Spanish phrasebook – Phrases in Spanish with audio
Asking for directions
Contents: Audios for learning Spanish
It’s very easy to get lost in a city we’re not familiar with, even if we have a map. Here we’re going to learn phrases to ask for directions and also how to give them. Knowing how to give directions will be especially useful to those working in tourist areas, so you can help Spanish speaking tourists. You can start this section by watching the videos below. Afterwards, read and listen to the phrases we’ve prepared.
I’m lost
We’re in a place we don’t know and we don’t know the right direction to take: We’re lost, so we go and ask for help. Or maybe someone is asking us for help. These phrases show you how to address someone politely in Spanish:
¿Se ha perdido?
Are you lost?
Me he perdido.
I’m lost.
Nos hemos perdido.
We’re lost.
I need to go to…
Clearly we’re lost. Now we have to explain where we want to go to. It’s important to know whether or not the place is far from here. If the person we talk to shows us the right direction on a map, that’d be even better:
Necesito ir a…
I need to go to…
¿Sabe cómo llegar a…?
Do you know how to get to…?
¿Eso está cerca?
Is it near?
¿Eso está lejos?
Is it far?
¿Cuántos minutos se tarda para llegar hasta allí?
How many minutes will it take to get there?
¿Qué calle es esta?
What street is this?
Muéstremelo en el mapa, por favor.
Can you show it on the map, please?
Now we’re going to see phrases to use when helping a person that is lost. We’ll ask where they want to go to and we’ll let them know if the place is far. Also, we’ll show them the place on a map:
¿Adónde necesita ir?
Where do you need to go to?
Eso está cerca.
It’s near here.
Eso está lejos.
It’s far from here.
Se lo muestro en el mapa.
I’ll show you on the map.
Means of transport
How can we get there? On foot, by taxi, by metro,…? It’s not enough to know, for example, that the museum is five minutes away from here. Naturally, 5 minutes on foot isn’t the same as 5 minutes driving:
¿Se puede llegar a pie?
Can I go on foot?
Se puede ir a pie.
You can go on foot.
Está muy lejos para ir a pie.
It’s too far to go on foot.
¿Hay que ir en autobus?
Do I need to go by bus?
Hay que ir en autobús.
You need to go by bus.
Hay que ir en taxi.
You need to go by taxi.
Hay que ir en metro.
You need to go by metro.
Necesita el autobús número…
You need the bus number…
¿Qué autobús necesito?
Which bus do I need?
To the right or to the left?
We’re going to explain in a few phrases the difficult process of giving and asking for directions. Even using our own native language we all find it hard sometimes to explain how to get somewhere. Doing it in Spanish is only a bit more difficult:
¿Tengo que ir en esa dirección? ¿Cuántas calles?
Do I need to walk in this direction? How many blocks?
We know that we have to go straight on. In the following three phrases we will see how to build sentences like “Walk straight on for ten minutes” or “Walk straight on three blocks”:
Camine en línea recta tres calles.
Walk straight on three blocks (formal).
Camina en línea recta cinco minutos.
Walk straight on for five minutes (informal).
After walking straight on it’s time to turn. Let’s see how to build sentences such as “Afterwards go to the left for five minutes” or “Afterwards go to the right one block”:
Después, ¿a la derecha o a la izquierda?
Afterwards, to the right or to the left?
Después vaya a la derecha.
Afterwards go to the right.
Después vaya a la izquierda.
Afterwards go to the left.
