How to use AÍ, LÁ and ALI in Portuguese?

Do you know how to use AÍ, LÁ and ALI in Portuguese?

“AÍ”, “LÁ” and “ALI” are "there" in English. However, in Portuguese, we use those three little words to understand the proximity of where something happens or is situated.

 AÍ

 “Aí” is used when the speaker is referring to a place that is close to the listener.

Pretend that the speaker from the picture bellow is in a city and the listener is in another one:

Examples:

I'm here in Brazil and you are there in Ireland and I'm talking to you, so I should say:

- Como está o clima aí na Irlanda? (How is the weather there in Ireland?)

- Qual é a cor da guitarra que está aí perto de você? (What is the color of the guitar which is there close to you?)

- O aeroporto daí (de + aí) é muito grande? (Is the airport over there very big?)

LÁ

 “Lá” must be used when the speaker is referring to a place which is far away from the speaker and also far away from the listener.

Examples:

I'm here in Brazil and you are there in Ireland and I'm talking to you, so I could ask you:

- Você já foi aos Estados Unidos? Você conhece algum lugar lá? (Have you been to United States? Do you know some place there? )

- Eu ouvi falar que lá no Canadá é frio demais. (I’ve heard there in Canada is too cold.)

ALI

 “Ali” must be used when the speaker is referring to a place which is a closer than when you would use Lá, but not as close as when you would use Aqui (here).  Think of things that you can see in your surrounding area but not exactly can't touch.

Examples:

Pretend we are here in Brazil in the same place walking on street and we want to go to a restaurant which is on the next corner, so we could have a conversation :

- You – Onde é o restaurante que nós estamos indo? (Where is the restaurant we are going to?)

- Me – O restaurante está perto, é ali na esquina. (The restaurant is close, it is there on the corner)

- Nosso lugar é ali naquela mesa. (Our place is there at that table)

- Aquele garçon ali é muito mal educado. (That waiter there is very rude)

That's all for now!

Questions? Suggestions? Leave your comments bellow.