Portuguese has several advĂ©rbios de lugaradverbs of place to indicate the relative position of a person or object. These are particularly useful to learn: cĂĄ aqui aĂ ali lĂĄ  acolĂĄ . In short, cĂĄ and aqui both mean here. AĂ, lĂĄ, ali, and acolĂĄÂ mean there. Below weâll explore the finer differences between each of these words.
Here and There
In Portuguese, here and there are a bit more complicated because we make a distinction between how close things are in relation to the speaker and listener:
- Here â Close to the speaker: aqui or cĂĄ
- There â Close to the listener: aĂ
- There/Over there â Far from both the speaker and listener: lĂĄ, ali, or acolĂĄ
Letâs take a look at each group in more detail.
Aqui vs. CĂĄ
AquiHere(exact) and cåhere(general) are used when talking about things close to the speaker. While aqui is commonly used in both Portugal and Brazil, cå is, for the most part, specific to European Portuguese. Some people will use them interchangeably, but in theory, cå is less specific than aqui. Take these sentences, for example:
- A minha famĂlia estĂĄ cĂĄ.My family is here. â When you use cĂĄ to talk about people, you might simply be saying that your family is in the same country or town as you are (e.g. cĂĄ em Portugalhere in Portugal )
- A minha famĂlia estĂĄ aqui.My family is here. â In contrast, if you use aqui, it can imply that your family is much closer to you â in the same room or building, or even right next to you (e.g. aqui ao meu ladohere by my side )
Letâs explore a few more examples with each word individually:
Aqui
Aqui designates the exact spot where the speaker is, regardless of the listenerâs location, so you could think of it as âin this placeâ or âright hereâ.
Other examples:
Fico aqui Ă tua espera.Iâll be waiting for you here.
Ele deixou aqui o chapéu.He left his hat here.
CĂĄ
CĂĄ, meanwhile, conveys a more general location, rather than a single, precise spot. It is similar to saying, âover hereâ.
Other examples:
CĂĄ janta-se Ă s oito em ponto.Here we have dinner at 8pm, sharp.
EstĂĄ cĂĄ a mĂŁe da Carolina.Carolinaâs mom is over here.
In these examples, the speaker is referring to something inside a larger, yet well-defined, area â in this case, a house.
Expressions Using Aqui and CĂĄ
Setting aside the guidelines mentioned above, itâs also helpful to know a few common expressions using these words:
Anda cĂĄCome here
Chega aquiCome here, Come closer
CĂĄ estamos nĂłs!Here we are!
AĂ vs. Ali vs. LĂĄ
AĂ, ali, and lĂĄ all translate to âthereâ, but similarly to the relationship between aqui and cĂĄ, they differ in specificity.
When something is in a location far from you, but close to your listener, you use aĂthere (specific, close to listener)
When itâs far from both of you (i.e. out of sight or reach), you use alithere (specific, far from both) or lĂĄthere (general, far from both)
AĂ
AĂ means âthereâ, but is limited to the exact location of the listener.
Other examples:
Bela mochila que aĂ tens .Nice rucksack youâve got there.
Ela deixou o livro dela aĂ.She left her book there.
Ali
Elas esperaram ali por eles.They waited there for them.
LĂĄ
LĂĄ refers to a more general area, instead of a single spot. Like acolĂĄ, it can be interpreted as âover thereâ. However, lĂĄ usually refers to an area out of sight.
Other examples:
LĂĄ neva muito.It snows a lot over there.
Deixei as minhas malas lĂĄ.I left my bags over there.
Once again, in these examples, weâre referring to something in a larger area â in the first example, a country or region, and in the second example, a building or place.
AcolĂĄ
AcolĂĄ has a more old-fashioned or literary tone, so in daily life itâs not heard as often as ali and lĂĄ. It also refers to things far from both the speaker and listener.
AcolĂĄThere, Over there sometimes serves as a contrast to aqui or ali when referencing two different locations. For example:
Aqui temos café, acolå temos sumo de laranja.Here we have coffee, and over there we have orange juice. .
Podes montar o cavalete ali e meter os pincéis acolå.You can set up your easel there and your brushes over there.
Review
Whew! That was a lot. Letâs go over how to say here and there in Portuguese one more time before we practice in the lessons.
- Here
- aqui = here in the exact location of the speaker
- cĂĄ = here in general
- There
- aĂ = there in the exact location of the listener
- There/Over There
- ali = there/over there, a location far away from both, but still visible/accessible
- lĂĄ = there in general, far away from both, often not visible/accessible
- acolĂĄ = over there, a location far away from both (less common)
Comments
My head hurts.
Itâs definitely a tricky topic! Let me know if we can answer any questions. For the most part, it just takes time to get used to all these variations. Youâll see them come up in the Shorties a lot, so that will give you an idea of how they are used in context.
đ
Thank you so much for writing this article! Cleared up my question on which one to use when
If there is one tree kinda far away, is one able to use ali OR acola interchangeably?
Hm, yes, you could use both. But âaliâ is more commonly used than âacolĂĄâ đ
loooooool, I am going to join your club
For the saying âAqui vou ser felizâ can you say âVou ser feliz aquiâ?
Noticed a few times you place the adverb before the sentence and others at the end.
Thanks
Yes, you can. The two sentences are by all means the same đ
Olå Rui & Joël
Some asked a similar question but I need confirmation:
Aqui temos café, acolå temos sumo de laranja.
Temos café aqui, temos sumo de laranja acolå.
Whatâs the most natural order in Portuguese. Or are both orders used normally?
OlĂĄ, Amadou. Both orders would be fine to use and would sound natural. However, âacolĂĄâ is not commonly used in everyday conversation. Weâre more likely to just say âaliâ instead of âacolĂĄâ đ
I think I understand all the explanations, but then the examples donât match up. If âAcolaâ is âacolĂĄ = over there, a location far away from bothâ how is the orange juice over there âAcolaâ? Surely the orange juice is still in the same room? I am totally lost now.
Both are correct. But the second is more usual.
What about além? How does this word fit in with these others above?
The word alĂ©m is similar to ali. Let me also note that both words have a directional feeling than the word lĂĄ doesnât possess, i.e. when you want to indicate/point in a certain direction. Let me clarify with an example:
â Onde estĂĄ a Sara? Ela estĂĄ ali. = Onde estĂĄ a Sara? Ela estĂĄ alĂ©m. = Whereâs Sara? Sheâs over there.
We couldnât simply say âEla estĂĄ lĂĄâ in this context. At best, we could use âlĂĄâ in a more extended sentence where the word is actually used more for emphasis than for actual value, e.g. âEla estĂĄ lĂĄ em Françaâ (Sheâs in France â note how the word âlĂĄâ doesnât add anything to the essential meaning and disappears in translation).
In this context of positions, the word alĂ©m can also mean beyond/past, in which case, it should appear paired up with the preposition para. For this particular use, the word is interchangeable with the word âlĂĄâ (hope this isnât too confusing!).
â A aldeia fica para lĂĄ do monte. = A aldeia fica para alĂ©m do monte. = The village is beyond the hill. / The village is past the hill.
Excellent instruction as always.
I do have a pronuciation question.
Que is usually pronounced (kÄ) as I understand it.
However, in the sentence Bela mochila que aĂ tens the pronunciation of que aĂ was key aye âŠ.the que took on the same sound as the french qui.
Do I have this correct? Does the pronunciation of que sound like the french qui when it comes before a word that starts with a vowel or diphthong?
Any insight greatly appreciated.
OlĂĄ. Good question â and you basically answered it yourself. The E in âqueâ, by default, sounds very closed. But when itâs followed by a more open vowel, this E is typically pronounced like an âeeâ at normal speed. Thatâs what happens in that example (ââŠque aĂ tensâ), where the A of âaĂâ modifies the vowel just before.
These pronunciation variations are addressed in this Learning Note: Pronunciation Variations
Iâve seen ânext doorâ translated as both aqui ao lado and aĂ ao lado. Is there a subtle difference here along the lines next-door-to-me-here and next-door-to-you-there? Or is this just an example of multiple ways of saying the same thing?
OlĂĄ! âNext doorâ per se only means â(porta) ao ladoâ. In a context where the other house is equally close to the speaker and listener, the choice to use âaquiâ or âaĂâ is basically up to the speaker and has no practical significance. It just depends on what they subjectively interpret as being close or more distant at that moment đ
In an online spoken European Portuguese site , they say alĂ is used with things : âthe restaurant is over thereâ, whereas lĂĄ is used with people: â she is working there for 2 monthsâ. Can you comment on this?
Hi Doug!
I wouldnât say it works exactly like thatâŠ
âAliâ refers to something that is right there, over there, at plain sight. A place or something you can point or at least point the way to. Itâs more specific of the space that you refer to. âWhere is the book?â âRight there/over there on the table.â / âAli na mesa.â Youâre actually able to point the way to the book. Youâre being specific about the location of the book.
âLĂĄâ is more generic. Itâs somewhere that you canât see from where you are, some place youâre referring to without actually seeing it. And also a location that isnât precise. âIs the book in the other room?â âYes, itâs there on the table.â/âSim, estĂĄ lĂĄ na mesa.â
Also, when you say âShe has been working there for 2 months.â if youâre pointing to the place where she works it would translate to âaliâ. However, if youâre talking to someone about the place where she works (being out of sight) it would translate to âlĂĄâ.
Portuguese is a very tricky language, isnât it?
Cheers,
LuĂs
Thank you. So I would say based on your answer, the difference between alĂ and lĂĄ is not âthingsâ versus âpersonsâ, but rather âthere, in sightâ and â there, out of sightâ. AlĂ and lĂĄ can therefore refer to things or persons. Correct? (Pimsleur described the difference as persons versus things, but based on everything Iâve read, they are not correct, and you confirmed that).
Yes, both are adverbs of place and may be used in sentences referring to both things and persons. Donât get too limited on the âin sightâ/âout of sightâ though, because it may have a few nuances. But thatâs a good way to start understanding the difference between these two adverbs!
These are somewhat theoretical subtleties that even native speakers do not always respect. My advice for beginners is not to get too complicated with this at this level.
I donât understand the translation of this sentence:
Fico aqui Ă tua espera.
it looks something like âI stay here to your waitâ to my (beginner) eye. Why not use the verb esperar here instead of what appears to the be noun for wait?
This learning note might interest you: https://www.practiceportuguese.com/learning-notes/the-preposition-a/
The sentence âFico aqui Ă tua esperaâ could also be phrased âEspero aqui por tiâ, if that makes more sense to you. Either way is perfectly correct! đ
my eyes are bleeding
I hear you Caramba. Not sure if this will help you, but iâll share a simplified system i use quite successfully in everyday life. Successful in the sense that people understand me, though stricly not alqaus correct đ i say:
â Aqui for âhereâ except when saying i live here, then i use cĂĄ.
â Ali for âthereâ except when talking about people and things in other places then i use lĂĄ.
Probably this is correct about 80% of the time. For the rest i just trust that iâll get the hang of âaĂâ eventually. But right now, safe to say that sound doest exactly trip off my tongue! And truth be told i dont want to think that deeply every time i open my mouth đ
Reming me my learning Japanese, there are almost the same nuances about (here, there next to you, other there) đ
One of the exercises in the next lesson has the English sentence âYou donât live hereâ, which it translates to âTu nĂŁo moras aquĂ.â Could we also say âNĂŁo moras cĂĄâ with no great change in meaning?
Yes! âNĂŁo moras cĂĄâ is a perfectly fine alternative đ
Iâm Portuguese Tutor on Preply and this article help me a lot when I need to explain aqui, lĂĄ, etc to my students, thank you all!
Hi Joseph. Absolutely loving this app. Thank you for all the perfectly worded explanations!
One question RE the above: Can âAqui temos cafĂ©, acolĂĄ temos sumo de laranjaâ be used when describing customs in different countries? Eg: Aqui (em Portugal) temos cafĂ©, acolĂĄ (na AustrĂĄlia) temos sumo de laranja.
OlĂĄ e muito obrigado!
Itâs preferable to use âlĂĄâ in that context. âAcolĂĄâ doesnât really fit in that scale of distance đ
It seems that all words here that end in âiâ refer to a specific location, but all words ending in âĂĄâ refer to a general location, regardless of distance đ
OlĂĄ! Yes, thatâs a good way of looking at it, and I think it can certainly help people decide which one to use. Or, at least, reduce the number of options.