I can say what there is in my neighborhood and where things are, and point to the right place: esta calle, ese parque, aquella plaza.
My neighborhood: what's nearby and what's over there
The neighborhood, hay ↔ está, and demonstratives in action
To describe your neighborhood, use the two words from the last lesson: what there is — hay; where it is — está. En mi barrio hay un parque y dos farmacias. El mercado está a la derecha de la plaza.
Places in the neighborhood take the article: Voy al supermercado, a la farmacia, a la oficina de correos. Unlike English “to the”, a + el always contracts to al. The post office in Spain is called Correos.
To point at a place, use the demonstratives from module 2. English has two distances (this, that); Spanish has three: esta calle — near me (aquí); ese parque — near you (ahí); aquella plaza — far from both of us, “that … over there” (allí). As before, the form follows the gender and number of the noun.
Don't mix up esta (this), a demonstrative, and está (is), the verb. Only the accent mark and the stress tell them apart: “EHS-tah”, “ehs-TAH”. Esta plaza está aquí.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Voy a el supermercado” — correct: Voy al supermercado.
• NOT “este farmacia” — correct: esta farmacia.
• NOT “En mi barrio está un parque” — correct: En mi barrio hay un parque.
Lesson notes
The neighborhood, hay ↔ está, and demonstratives in action
To describe your neighborhood, use the two words from the last lesson: what there is — hay; where it is — está. En mi barrio hay un parque y dos farmacias. El mercado está a la derecha de la plaza.
Places in the neighborhood take the article: Voy al supermercado, a la farmacia, a la oficina de correos. Unlike English “to the”, a + el always contracts to al. The post office in Spain is called Correos.
To point at a place, use the demonstratives from module 2. English has two distances (this, that); Spanish has three: esta calle — near me (aquí); ese parque — near you (ahí); aquella plaza — far from both of us, “that … over there” (allí). As before, the form follows the gender and number of the noun.
Don't mix up esta (this), a demonstrative, and está (is), the verb. Only the accent mark and the stress tell them apart: “EHS-tah”, “ehs-TAH”. Esta plaza está aquí.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Voy a el supermercado” — correct: Voy al supermercado.
• NOT “este farmacia” — correct: esta farmacia.
• NOT “En mi barrio está un parque” — correct: En mi barrio hay un parque.