Hay o allí está... Intercambiables ?

Question

I know 'hay' is used generally for the English expressions 'there is/are', and I'm sure I've also heard 'aquí está' for 'here (it) is' (French, 'voilà'). I think I've also heard 'allí está', meaning similar.

How interchangeable are 'hay' and 'allí está' in Spanish, there really being one way to translate both into English ?

Muchisimas gracias por ayudarme

I've never seen them as interchangeable, that would be a surprise. How about the difference between "il y a" vs. "voilà"? It should be a similar situation. - Manity, May 7, 2015

E.g. Había alguien hace poco / Alguien estaba allí hace poco; both = There was someone there a while ago... ? - Faldaesque, May 7, 2015

Oh, right, I get what you mean. I'm not sure if "haber" contains in itself the idea of "there" as a location (the second "there" in your example). But I agree that "allí había alguien" = "alguien estaba allí" for all practical purposes. - Manity, May 7, 2015

'había alguien 'allí' hace poco' - 'alguien estaba 'allí' hace poco' they are different things, both cases need 'allí' if not it would be 'there was someone a while ago..where? 'allí' :) - Pablo064, May 7, 2015

Había talks about/indicates existence not location! eg: Había una vez una princesa = Once upon a time there was a princess you could add que vivía en un país lejano = who lived in a distant land etc..... - FELIZ77, May 11, 2015

Answer 1

Using "allí está" something, you are speaking of that something's location.

"Allí está mi casa" There is my house.

"Hay" speaks of something's existence.

Hay tres muchachos corriendo en el parque.

There are three boys running in the park.

The picture below uses both "hay" and "allí está."

Nice picture- illustrates the difference very well. :) - bosquederoble, May 7, 2015

Yep, very nice. :) - Manity, May 7, 2015

Thanks - Faldaesque, May 9, 2015

Very good answer, Daniela :) - FELIZ77, May 11, 2015

Answer 2

Hello Falda

Here are two example sentences to help you:

1.Hay una farmácia en la plaza.

= There is a pharmacy in the square.

2.La farmácia está allí

The pharmacy is over there

For any complete beginners in Spanish reading this, the word allí is used to refer to something much further away, the word ahí is used to talk about something closer to where the speaker is standing!

In the two examples given above, the first sentence refers to the existence of the pharmacy, while the second indicates it's location. They can not be/are not interchangeable in Spanish since (because) they are used in distinctly different ways, with different meanings!

I hope this helps

Corrijan mi español si es necesario, por favor

Yes, thanks :-) - Faldaesque, May 11, 2015

You are welcome, Falda :) - FELIZ77, May 11, 2015

Answer 3

Falda:

In English "There" is is not equal to "there it is". Right?

Voila = there you are/go here it is = aquí está

There it is = allí/allá está

There you have it = allí/allá lo tienes.

Edit: I forgot to include the following

Hay is not equal to using ahí