When to use ahí, allí, aquel, allá

Question

I know I could easily look all of them up but I would rather get the the information from one of you.

Answer 1

"Aquí" and "esto/e/a" refer to things in space or time that can be easily reached, or where we can locate ourselves. It is "our space"; where we are.

"Ahí" and "eso/e/a" refer to things in space or time that are (subjectively) not too far from us, and they are reasonable close to the people we are talking to, whenever this applies; sometimes, this distance is more psychological than objective. You cannot be within that spacial or temporal reference. It is a "nearby space" within our reach, and within the reach people we talk to.

"Allí" and "eso/e/a" refer to things in space or time that can (subjectively) far from you, and the people you are talking to, if relevant. It is a "far away space" that looks distant to you, and the people you talk to.

English does not have this triple distinction, but you can find something similar in other languages like Japanese.

Thank you Lazarus. You cleared up my question. - EL_MAG0, Mar 16, 2011

Answer 2

Trisha: extend your arm and try to touch something. If it still a few inches (or cm., or whatever) away, nearly within reach, but yet, in sight, it is "ahí". If you need to walk for a while to reach it, it is "allí", specially if it is miles away.

If you are talking to someone, and the other person can touch something, or he/she is reasonably close to it, you use "ahí". If the object (or person) you are referring to is so far, that we both have to move and walk for a while to reach it, it is "allí", specially if it is miles away.

English lacks this distinction, which is why people say "over there" (more or less, "allí") when things are further away than just within reach.

My impression is that they were both used for things that were further away.

"Allí" is further away. "Ahí" can be as close as a foot away (or less), e.g. a wound in your arm, as long as you want to establish a subjective distance between you (or someone else) and the point that you refer to. It would be extremely weird (but not impossible) to use "allí" for something as close as a part of your body.

It is not a matter of exact range of distances, but how far in space or time you want to present (from your personal point) of view the location of a thing or a person. However, you must use "aquí" and "esto/e/a" if you are within that boundary.

Answer 3

"Acá" and "allá" are a bit more vague than the ones I mentioned above, and don't have an exact demonstrative equivalent (like este, ese,...). "Acá" is generally "ahí", but it is ofen "aquí" too. "Allá" is normally "allí", but it is often "ahí" too. In any case, unless the other three explained above, they readily admit comparisons, i.e. más acá, menos acá, más allá,... and tend to be a bit more colloquial (not always). On top of that, they have unique meanings, such as "el más allá" (the great beyond), "allá" to refer to the past in a nearly poetic way,...

I liked this simple explanation that I saw online

Simple is often good, but that explanation neglects to mention temporal distance, which is quite important too. Also, it is good to know that you don't need to know where the hearer (oyente) is, and the choice is often entirely subjective and dependant on how the speaker see things, or want to present things. People sometimes think that you need to get a ruler and use it before choosing one or another, and they believe that there is only one correct adverb each time, and all the others are wrong.

The explanation you found, anyway, is embedded in mine, but I just added more detail and clarified a few points that people tend to misunderstand.

Answer 4

I, too, am curious about the difference between "allí", with the accented "í" and the similar word with the accented "á", "allá".

I liked this simple explanation that I saw online:

Re: Confused: ahí,allí,allá
Simplemente, en castellano hay tres "niveles" de distancia relativa:

• Aquí / Acá: donde está el hablante / distancia mínima. -> HERE
• Ahí / Allí: donde está el oyente / distancia intermedia. -> THERE
• Allà: más allá de donde están el hablante y el oyente / distancia máxima. -> THERE.

Es algo así como ESTE / ESE / AQUEL (en inglés sólo hay dos niveles: THIS / THAT).

But then they started talking about how here in the US could refer to a location hundreds of miles from the speaker and I lost the train of thought.

Answer 5

This is such a good thread I thought it worthwhile to bump it up again.

Answer 6

Other few additional links:

http://spanish.about.com/od/adverbs/a/here_there.htm
http://spanishexperts.blogspot.com/2007/05/aqu-ac-ah-all-all.html
http://forums.tomisimo.org/showthread.php't=384

Answer 7

Well I think this is clear to me now, but just to be sure if i am talking to someone on the phone or the internet and i wanna ask about something there (like how is the weather there')should i use "ahí"?
I was using "allí" in this case

Answer 8

'Ahí' and 'allí' mean the same (there), are usually interchangeable.

Pablo: either we are talking about different things, or we speak different languages, but they are NOT interchangeable, unless you refer to that fuzzy grey area of subjectivity where both are possible. For starters, one suggests certain proximity to the person we are talking to, and the other one doesn't. For example, you don't point to your arm and say "Allí tengo una herida" (that will sound stupid), but you can say "Ahí tengo una herida" if you describe it as something that it is closer to your than to your doctor, or "Aquí tengo una herida" if you describe it as something close to you. Likewise, if you are sitting on a table, and you can't just reach the salt, you don't say "La sal está allí" (when you are about to touch it), but "está ahí".

It is all about perspective, but they are not the same. That's why dictionaries have a different definition for each adverb.

Well, in the given example (herida), I would use 'Aquí tengo una herida. And I found only this ('la diferencia es sutil'):

http://forum6.wordreference.com/showthread.php't=525642

And perhaps in this case it doesn't help much to see how the words are used:

http://www.corpusdelespanol.org/

I tried: 'Allí tengo y ahí tengo'. But in any case, I think it helps to see how the words are used in a context.

And I wanted to add that I asked my wife before posting, and she agreed that 'allí' and 'ahí' are practically the same. I don't know in other countries (I'm from Colombia). Thank you.

Answer 9

I meant words palabras c'mon. My mistake.

Answer 10

Just a suggestion or does anyone have a link that explains the difference between these verbs.

What verbs'

Answer 11

Hey heidita maybe this allí,allá etc. could be put in the reference section that is if you (as in somebody) are able to do that. Just a suggestion or does anyone have a link that explains the difference between these verbs.

Lazarus's explanation was great don't get me wrong.

Answer 12

'Ahí' and 'allí' mean the same (there), are usually interchangeable.

Pablo: either we are talking about different things, or we speak different languages, but they are NOT interchangeable, unless you refer to that fuzzy grey area of subjectivity where both are possible. For starters, one suggests certain proximity to the person we are talking to, and the other one doesn't. For example, you don't point to your arm and say "Allí tengo una herida" (that will sound stupid), but you can say "Ahí tengo una herida" if you describe it as something that it is closer to your than to your doctor, or "Aquí tengo una herida" if you describe it as something close to you. Likewise, if you are sitting on a table, and you can't just reach the salt, you don't say "La sal está allí" (when you are about to touch it), but "está ahí".

It is all about perspective, but they are not the same. That's why dictionaries have a different definition for each adverb.

Answer 13

I had written a not so long answer, but I lost it! :(

Well, here a short answer:

'Ahí' and 'allí' mean the same (there), are usually interchangeable. It seems 'ahí' is more used nowadays. And there are some expressions with 'ahí', not relate with position (the same for 'allí'), e.g. 'ahí está el problema' (that's the problem) or 'ahí si no sé' (in that case I don't know) or '¡ahí si me rindo! 'No way, I gave up!).

'Allá' means 'over there'.

BTW, I like the visual presentation of this dictionary:

http://diccionario.reverso.net/espanol-ingles/allá (and I like it)

Although my favorites and the ones I use daily are:

http://wordreference.com (Espasa, Oxford, forums)

and:

http://www.wordmagicsoft.com/dictionary/tools/index.php

Especially this later is my favorite. There I find difficult words I don't find anywhere else. I think SpanishDict dictionary is good too.

Answer 14

I am still looking for a bunch of "ü" words Lazarus posted some time ago...)

Remember that few of these words are in common use, and some of them are entirely regional:

aconcagüino, agüela, agüera, agüerar, agüero, agüío, agüista, agüita, agüitarse, agüite, agüizote, ambigüedad, angüejo, antigüedad, antigüeño, apirgüinarse, aragüeño, aragüirá, aregüense, aregüeño, argüe, argüende, argüendear, argüendero, argüidor, argüir, argüitivo, averigüetas, bilingüe, bilingüismo, cagüeño, camagüe, camagüeyano, camagüira, cangüeso, cigüeña, cigüeñal, cigüeñato, cigüeño, cigüeñuela, cigüete, cogüelmo, colchagüino, coligüe, cologüina, comayagüense, contigüidad, corregüela, curamagüey, chagüís, chagüital, chagüite, changüí, chigüí, chigüil, chigüín, chigüire, chiquigüite, chirigüe, degüella, degüello, desagüe, desvergüenza, empigüelar, enagüetas, enagüillas, enchagüitarse, engüerar, enjagüe, etnolingüística, exangüe, exigüidad, extralingüístico, fagüeño, falagüeño, fragüín, gargüero, gregüescos, guargüero, güecho, güechos, güegüecho, güegüenche, güeldrés, güelfo, güemul, güeña, güergüero, güérmeces, güero, güey, güifa, güila, güilo, güilota, güillín, güimba, güin, güincha, güino, güipazo, güipe, güipil, güipipía, güira, güire, güirila, güirís, güirisero, güiro, güirro, güisaro, güisquería, güisqui, güisquil, güisquilar, güito, halagüeñamente, halagüeño, higüela, higüero, higüeyano, igüedo, ipegüe, jagüel, jagüey, jagüilla, jigüe, langüetear, lengüear, lengüeta, lengüetada, lengüetazo, lengüeteada, lengüetear, lengüetería, lengüetero, lengüicorto, lengüilargo, lingüista, lingüístico, macagüita, machigüe, magüeta, magüeto, majagüero, managüense, manigüero, mayagüezano, melengüelear, metalingüísticamente, metalingüístico, monolingüe, nacarigüe, nagüela, nagüero, nicaragüe, nicaragüense, nicaragüensismo, nicaragüeñismo, paragüería, paragüero, patagüino, pedigüeñería, pedigüeño, pichagüero, pingüe, pingüedinoso, pingüinera, pingüino, piragüero, piragüismo, piragüista, pirgüín, plurilingüe, plurilingüismo, psicolingüístico, quinquelingüe, rancagüino, reargüir, redargüir, regüeldo, rigüe, rompezaragüelles, sangüeño, sangüesa, sangüeso, saragüete, sinvergüencería, sinvergüenza, sinvergüenzada, sinvergüenzón, sinvergüenzura, sociolingüístico, subigüela, tegüe, terigüela, tesgüino, tigüe, tigüilote, trarigüe, trilingüe, ungüentario, ungüento, veragüense, vergüenza, vergüeña, verigüeto, yangüés, yegüería, yegüerío, yegüerizo, yegüero, zagüía, zaragüelles, zarigüeya.

On top of those words, the following verbs change in some forms to maintain the "gu" sound (e.g. aguar - agüe):

achiguarse, adaguar, adulciguar, agorar, aguar, alenguar, amenguar, amortiguar, apaciguar, atestiguar, avergonzar, averiguar, degollar, desaguar, desambiguar, deslenguar, desmenguar, desvergonzarse, enaguar, engorar, enjaguar, enmaniguarse, fraguar, menguar, regoldar, santiguar, sobreaguar.

For advances students, aguar, amortiguar, avergonzar, and averiguar should be enough, I guess. For more advanced students, agorar, apaciguar, atestiguar, desambiguar, degollar, fraguar, menguar and santiguar should be enough. The rest are for dictionary freaks.

Answer 15

I am certainly glad that you asked, Ravensty, instead of looking the words up! Your query brought us a terrific response with clear examples that we might not find so readily in the dictionary (I will go look just after posting, to be sure). No matter, the dictionary isn't as much fun! I know....I am still looking for a bunch of "ü" words Lazarus posted some time ago...)

However, I wonder if we could additionaly ask you, Lazarus, to further expand on your answer to Trish's post regarding "allí" and "allá", aquel, and aquella.

I, too, am curious about the difference between "allí", with the accented "í" and the similar word with the accented "á", "allá".