Lokaladverbien

English has "here" and "there". Spanish splits "there" into two, matching the three demonstratives: aquí goes with este, ahí with ese, allí with aquel.

Ahí or allí?

Think of a dinner table. The salt next to your friend's plate is ahí: ¿Me pasas la sal? Está ahí. The waiter at the bar is allí. Ahí is also the everyday "there" for something just mentioned or not very far away, so you hear it more than allí in conversation. Note the spelling and the stress: ahí is two syllables, a-HEE.

Allá is close to allí but vaguer, and likes movement: Vamos para allá. In much of Latin America acá is the normal word for "here", where Spain says aquí.

Adverb or preposition?

Several of these words have a twin with de that takes a noun. Without a noun, no de:

• Vivo cerca. - I live nearby. / Vivo cerca del Retiro. - I live near the Retiro park.
• Están dentro. - They're inside. / Están dentro de la tienda. - They're in the shop.
• El coche está detrás. / El coche está detrás de la casa.

English speakers add the de where it does not belong (*Vivo cerca de) or drop it where it does (*cerca el mar).

Useful phrases

• Aquí tienes. - Here you are (handing something over).
• ¡Ahí está! - There it is! / There he is!
• Por aquí, por favor. - This way, please.
• ¿Hay una farmacia por aquí? - Is there a chemist's around here?

In Spain fuera and dentro are the everyday forms; Latin America prefers afuera and adentro, which in Spain are mostly used with movement (¡Todos afuera!).