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Spanish (Latin America)

### Moving around the city

When navigating city streets, you often need to describe the direction you are heading or the exact point where you need to stop. In Spanish, two essential prepositions help you express physical movement and spatial boundaries: **hacia** and **hasta**.

### Hacia (Towards)

Use **hacia** to talk about the direction of movement. It translates to "towards" or "in the direction of." It focuses on the path you are taking, but doesn't necessarily mean you will go all the way to that final destination.

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### Hasta (Until / As far as)

Use **hasta** to set a physical limit or boundary. It translates to "until," "up to," or "as far as." Unlike *hacia*, *hasta* focuses on the exact endpoint of your journey.

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### Putting them together

You can easily combine these two prepositions to give highly specific directions, telling someone exactly how far to go and which way to turn next.

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### Giving instructions with "hay que"

When giving general directions, you will frequently hear and use the phrase **hay que**. It translates roughly to "one must" or "you have to," and is always followed by an infinitive verb.

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Directions and limits (hacia, hasta)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

expression

interjection

noun

numeral

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (yo soy)

Noun gender and definite articles (el, la)

Basic sentences and negation (no)

Indefinite articles (un, una)

Formal and informal you (tú vs. usted)

Plural pronouns and the verb to be (somos, son)

Making nouns plural (-s, -es)

Plural articles (los, las, unos, unas)

Noun gender exceptions

Adjective agreement

Invariable adjectives

State and location (estar)

Ser vs. estar

There is / there are (hay)

Hay vs. estar

To have (tener)

Possession (de)

Possessive adjectives (mi, tu, su)

Regular -ar verbs

Yes/No questions

What and who (qué, quién)

Regular -er verbs

Regular -ir verbs

Asking where (dónde, adónde)

How, when, and why (cómo, cuándo, por qué)

How much and how many (cuánto)

Days of the week

Going to a place (ir a)

Preposition contractions (al, del)

In and by (en)

With me and with you (conmigo, contigo)

Prepositional pronouns (mí, ti)

Conjunctions (y, o, pero)

Giving reasons (porque)

Stem-changing verbs (e to ie)

Stem-changing verbs (o to ue)

Stem-changing verbs (e to i)

Irregular yo forms (hago, salgo)

To know (saber vs. conocer)

Weather expressions (hace, está)

Desires and plans (querer)

Ability and requests (poder)

Obligations (tener que)

Expressing likes (me gusta)

Plural likes (me gustan)

Verbs like gustar (encantar, doler)

Very vs. a lot (muy, mucho)

Numbers 0 to 15 (cero, uno, dos…)

Numbers 16 to 31 (dieciséis, veinte…)

Numbers 30 to 1000 (treinta, cien, mil)

Months of the year (enero, febrero, marzo)

Seasons and dates (el dos de mayo)

Telling time (es la..., son las...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primero, segundo, tercero)

Reflexive pronouns and verbs (me, te, se, nos)

Direct object pronouns (lo, la, los, las)

The near future (ir a)

The present continuous (estar + -ando, -iendo)

Near demonstrative adjectives (este, esta, estos, estas)

Medium demonstrative adjectives (ese, esa, esos, esas)

Comparatives of inequality (más / menos ... que)

Comparatives of equality (tan ... como)

Indefinite and negative pronouns (algo, nada, alguien, nadie)

Affirmative commands

Far demonstratives (aquel, aquella)

Possessive pronouns (el mío, el tuyo)

Shortened indefinite adjectives (algún, ningún)

Adverbs of quantity (demasiado, bastante)

Adverbs of frequency (a menudo, a veces)

Adverb formation (-mente)

Exclamations (¡Qué...!)

Irregular comparatives (mejor, peor, mayor, menor)

Relative superlatives (el más... de)

Adjective intensification (-ísimo)

Indirect object pronouns

Pronoun placement with infinitives

Double object pronouns (me lo, te la)

The 'se lo' rule (se lo, se la)

Impersonal statements (se)

Impersonal obligation (hay que)

Personal obligation (deber)

Starting actions (empezar a)

Finishing and quitting actions (terminar de, dejar de)

Repeating actions (volver a)

Continuing actions (seguir + gerundio)

Question	Answer
(with que) one has to / must	hay que
straight ahead	derecho
right (direction)	la derecha
on the right, to the right	a la derecha
left	la izquierda
on the left, to the left	a la izquierda
towards	hacia
the square	la plaza
You have to walk straight towards the square.	Hay que caminar derecho hacia la plaza.
until / as far as	hasta
the corner	la esquina
The bus goes as far as the corner.	El autobús va hasta la esquina.
to cross	cruzar
the traffic light	el semáforo
You have to cross this street towards the traffic light.	Hay que cruzar esta calle hacia el semáforo.
We travel by train all the way to the city.	Viajamos en tren hasta la ciudad.
to turn	girar
You have to turn at this corner towards the museum.	Hay que girar en esta esquina hacia el museo.
the block	la cuadra
I walk three blocks all the way to the square.	Camino tres cuadras hasta la plaza.
The traffic light is two blocks towards downtown.	El semáforo está a dos cuadras hacia el centro.
the stop	la parada
We advance towards the stop.	Avanzamos hacia la parada.
The car turns towards this street.	El carro gira hacia esta calle.
You have to go straight all the way to the park.	Hay que ir derecho hasta el parque.
I walk up to the corner and cross towards the bus stop.	Camino hasta la esquina y cruzo hacia la parada del autobús.
against	contra
We play a match against them.	Jugamos un partido contra ellos.
The chair is against the wall.	La silla está contra la pared.
forward / ahead (¡adelante!: come in!)	adelante
We walk forward.	Caminamos hacia adelante.
One must keep going forward.	Hay que seguir adelante.
back / backwards (hacia atrás)	atrás
The boy looks back.	El niño mira hacia atrás.
The restaurant's kitchen is in the back.	La cocina del restaurante está atrás.
You have to turn right at the traffic light.	Hay que girar a la derecha en el semáforo.
The stop is to the right of the square.	La parada está a la derecha de la plaza.
We walk as far as the corner and cross to the left.	Caminamos hasta la esquina y cruzamos a la izquierda.
The museum is to the left of the park.	El museo está a la izquierda del parque.

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