Modern Spanish Grammar: A Practical Guide

Indicating distance 39.439.3.8SobreThe basic meaning of sobre is ‘on top of’, but it also translates into English as ‘on’,‘over’, ‘above’ and ‘near’. It is an alternative to encima de, as in:El dinero estaba sobre/encima del armario.The money was on top of the wardrobe.It is also an alternative to en, when this has the meaning of ‘on’:Las llaves están sobre/en la mesa.The keys are on the table.It may indicate hierarchy, as in:El director de marketing está sobre el jefe de ventas.The marketing director is over/above the sales manager.It is an alternative to cerca de, as in:Estaba sobre la calle de Serrano.It was near the Calle Serrano. 39.3.925.1.26 (p. 129)Location may also be expressed with words such as aquí, ‘here’, allí, allá, ‘there’, whichare called adverbs. 14.2 (p. 56)Aquí está el dinero. Here is the money. La entrada está acá.The entrance is here.Acá is less precise than aquí. It is very frequent in Latin America, where it is used inpreference to aquí.El ascensor está allí.La parada está allá.Allá is less precise than allí.22 (p. 103)The lift is there.The stop is there.39.4Indicating distance235To indicate distance from something we use estar followed by the preposition a (seealso 39.3.1 above) and a phrase signalling distance, for example:Note alsoToledo está a (unos) 70 kilómetros de Madrid.Toledo is (about) 70 km from Madrid.Correos/el correo está a cinco minutos de la plaza.The Post Office is five minutes from the square.Está a poca/corta/gran distancia (de . . .)It is a short/great distance (from . . .)