If you’re tired of being enslaved by your GPS, or even worse, you don’t have any signal, then getting lost and asking the locals for help is a great way to practice your Spanish. To learn how to ask for directions in Spanish, why not use these phrases?
• Perdona, ¿Hay un banco/una estación de metro/una farmacia por aquí? Excuse me, is there a bank/metro stop/pharmacy near here?
• Disculpa, ¿Para ir a……? Sorry, to get to… (insert street name/area)?
• ¿Sabes dónde está……? Do you know where ….is?
The answer you receive will very likely include common direction verbs such as:
• Coger – to take
• Girar – to turn
• Seguir – to continue (irregular!)
• Ir – to go (irregular!)
• Cruzar – to cross
Furthermore, it will also nearly always involve the imperative. In the informal singular form, this tense is really easy! To help you, here are the same verbs again in their simplest imperative form.
1. Coge la primera/segunda calle a la derecha/izquierda… (take the first street on the right/left…)
2. Gira a la izquierda en el semáforo… (turn left at the light…)
3. Sigue todo recto… (continue straight on…)
4. Vete a la derecha/izquierda… (go right…)
5. Cruza la plaza… (cross the square…)
Do you want to continue your Spanish learning? You can go to our Learning resources section page and and put you to the test with our quizzes.
Also, in order to put into practice what you learned in this post with the activities that we recommend you in our After-class activities section.