Distance / Proximity
How near or far is it?
Maana
Relative distance between speaker, listener, participant, place, or event.
Jinsi ya kuitambua
Notice words that encode near, far, this side, that side, here, there.
Mifano
near|far|here|there|this|that
this house|that mountain|over there
This cafe is near the station.
Visual guide
ANCHOR = speaker/listener/place
near: here, this cafe
distance grows ->
far: there, that mountain
Ask: how near/far?
Distance systems: 2-way: this/here | that/there 3-way: near me | near you | far richer: visible? uphill? inside? social distance may choose form
Mtazamo wa lugha
Katika lugha yako ya kwanza
English expresses distance and proximity with adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions.
The shop is near the station.
near the station = proximity
Katika lugha unayojifunza
Spanish has a visible proximity system with este, ese, aquel and adverbs aquí, ahí, allí.
Este libro, ese coche, aquel edificio.
this book, that car, that building over there
Learners may miss the three-way distance distinction or regional variation in actual use.
Good transfer potential
This block behaves relatively similarly, so you can transfer intuition more safely between the two languages.