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Where you live

To ask where someone lives, ask ¿Dónde vives? - Where do you live?

For example:

  • ¿Dónde vives? - Where do you live?

  • Vivo en un piso - I live in a flat.

  • Vivo en una casa en un pueblo - I live in a house in a village.

Image gallerySkip image gallerySlide 1 of 5, A photo of a row of houses, Vivo en una casa - I live in a house

Look at the language in the table. Can you describe where you live?

SpanishEnglish
Vivo en…I live in…
una casaa house
un pisoa flat
una ciudada city
un puebloa town
una aldeaa village

Describing where you live

There are two verbs for 'to be' in Spanish, ser and estar that you can use to talk about where you live.

Ser is used to give descriptions and estar is used for location.

For example:

  • Ser

    • Mi pueblo es grande - My town is big.
  • Estar

    • Mi pueblo á lejos de áԳٱ - My town is far from Manchester.

Describing location

You can give more details about where you live by using á (is).

For example:

  • Vivo en una ciudad pequeña. á en la costa y á cerca de Aberdeen - I live in a town. It is on the coast and is near to Aberdeen.

  • Vivo en un pueblo en la montaña. á lejos de la capital - I live in a village in the mountains. It is far from the capital.

Use the table below to give more detail about where you live.

SpanishEnglish
áit is
cerca denear to
lejos defar from
en la costaon the coast
en la montañain the mountains
en el campoin the countryside
en el centroin the centre
en el norte/sur/este/oeste in the north/south/east/west

Describing where you live

In order to give more details about what your house or town is like, you can use es (‘is’, from the verb ser) followed by an adjective.

Adjectives are words used to describe people, places or things.

Remember to make the adjective agree with whatever you are describing.

For example:

  • ¿Cómo es tu barrio? - What is your neighbourhood like?

  • Vivo en un pueblo pequeñ_o_. Es antigu_o_ pero animad_o_ - I live in a small town. It is old but lively.

  • ¿Cómo es tu aldea? - What is your village like?

  • Es bastante tranquil_a_ pero es aburrid_a_ - It is quite peaceful but it is boring.

  • ¿Cómo es tu ciudad? - What is your city like?

  • Vivo en una ciudad turístic_a_, pero en mi opinión es suci_a_. No es muy ecológic_a_. - I live in a touristy city, but in my opinion it is dirty. It is not very eco-friendly.

Have a look at this downloadable vocabulary list to see more useful adjectives you can use to describe where you live

Extra vocabulary - adjectives

Using comparatives

To compare two places, use á…qܱ and ԴDz…qܱ with different adjectives.

Remember that the adjective needs to agree with what you are describing.

For example:

  • Londres es á grande que áԳٱ - London is bigger than Manchester.

  • Mi ciudad es menos moderna que Bilbao - My city is less modern than Bilbao.

Talking about what there is where you live

To ask someone what there is where they live, ask: ¿Qué hay en tu pueblo? - What is there in your town?

For example:

  • ¿Qué hay en tu pueblo? - What is there in your town?

  • En mi pueblo hay una piscina y unas tiendas - In my town there is a pool and some shops.

  • En mi ciudad hay un supermercado, una mezquita y también hay una estación de tren - In my city there is a supermarket, a mosque and there is also a train station.

You can use muchos/muchas to say there are lots or many of something.

For example:

  • Hay muchos parques y restaurantes - There are lots of/many parks and restaurants.

Remember that the indefinite article is not used with no hay (there is no…) .

  • En mi pueblo no hay polideportivo - In my town there is no sports centre.

The indefinite article is the word for ‘a’, 'an' or ‘some’. In Spanish these are 'un', 'una', 'unos' and 'unas'.

Use the language in the table below to describe what there is and what there isn’t in your town or city.

SpanishEnglish
󲹲…there is/are…
no 󲹲…there is no…/there isn’t…/there are no…/there aren’t (any)…
un supermercadoa supermarket
un centro comerciala shopping centre
un cinea cinema
un teatroa theatre
un polideportivoa sports centre
un parquea park
un estadioa stadium
un centro de reciclajea recycling facility
una iglesiaa church
una mezquitaa mosque
una escuela/un colegioa school
un institutoa secondary school
una piscinaa pool
una estación (de tren/autobús)a (train/bus) station
unas/muchas tiendassome/lots of shops
unos/muchos restaurantessome/lots of restaurants
unos/muchos monumentossome/lots of monuments

Talking about what you do where you live

To discuss what you do where you live, you can ask ¿Qué haces en tu pueblo los fines de semana? - What do you do in your town at the weekends?

You can enhance your answer by using different time phrases and frequency expressions with a variety of activities.

For example:

  • Los fines de semana voy al cine con mis amigos - At the weekend I go to the cinema with my friends.

  • A veces ceno en un restaurante con mi familia - Sometimes I have dinner in a restaurant with my family.

  • Normalmente mi hermano va de compras - Normally my brother goes shopping.

Use the table below to say what you do where you live.

SpanishEnglish
los fines de semanaat the weekend
los sábadoson Saturdays
normalmentenormally
a vecessometimes
voy al cineI go to the cinema
nado en la piscinaI swim in the pool
voy de comprasI go shopping
ceno en un restauranteI have dinner in a restaurant
juego al fútbol en el parqueI play football in the park
salgo con mis amigosI go out with my friends
hay mucho que hacerthere is a lot to do

Quiz

Find out how much you know about talking about where you live in Spanish with this short quiz!

Game - FestiLingo: Spanish. game

Visit the festival and practise Spanish language skills in this game

Game - FestiLingo: Spanish