Modern Spanish Grammar: A Practical Guide

EXPRESSING LOCATION AND DISTANCE 39.2¿En qué parte estuvieron?Where/whereabouts were they?¿En qué lugar de Andalucía está Sevilla?In which part of Andalusia is Seville?¿En qué lugar está tu oficina?Where is your office? 22 (p. 103)39.1.5Ser instead of estarColloquially, one may occasionally hear ser instead of estar, to refer to the location ofplaces:¿Dónde dijiste que era la casa de Juan?Where did you say Juan’s house was?¿A que no sabes dónde es!I bet you don’t know where it is.When the speaker uses ser instead of estar in this context, he seems to be referring notjust to the location but also to the essence or existence of the place he is talking about.This is an infrequent occurrence of ser, and unless you are sure how to use it, it is best toavoid it. Estar will normally be correct in this context. 22 (p. 103)39.2Asking and saying where an event will take or took placeTo ask and say where an event – for example a meeting, a party – will take or took place,use ser instead of estar:¿Dónde será la reunión?Where will the meeting be?Será en la oficina del gerente.It will be in the manager’s office.La fiesta fue en mi casa.The party was in my house.Estar is wrong in this context, as reunión, ‘meeting’, and fiesta, ‘party’, are eventsrather than things which can be located in space. 22 (p. 103)39.3Indicating precise location232To indicate precise location, we need the Spanish equivalent of words such as ‘in’,‘on’, ‘at’, ‘under’, ‘behind’, etc. These words are called prepositions, and theysometimes combine with other words to form phrases which express location or