Breakdown of Nos vemos frente a la biblioteca a las seis.
Questions & Answers about Nos vemos frente a la biblioteca a las seis.
Literally, nos vemos means “we see ourselves / we see each other.”
- nos = “ourselves / each other” (1st person plural reflexive/reciprocal pronoun)
- vemos = “we see” (present tense of ver)
So the literal idea is “we (will) see each other,” which in natural English is just “See you” or “See you then.”
Spanish often uses the present tense for the near future, so nos vemos typically means “we’ll see each other (then)”, not just right now. It’s a very common informal and neutral way to say goodbye with a plan to meet again.
Both are possible, but they feel a bit different in tone:
Nos vemos (present tense)
- Most common in everyday speech
- Sounds casual and natural, like “See you” / “See you later”
- Implies a near-future meeting, often already arranged or obvious from context
Nos veremos (future tense)
- Grammatically fine and correct
- Can sound a bit more formal or emphatic, like “We will see each other”
- Often used when you’re being slightly more solemn, making a promise, or talking about a future that isn’t immediate.
In your sentence, Nos vemos frente a la biblioteca a las seis is simply the most natural, everyday way to say: “See you in front of the library at six.”
Nos vemos is neutral in terms of formality.
- You can use it with friends, family, classmates, coworkers, etc.
- You can also use it with people you address as usted, as long as the context is friendly and you already have a plan to see each other again.
It’s not extremely formal, but it’s not slang either. It’s perfectly okay with most people you’ll meet, including in Spain.
If you want something slightly more formal, you can say, for example:
- Hasta luego. – “See you later.”
- Hasta entonces. – “Until then.”
But nos vemos is widely acceptable.
All three can relate to “in front of,” but there are nuances:
frente a
- Very common and standard for “in front of / opposite.”
- Often used with places:
- Nos vemos frente a la biblioteca. – “We’ll meet in front of the library.”
- Can also mean “facing” (vis-à-vis), especially for buildings or seats.
en frente de
- Also “in front of / opposite,” common in speech, especially in Spain.
- Feels a bit more colloquial than frente a.
- Example: Vivo en frente de la biblioteca. – “I live across from the library.”
delante de
- Literally “in front of” in a more positional / immediate sense (in front of something physically).
- Example: Estoy delante de la puerta. – “I am right in front of the door.”
In your sentence, frente a la biblioteca sounds very natural to mean “in front of the library (as a meeting point).”
In Spanish, many location expressions need a preposition plus article, not just an article after the noun.
- The structure is frente a + article + noun
- frente a la biblioteca – “in front of the library”
- frente al banco (a + el = al) – “in front of the bank”
Frente on its own is a noun meaning “forehead” or “front,” but as a prepositional phrase meaning “in front of,” the standard form is frente a. So frente la biblioteca is incorrect; you must say frente a la biblioteca.
Spanish generally uses the definite article (el, la, los, las) much more than English, especially with places.
- La biblioteca = “the library”
- When we talk about a specific place that both speakers know, Spanish normally uses the:
- frente a la biblioteca – “in front of the library” (that one we both know about)
In English you might say “in front of the library” or sometimes just “at library” in very clipped speech, but Spanish almost always requires the article here. Omitting it (frente a biblioteca) sounds ungrammatical.
For telling clock time in Spanish, the normal preposition is a:
- a la una – at one o’clock
- a las dos – at two o’clock
- a las seis – at six o’clock
So a is the standard preposition used with times, meaning “at (time).”
Using en (en las seis) for a specific hour is incorrect in this context.
The hidden noun is las (seis) horas – “the six hours,” i.e., 6:00.
- hora (“hour”) is feminine: la hora
- For times after one o’clock, Spanish thinks of it as “the six hours”, “the three hours”, etc.
- a las seis (horas) – “at six (o’clock)”
- a las tres (horas) – “at three (o’clock)”
That’s why we say:
- Es la una. (one o’clock – singular, because only one hour)
- Son las dos / tres / cuatro… (plural, more than one hour)
So las agrees with the implied horas, not with seis directly.
Yes. Both are correct:
- Nos vemos frente a la biblioteca a las seis.
- Nos vemos a las seis frente a la biblioteca.
Spanish word order is quite flexible with time and place expressions. Both sentences sound natural.
If anything, speakers often say time first and then place, especially in casual speech:
- Nos vemos a las seis en el bar.
- Quedamos a las ocho en tu casa.
But your original order, frente a la biblioteca a las seis, is also completely fine.
They’re related but not identical:
Nos vemos…
- Focuses on the act of seeing each other again.
- Common as a goodbye with an agreed meeting:
- Nos vemos frente a la biblioteca a las seis. – “See you in front of the library at six.”
Quedamos…
- From the verb quedar, used a lot in Spain to mean “make plans / arrange to meet.”
- More like “Shall we meet…?” or “Let’s meet…”
- Example:
- ¿Quedamos frente a la biblioteca a las seis? – “Shall we meet in front of the library at six?”
- Quedamos a las seis. – “We’ll meet at six.”
So:
- Use quedamos when making or suggesting the plan.
- Use nos vemos more when confirming or reminding, often at the end of a conversation: “See you then.”
Your sentence is already natural, but in Spain you’ll also hear very colloquial patterns like:
- Quedamos a las seis delante de la biblio.
- Quedamos – “We’ll meet” / “Let’s meet”
- delante de – in front of
- la biblio – colloquial for la biblioteca
Or:
- Nos vemos a las seis delante de la biblio.
Your version, Nos vemos frente a la biblioteca a las seis, is slightly more “textbook neutral” but still sounds perfectly natural in Spain.