In this post, we are going to give a small introduction about the location of a thing or a person, or what is the same, we are going to tell how we do express the location of a thing or person.
Without knowing much about it, you might think that our personal location is given within a temporary expression and fixed locations such as cities, countries, monuments… are given within a permanent expression. NO!
In order to express location, we are always going to use the temporary verb ESTAR.
We will express location with the verb ESTAR, no matter if we express the permanent location of a city, a country, a construction…or, we express the temporary location of a person. Either way, location will be expressed with the temporary verb ESTAR.
It does make sense thinking that our personal temporary location has to be expressed with the verb ESTAR, but then, how can it be that a country or a city is expressed with a temporary idea if it will not move and it will always be there?
Well, the first thing that comes to our minds is easy: Because Spanish as many other things, eventually, does not make any sense. We do agree that a city, a country or a fixed element has a permanent idea, but if you go deep inside the meaning of location, you will find that it is not an eternal state. It is relative to the time and circumstantial in its location. So basically, things change due to time and even though we can clearly locate fixed things, it is not an eternal state.
Let’s put in an easy words:
- If for example a city named Barcelona, located in a country named Spain, would get its independence, it would no longer be located in Spain.
- If there was an earthquake in Barcelona, probably this city would change its place due to the catastrophe.
Now, we understand that the explanation above did not clarify any of your doubts in this matter. Our teaching-learning purpose is not connected to it; what it is very important to know is:
→ Whether is a permanent or a temporary location, it is expressed with ESTAR
Once again:
LOCATION ⇒ Always (Temporary or permanent) ⇒ ESTAR
Where is it located in Spanish
Once we tried to tell you as clearly as possible that location will always be expressed with the verb ESTAR, it is time to start using it. First of all, we are going to translate 2 new words; the preposition to express place IN and the interrogative pronoun WHERE for place:
|
INGLÉS |
ESPAÑOL |
|
IN |
EN |
|
WHERE |
DÓNDE |
Therefore:
¿DÓNDE ESTÁ BARCELONA?
WHERE IS BARCELONA?
BARCELONA ESTÁ EN ESPAÑA
BARCELONA IS IN SPAIN
♣ Note:
- DÓNDE, as we said, is the interrogative pronoun WHERE.
- EN, as we said as well, is the preposition IN. In English, you normally use three prepositions to express location, AT, ON and IN. Spanish is easier in this matter. We only use the preposition EN for any location circumstance. We will see that more clearly after, but it is just a small introduction: EN – AT, ON, IN-.
One more example:
¿DÓNDE ESTÁ SARA?
WHERE IS SARA?
SARA ESTÁ EN LA CLASE
SARA IS IN THE CLASS
Of course, we do need more tools to start using the location properly, but this once first post is just a small introduction to it. Let’s keep on then!
