Verbs of Location
Related Resources
In order to get anywhere in life (or in a taxi) you will need to know how to use the following verbs:
Estar - to be. It is very useful to use estar with prepositions to explain where some place is. Let's imagine that you're explaining where a certain movie theater is to a taxi driver:
Está al lado del monumento de la revolución.
It's next to the monument to the revolution.
It's next to the monument to the revolution.
Está en frente del terminal de autobuses.
It's in front of the bus terminal.
It's in front of the bus terminal.
Está justo detrás de la parada de metro Tacubaya.
It's right behind the subway stop "Tacubaya."
It's right behind the subway stop "Tacubaya."
Está en la misma calle que la embajada de los EU.
It's on the same street as the U.S. embassy.
It's on the same street as the U.S. embassy.
Está por la iglesia de la conchita.
It's over by the church of the little shells.
It's over by the church of the little shells.
Ser - to be. Although estar is the verb you will usually use to refer to places, ser is used in some cases. For example, you use the verb ser for events.
La boda será en la iglesia de San Andrés.
The wedding will be at Saint Andrew's church.
The wedding will be at Saint Andrew's church.
El concierto fue en el auditorio nacional.
The concert was at the national auditorium.
The concert was at the national auditorium.
Quedar - This is a very useful verb in explaining where a place is. It literally means "to stay, to remain". But when used to refer to location, it has the same basic meaning as the verb estar.
¿Por dónde queda el estadio de fútbol?
Where is the soccer stadium?
Where is the soccer stadium?
Queda muy cerca del museo de bellas artes.
It's very close to the museum of fine arts.
It's very close to the museum of fine arts.
No queda muy lejos de aquí.
It's not very far from here.
It's not very far from here.
Encontrarse - This is another common verb for explaining the location of a place. It literally means "to be found," but it is used in the same way as estar or quedar.
¿En dónde se encuentra la catedral?
Where is the cathedral?
Where is the cathedral?
Se encuentra en la plaza central.
It is located in the main plaza.
It is located in the main plaza.