HERE: AQUÍ AND ACÁ IN SPANISH LANGUAGE

For many english speakers and other foreigners who are learning to speak spanish, terms like “Aquí” and “acá”usually can be a problem because in English we use Here for both, there is no difference between them, but  in spanish in  there is.

In this post I will explain in what aspects they differ and what their correct use is. I will also give an example for better understanding.

In the first place the adverb of place “Acá” is the original word, etimologically it becomes from the vulgar latin “Ecuum Hac” and its meaning is “He aquí” (Here Is, or This is). On the other hand, there is the term “Here” which originates from the Spanish or old Castillian “Aquí” or “Aquy”, the “Aquy” is currently an obsolete term for which only “Aquí” is used.

The use of this place adverbs in actual Spanish is determined as follows:

Acá: Indicates an imprecise place near who speaks. 

Aquí: Indicates a precise place near the person or people who speak are.

Example:  - ACÁ:

A boy has finished his shool day and he is waiting for his mother who is picking him up. The boy is waiting with some Friends and these ask him to wait for his mom in the  school cafeteria. The kid goes with them ans his mother arrives to pick him up and doesn´t see him. She picks her telephone and calls him and he answers: “I am ACÁ ( at the cafetería) one moment I get there. 

Example - AQUÍ:

A boy has finished his shool day and he is waiting for his mother who is picking him up at the school entrance. He is tired, so he sits in the entrance stair. When his mother arrives to pick him up she can´t see him because she is farsighted. She picks her cellephone and asks him where is he. He answers: “I am AQUÍ, and he gets up and walks towards her. 

Written Adriana Martinez