🧭Adverbs of space
Here, there, above, behind, everywhere.
27 concepts
Columns follow the languages switched on at the top. Gender after the word (m/f/n); IPA beneath; notes, alternatives and origins underneath — nothing is hidden.
| Concept | English | Français | Español |
|---|---|---|---|
here adverb | here | ici | aquí also: acá (Latin America) |
there adverb | there also: over there | là also: là-bas (over there) Accent distinguishes it from la (the). | allí also: ahí (near you), allá (over there) Three distances: aquí / ahí / allí. |
above / upstairs adverb | above also: up, upstairs | au-dessus also: en haut | arriba also: encima |
below / downstairs adverb | below also: down, downstairs | en dessous also: en bas | abajo also: debajo |
inside adverb | inside | dedans also: à l'intérieur | dentro also: adentro |
outside adverb | outside | dehors The h is silent but 'aspirated': no liaison — le dehors. | fuera also: afuera |
in front / ahead adverb | in front also: ahead | devant | delante also: adelante, enfrente (opposite) |
behind adverb | behind | derrière | detrás also: atrás |
everywhere adverb | everywhere | partout | en todas partes also: por todos lados |
nowhere adverb | nowhere | nulle part Needs ne: je ne vais nulle part. | en ninguna parte |
far adverb | far | loin | lejos |
near / nearby adverb | near also: nearby, close by | près also: près de (near to), tout près | cerca Also a noun: 'fence'. |
(to the) left adverb | left | à gauche | a la izquierda izquierda is Basque (ezkerra) — one of the few Basque words in Spanish; Latin sinistra was avoided as unlucky. |
(to the) right adverb | right | à droite | a la derecha |
on / on top of preposition · position | on on the table. Also 'about' (a book on birds) and a hundred other jobs — English prepositions are overloaded. | sur sur la table. Never 'sur' for 'about a topic' in speech — that is au sujet de. | en also: sobre en la mesa is the everyday one; sobre is more literally 'on top of'. Spanish en covers both 'in' and 'on'. |
under / below preposition · position | under under the table. Beneath and below are the bookish ones. | sous sous la table. The s is silent, so it sounds exactly like the start of soupe. | debajo de Needs the de: debajo DE la mesa. Bajo alone is more abstract — bajo presión. |
in / inside preposition · position | in in the box. English splits in/on/at where most languages here use fewer. | dans dans la boîte — physical containment. EN is the abstract one: en France, en été. | en Does the work of in, on AND at. Spanish simply does not make the distinction. |
between preposition · position | between between two things; among is for more than two, though nobody enforces it. | entre entre nous — 'between ourselves'. | entre Also does 'among'. Entre tú y yo takes subject pronouns, not object ones. |
against preposition · position | against Both physical (leaning against) and hostile (against the law). | contre Both senses, same as English. Par contre = 'on the other hand'. | contra En contra de is the fuller form for opposition. |
towards preposition · position | towards toward without the s in American English; the meaning is identical. | vers vers la gare. Also 'around' with a time: vers midi. | hacia Silent h. Stress on the first a — HA-cia, not ha-CI-a. |
next to / beside preposition · position | next to Beside is the one-word version; besides means something else entirely. | à côté de Literally 'at the side of'. Côté is a noun, which is why de follows. | al lado de 'At the side of' — the same construction, part for part. |
around preposition · position | around Encircling, and also 'approximately' — around ten o'clock. | autour de autour de la table. For 'approximately' French uses environ or vers instead. | alrededor de One long word from al + rededor. |
as far as / until preposition · position, time | as far as Space; 'until' does the same job for time. Most languages here use one word for both. | jusqu'à Both space and time: jusqu'à Paris, jusqu'à demain. Elides to jusqu'. | hasta Both too. Hasta luego is literally 'until later'. |
over there adverb · position | over there English has two degrees of 'there'; Spanish has three. | là-bas là is 'there', là-bas is 'over there, yonder' — further off and usually pointed at. | allá Spanish runs three: aquí (by me), ahí (by you), allí/allá (away from both). |
in the middle adverb · position | in the middle In the middle OF something; in the middle alone is the adverb. | au milieu au milieu de + noun. Milieu on its own is also 'environment' and 'the underworld'. | en medio en medio de la calle. |
in / to (a country, a month) preposition | in in France, in July, in summer. One word for all of it, which is not the norm. | en en France, en juillet, en été — but AU for masculine countries (au Japon, au Portugal) and À for cities (à Paris). Three words where everyone else has one, and dans is for physical containment only: dans la boîte, never dans la France. | en en Francia, en julio, en verano. Spanish uses the same en for containment too. |
somewhere adverb | somewhere The third of some-one, some-thing, some-where. Anywhere is again the question-and-negative twin. | quelque part 'Some part' — two words, like quelque chose. | en algún sitio Or en alguna parte, which mirrors the French exactly. |