Which version of "there" should I use

Question

What is the difference between ahí and alli please? Both mean "there"I believe.

Answer 1

From this site:

http://spanish.about.com/od/adverbs/a/here_there.htm

Broadly speaking, in English something can happen in one of two places: here or there. But Spanish has three equivalent choices, making matters somewhat confusing for English speakers learning the language.

The three choices are aquí, roughly the equivalent of "here"; ahí, roughly the equivalent of "there" when speaking of an object or action that is close to the person being spoken to; and allí, roughly the equivalent of "there" or "over there" when speaking of an object that is distant from both the speaker and the person being spoken to. Note also that ahí is sometimes used to refer to something emotionally close rather than simply physically close to the listener, so allí can suggest emotional as well as physical distance. Grammatically, all three of these words in Spanish (and the English equivalents as well) are known as adverbs of place.

Although allí and ahí can sound similar in regions where the ll sound is softened and they are often translated the same in English, you should be careful not to confuse them. Ask a native Spanish speaker, ¿Qué pasa ahí? ("What's happening there?"), and the person will likely look in his or her vicinity. But ¿Qué pasa allí? (which you might translate as "What's happening over there?") will have the person looking in the distance.

Here are some examples of these adverbs in use:

• Necesitas aceptar las condiciones aquí descritas. You need to accept the conditions described here.

• Vente aquí para comer. Come here and eat.

• La gente aquí es muy pacífica. The people here are very peaceful.

• Haz clic aquí. Click here.

• ¿Hay alguien allí? Is someone there?

• El hombre que nunca estuvo allí. "The Man Who Wasn't There" (title of movie)

• Te puedes sentar ahí. You can seat yourself there.

• Allí viene el heladero. There comes the ice cream man (in the distance).

• Como siempre ahí. I always eat there.

• ¿Qué hacen allí mirando al cielo? What are they doing there looking at the sky?

You might notice that these adverbs roughly correspond to the demonstrative adjectives and pronouns:

• Adverb of location: aquí. Demonstrative: este (this), éste (this one).

• Adverb of location: ahí. Demonstrative: ese (that), ése (that one).

• Adverb of location: allí. Demonstrative: aquel (that over there), aquél (that one over there).

I think allá is used when the concept is "over there" in a more vague sense- somewhere way over there.

Really good answer. Allá is easy to remeber ' lo más allá' is so far away it barely exist - annierats, Apr 1, 2014

In some contexts "El más allá" refers to the afterlife, like the "great beyond" - deedeegill72, Apr 1, 2014

Answer 2

"Ahí" means "there" but when you are not really taking distance into consideration like when you point at or see something "allí!"

¿Donde está john?

Ahí en su oficina. (Está en cualquier parte de su oficina.)

¿Donde está el libro?

Allí encima de esa mesa. (un lugar especifico: se puede ver y apuntar hacía el objectivo).

Answer 3

Ahí fuera hace un frío que pela.

It’s freezing out there (somewhere)

Estábamos en casa y pasó por allí Pedro. (a specific place)

We were at home and Pedro dropped in.