�Cu�l es la diferencia en medio - ah� y all�?

�Hola, Angie! �C�mo est�s?

La diferencia entre ah� y all�, es:

Ah� - Cercano a las personas que est�n hablando. (Close to both, the speaker/s and/or the people listening.)

All� - Lejos de la/s personas que hablan. (Far from the people who are talking.)

So, let's see some examples:

Imaging you are with a friend, talking. Then, your friend talks about something placed close/near her/him. Or maybe that object is close to you. -So, the object may be either close to the listener or close to the speaker, or close to both persons-.
In this case, the adverb used will be -ah�-.

But, now, the object you are talking about is far. Far from you both, or maybe far from either your friend, or from you. So, in this case, the adverb used will be -all�-.

Examples:

El perro est� ah�. (The dog is there).
This example, with ah�, shows the dog is close to the persons talking.

El perro est� all�. (The dog is there).
Here, the dog is far from the people in the conversation. That's why we use all�.

Note there might be some variations, talking about the use of this type of adverbs (aqu�, ac�, all�, etc...), depending on the country, area, etc... where they are used.

I hope it is clear, but in case you have more questions, feel free to post them. :-)

�Hola, Angeles! �C�mo est�s?

Have you ever considered an article about the differences of language according to province and country? I've had friends from the Puerto Rico, my high school Spanish teacher was from Madrid, but my university Spanish teacher was from Bogota Colombia. This caused me much confusion in trying to understand this beautiful language. �Cu�l es la diferencia regional de la lengua entre Espa�a y otros pa�ses?

�Hola! Estoy bien gracias. �Y t�?

Bueno... That's a good point! There are several differences between the Spanish spoken in Spain, Mexico or Argentina, that's true. And it would also be a good idea for an article. For all those not familiar with this question, think about the differences you can find between the English spoken in US or UK, or UK and Australia! Same thing happens with Spanish.

So, I guess you will soon find an article about the differences between the Spanish from Spain (my country) and other countries.

Note I know about some of them, for example, the use of "t�" and "usted", the pronunciation of "c" and "z", the use of different words to name the same thing (i.e. "pendientes" in Spain and "aretes" in America), and so on.

There are also differences in expressions and use of terms born from the mixture of the native language in a concrete country with Spanish.

So... Nice idea! I'll write an article about this.

But, again, in essence, note any Spanish speaker, despite any difference in use of the Spanish language, can communicate and understand each other! I've always said I respect differences, and the Spanish from Colombia is as good, from my point of view, as the Spanish from Argentina. Why? Because any "evolution" of this language is great, due to influences received, which, of course, makes a language be alive. :-)

By the way, we, Spanish for Spain, are said to speak in a very "serious" and "hard" way. Maybe our accent doesn't sound as melodic as the accent in America. It sounds as if we were always angry! :-) And, to tell you the truth, I love the accent from American countries! It is so sweet and musical!

�Estoy muy cansada, gracias! 1:28 AM

It would be great to see an article about the differences and similarities. I've always thought it's such a beautiful language that makes things so clear. In America we might say teacher but that can be confusing! For example, at university, we had la profesora--much clearer than teacher.

Yes, I remember we had a lesson on the letter Z, zeta/theta with pronunciation it's easier to say than type jaja! I look forward to looking through more of your articles.

Buenos Noches

�Ay! �Siento que est�s cansada!

Oh yes, good example the one about teacher vs. profesora.

But... same thing happens with some English terms, for example "toddler"! Did you know Spanish language doesn't have a similar one?

We have "beb�" for baby, used to refer to 0 to 1 year old babies (aprox.). And then, we have "ni�o peque�o" or "ni�o", referring to both English terms "toddler" and child!

Every language is special somehow! :-)

��sta es diversi�n!

The American language borrows many phrases from other languages also.

bar from barista and barrio

mesa and tableau from spanish and french!

It's fun and fascinating how languages evolve and mingle.

I eagerly await your next lesson.

�S�! �Esto es divertido! ;-)

That's right, we also have a looot of words from English: parking, leasing, stop and many more. And yes, I also like the way languages evolve. It's great!

By the way, do you use the French "tableau" in Engish??

Yes we do!

It's used to describe something/someone beautiful or vivid. Also it's used in reference to a dramatic scene like in a painting.

Maybe it's because these are Latin based languages?

I don't know! That could be the reason, not sure. Seems the French word has been assimilated by English.

Thanks for the info, as this is the first time I've heard about the use of this French word among English speakers. :-)

I cannot speak for all Americans. I live in the upper northeast region, about a 4 hours drive from Canada. Canadian french was my first language. At 40 yrs old, I've forgotten most of the language, but many people in my area still speak canadian french fluently, so there is an unusual mix of french and american here.

So maybe the use of French words could be local, depending on the area you live. Same happens here too, of course. Sometimes languages "take" terms from other languages spoken close to that area.

�Claro que si!

That would explain why regional dialects can differ between provinces, but still have the same general meaning with neighboring countries.

�Eso es!