A walk through the centre
Every Spanish town has una plaza (a square), and the big ones have una avenida (an avenue). In the old centre you often find la catedral and un monumento.
| The cathedral is in the square. | La catedral está en la plaza. |
| The square has a monument. | La plaza tiene un monumento. |
| The hotel is on the avenue. | El hotel está en la avenida. |
Finding your way
A tourist — el turista, la turista: the word ends in -a for a man and for a woman — needs a map. Spanish has two words:
| word | what it shows |
|---|---|
| el mapa | a country, a region, the world |
| el plano | the streets of one town |
Both are masculine even though mapa ends in -a.
| I am looking for the square on the street map. | Busco la plaza en el plano. |
| I am looking for the river on the map. | Busco el río en el mapa. |
Visiting places
Visitar and ver take a place directly — no a — because a place is not a person. Compare visito la catedral with visito a mi abuela.
| The tourists visit the cathedral. | Los turistas visitan la catedral. |
| We see the monument on the avenue. | Vemos el monumento en la avenida. |
El lugar is the general word for a place:
| Do you know a nice place? | ¿Conoces un lugar bonito? |
The tourist office
La oficina de turismo (the tourist office) gives you a free plano and information about the town.
| The tourist office is in the square. | La oficina de turismo está en la plaza. |
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