Understanding "Asi"

Question

I am trying to understand the adverb "ASI "..does it mean ..that's..that is..like that..?..I see that it can used to make many different sayings..asi asi...asi que...asi como asi..and so on....I just need to grasp how it would relate in English if possible or if a word in English is used similar to this Spanish word..thanks

Answer 1

The closest one-word translation of así is "so." But that being said, the beauty of language is that there is usually not just one pat answer or direct translation for every word you encounter. Like you said, the most common usage is "like this/that." It can also be used to mean "in this way" and combined with other words it can form commonly used phrases.

Here are a couple of them:

Así que: so (that)

No recibí ninguna invitación, así que no fui a la fiesta.

I didn't receive any invitation, so I didn't go to the party.

Aun así: even so

Aun así, todavía lo pasé bien con mis amigos.

Even so, I still had a good time with my friends.

Así es: that's right

Yo: Fuiste a la fiesta anoche, ¿verdad?

Susana: ¡Así es!

Me: You went to the party last night, right?

Susan: That's right!

Take a look here for more information: http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/así

I like this answer. It was informative. - modrak, Mar 15, 2013

Answer 2

Así means ¨like that¨. Así es la vida means That´s life, or life is like that.

Así que means so. Perdí mis llaves así que no pude abrir la puerta. I lost my keys so I couldn´t open the door.

Así como mean just like, just as, or as well as. Traiga con usted su libro así como su lápiz. Bring your book as well as your pencil with you.

Así así means so so. ¿Cómo te sientes? Así así. How do you feel? So so.

There are probably many other uses too, maybe you can do a search of the question and answer archive on this site, or search the reference articles.

Answer 3

Read this blog post for a great summary of different ways to use asi. It includes a few things not mentioned above.

http://myspanishnotes.blogspot.com/2011/09/asi.html

Answer 4

If you want to get really old school you could translate it (Sometimes) as 'thus' or 'thusly'. For example, "Haz lo así" = "Do it thusly"!

Answer 5

thanks to all the replies..i think i have a better understanding now...