Expressing Near and Far in Spanish
Two Spanish words can help you express distance: cerca (sehr-kah; meaning near or close) and lejos (leh-Hohs; meaning far). When traveling in a Spanish-speaking country, be sure to use these two words when you want to discuss how great the distance, and possible size of the effort, required to arrive at a specific place.
Take a look at how Ines weaves these words into her conversation to help her decide how to spend her day based on how near her potential destinations are to her and to each other.
¿Está lejos el cine Las Flores?
ehs-tah leh-Hohs ehl see-neh lahs floh-rehs
Is the Las Flores cinema far?
No está muy cerca . . .
noh ehs-tah mooy sehr-kah . . .
No, it’s quite near . . .
. . . a sólo dos cuadras.
ah soh-loh dohs kooah-drahs
. . . only two blocks away.
¿Y el Teatro Bolívar?
ee ehl teh-ah-troh bvoh-lee-bvahr
And the Bolivar Theater?
El teatro Bolívar sí está lejos . . .
ehl teh-ah-troh bvoh-lee-bvahr see ehs-tah leh-Hohs
The Bolivar Theater is really far . . .
tiene que tomar el subte.
teeeh-neh keh toh-mahr ehl soobv-teh
you have to take the subway.