Ali, aí, lá how to use

[charlottecconley]

I can not figure out when-how to use them.

[stephencanthony]

I’ll take a stab at this, if for no other reason than to test my knowledge and see what corrections are made.

As a native english speaker, here’s my mapping:

Lá - generic ‘there’, as opposed to Cá generic ‘here’.
Lá em Portugal o tempo está bem, mas cá, o tempo está mau.

Aqui, aí ali - here, there, over-there - describing where some tangible object is relative to the speaker and listener. And it’s worth noting that the pronouns change for these as well (Aqui - este/a(s), Aí - esse/a(s), Ali - aquele/a(s) )

If I’m holding a book and want to talk about it, I’ll say ‘This book here’ - Este livro aqui
If you’re holding the book, and I want to talk about it, I’ll say ‘That book there’ - Esse livro aí
If the book is on the table at the other side of the room, and I want to talk about it, I’ll say ‘That book over there’ - Aquele livro ali

Also note if the object in question is intangible, the pronouns change: Aqui : isto, Aí : isso, Ali : aquilo

Hopefully I haven’t confused this all and made things worse for you.

[charlottecconley]

Thanks. That helps. Now, I need to make some kind of chart. Understanding your words and recalling them in context are different - for me anyway! And thanks for throwing in aquele and aquilo they are in the same confusing group.

[stephencanthony]

@charlottecconley

Now, I need to make some kind of char

I did this too - helped me quite a bit.

[Joseph]

@stephencanthony

I’ll take a stab at this, if for no other reason than to test my knowledge and see what corrections are made.

As a native english speaker, here’s my mapping:

Lá - generic ‘there’, as opposed to Cá generic ‘here’.
Lá em Portugal o tempo está bem, mas cá, o tempo está mau.

Aqui, aí ali - here, there, over-there - describing where some tangible object is relative to the speaker and listener. And it’s worth noting that the pronouns change for these as well (Aqui - este/a(s), Aí - esse/a(s), Ali - aquele/a(s) )

If I’m holding a book and want to talk about it, I’ll say ‘This book here’ - Este livro aqui
If you’re holding the book, and I want to talk about it, I’ll say ‘That book there’ - Esse livro aí
If the book is on the table at the other side of the room, and I want to talk about it, I’ll say ‘That book over there’ - Aquele livro ali

Also note if the object in question is intangible, the pronouns change: Aqui : isto, Aí : isso, Ali : aquilo

Hopefully I haven’t confused this all and made things worse for you.

This is great Nothing to correct. I’ll just add that wherever “ali” is, it’s usually still more or less within sight. “Lá” is somewhere beyond that - depending on context, it could be anything from a different room in the house to a different country (or planet, or…!).

[denise]

Can I throw in a question? Is “acolá” used, and if so, is it like “lá”?

When trying to teach Portuguese to my daughter when she was very little, I used to make up silly songs. For this particular subject I had one. You could put it to any singsong tune that you like.

Isto aqui
Isso alí
Aquilo acolá

[Joseph]

@denise

Can I throw in a question? Is “acolá” used, and if so, is it like “lá”?

Yes! It’s one of adverbs covered in this Learning Note: Adverbs of Place: Here and There. It does remind me of children’s songs, where it seems to be used often