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Questions & Answers about Las estrellas brillan allí.
How does allí relate to the far-distance words like aquel that we are learning?
In Spanish, words for 'here' and 'there' match the distance of the words for 'this' and 'that'. aquí (here) goes with este (this). ahí (there, near the listener) goes with ese (that). allí and allá (way over there, far from both speakers) match aquel (that one over there). Since the stars are very far away, allí is the perfect word to use.
Could I use allá instead of allí in this sentence?
Yes! Both allí and allá refer to a far distance. allá is extremely common in Latin America and often implies a wider, more general area (like the vast night sky), while allí can point to a slightly more specific spot. Both work perfectly for talking about things that are far away like aquellas estrellas (those stars over there).
Why do we need Las at the beginning? Wouldn't Estrellas brillan allí mean the same thing?
In English, we often drop words like 'the' when making general statements about plural nouns (like 'Stars shine'). However, Spanish almost always requires a definite article (el, la, los, las) when a noun is the subject of the sentence. Leaving it out here would sound unnatural to a native speaker.