only two possible demonstrative distances: 'here' and 'there' but in Spanish there are distances three: 'here', 'there' and 'far away'.
Aquí and acá mean = here
Ahí means = there (close to the person to whom you're speaking)
Allí means = there
Allá means = (over) there (far away from both the speaker AND the other person)
If it seems a little confusing that there is more than one word meaning 'here' and more than one meaning 'there' - a good tip is that the words ending with í denote an exact location whereas á denotes a more "vague" or less specific location.
Aquí and acá usually appear with este, esta, estos, estas (this/these)
Ahí and Allí usually occur with ese, esa, esos, esas (that/those)
Allá usually appears with aquel, aquella, aquellos, aquellas (that/those)
Translating 'over there':
Allá is usually the best translation for 'over there' as in 'in that direction' or 'in that place far away' .
The cake is over there.
La torta está allá.
Go and stand over there!
¡Ve y ponte allá!
There are actually four possible demonstrative distances in Spanish. An easy way to recognize this is that acá, aquí, allá, and allí share similar sounds. Respectively the sounds would be written by Real Academia Española as such: "aká, akí, ayá, ayí"
Every Spanish speaker that I have ever talked to (which would be in the thousands by this point) has told me this (from when I first started studying Spanish in 2014):
Acá means "here (relative to the speaker)" (Ven acá. "Come right here where I am.")
Aquí means "here (relative to all parties)" (¡Aquí está! "Here it is!")
Allá means "there (relative to the speaker)", so to the speaker "allá" can mean "there", but to the person talking they would use "acá" or "aquí". Por ejemplo: ¿Qué estás haciendo allá? Estoy cosiendo acá. Obvio. (What are you doing there? I am sewing here. Obviously.
Allí means "there (relative to all parties)" hablando con mi amigo de cuarto Quiero viajar allí por África. (speaking with my roommate I want to travel there through Africa)
Ahí is used to mean "there" in a different sense than "allá" or "allí". The only way I can think of explaining it is to use examples:
¿Me estás ahí? (Are you there for me?)
Alguien orando: ¡Jesús! Si estás ahí, ¡dime algo! (Jesus! If you are there, tell me something!)
Jesús: Algo (Something)
Después de la llama a la puerta: (After the knock at the door)
¿Quién será ahí? (Who is there?)
Although the last phrase would be a little awkward to say because it would be sufficient to just ask ¿Quién será?
