Learn Spanish (Latin America): Esperamos fuera de la oficina.

Esperamos fuera de la oficina.

We wait outside the office.

Breakdown of Esperamos fuera de la oficina.

la oficina

the office

esperar

to wait / to hope / to expect

fuera de

outside (of)

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Questions & Answers about Esperamos fuera de la oficina.

Why is there a de after fuera? Can't I just say fuera la oficina?

In Spanish, many words that describe location need de (of) to connect them to the place you are talking about. Just like you need de in debajo de (under) or al lado de (next to), you need it to say fuera de (outside of).

I thought afuera meant "outside." Why does this sentence use fuera instead?

Afuera is usually used when you don't name the specific place, like if you just say vamos afuera (let's go outside). When you specifically name the place you are outside of, the standard phrase is fuera de. (Note: In casual Latin American Spanish, you might also hear afuera de, but fuera de is the standard rule).

Doesn't esperamos also mean "we hope"?

Yes! The verb esperar is a great multi-purpose word. It can mean "to wait", "to hope", or "to expect". You just have to use the context to figure out the meaning. Since they are physically standing outside an office, "waiting" is the only meaning that makes sense here.

Is esperamos present tense ("we wait") or past tense ("we waited")?