Hay v Estar

[lynnxa]

this causes a lot of confusion - unless you follow a few simple rules..........

HAY v ESTAR

Simply translated, HAY = THERE IS / THERE ARE
or as a question IS THERE? / ARE THERE?

HAY is used with un / una (a) / unos / unos (some)
¿Hay cama en el dormitorio? Is there a bed in the bedroom?
Hay una cama en el dormitorio. There is a bed in the bedroom.

HAY is also used with muchos/as, pocos/as, algunos/as
a lot of/a few of/some
Hay muchos niños en el patio. There are a lot of children in the playground.

with numbers – dos, tres, cuatro ..........................

and with common nouns (names of things)–
Hay flores en el jardín. There are flowers in the garden.

In this context ESTÁ / ESTÁN translate as it is / they are (in that place)
ESTAR is used with el / la / los / las (the)

La cama está en el dormitorio. The bed is in the bedroom.
¿Está la cama en el dormitorio? Is the bed in the bedroom?

ESTAR is also used with prepositions of position eg. Delante de/encima de/detrás de etc.– in front of/on/behind etc.
La florera está encima de la mesa. The vase is on the table.

And with proper nouns (names of people or places) –
¿Está Jaime? Is Jaime there?

[Spain]

When would you use dormitorio and when would you use habitacion ?

Is this a regional thing ?

[lynnxa]

When would you use dormitorio and when would you use habitacion ?

Is this a regional thing ?

not as far as I am aware

dormitorio = bedroom, whereas habitacion = room, any room in a house, or a hotel room

usually when asking for a hotel room you would use habitacion, I suppose because hotel rooms aren't always just bedrooms

[Spain]

For us down here we would hear more habitación meaning bedroom than dormitorio although neither seems incorrect.

[lynnxa]

For us down here we would hear more habitación meaning bedroom than dormitorio although neither seems incorrect.

spain is a huge country, so I suppose there will be differences

also spanish is a living language - so subject to tweaks


kids will tend to refer to their room as ' mi habitacion' rather than 'mi dormitorio' much the same as they would in english

to be specific when talking about a bedroom as opposed to any other kind of room, dormitorio would be more usual

[brisca]

For us down here we would hear more habitación meaning bedroom than dormitorio although neither seems incorrect.

Yes, here too, people tend to use "habitacion" for bedroom, rather than dormitorio.
I guess it must be a regional thing??
Children particularly tend to refer to their bedrooms as "mi cuarto" in this area.

The "habitacion" v "dormitorio" thing caused me a few problems when we moved into our house.
Several villagers spoke to me about what a big house it was (meaning it has a fair sized bit of outside space for a village house)
I was quick to point out that the house itself is not what you could call big - and I said "It's only got 4 rooms" (habitaciones)
I meant that it had a lounge, dining room and 2 bedrooms; but it was taken that I meant it had 4 bedrooms, and that I was trying to pass it off as a small house!!

[shinyandy]

What is the difference between encima and sobre ?

[brisca]

What is the difference between encima and sobre ?

According to my dictionary............not a lot really Andy! (But don't quote me )

I think you would say something was "sobre la mesa" (on top of the table)
but you'd have to add "de" to encima:
i.e "encima de la mesa" (on top of the table)

Personally, I tend to use "encima de" more than "sobre"
I use sobre more to mean "about" - but then (like so many Spanish words) "sobre" means so many different things that you can take your pick really!

[lynnxa]

According to my dictionary............not a lot really Andy! (But don't quote me )

I think you would say something was "sobre la mesa" (on top of the table)
but you'd have to add "de" to encima:
i.e "encima de la mesa" (on top of the table)

Personally, I tend to use "encima de" more than "sobre"
I use sobre more to mean "about" - but then (like so many Spanish words) "sobre" means so many different things that you can take your pick really!

like you say brisca - nothing much

of course a sobre is also an envelope!

I tend to not use either when talking about something being 'on' something else

you can say -

El ordenador está sobre las mesa

El ordenador está encima de la mesa

El ordenador está en la mesa

all mean the same - the computer is on the table

of course 'en' can be understood as 'in', so the context has to be taken into account

I tend to use sobre more if talking about time

normalmente, el tren llega sobre las dos

the train usually arrives at about 2 o'clock

[brisca]

Glad I was on the right track there then, Lynn

This is a really good part of the forum

It's really useful that we can ask questions without feeling daft, and share our knowledge (however limited it might be! )