Spanish Grammar: The Verb [IR]+[A] with Places

Spanish Grammar: The Verb [IR]+[A] with Places

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Spanish Grammar: The Verb [IR]+[A] with Places
la gramática española: el verbo [ir]+[a] con los lugares

  • The verb [IR] means to go. It is an irregular verb.
  • May be used to indicate where people are going.

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The Verb IR : TO GO
(Present Indicative Tense)
yo VOY I go (am going)
VAS you go (are going)
él / ella / usted VA he / she go – you go (are going)
nosotros VAMOS we go (are going)
vosotros VAIS y’all go (are going) 
ellos / ellas / ustedes VAN  they / you all go (are going)

We use IR+A with places to express that someone is going to somewhere. So whenever you’re going to a place, you’ll use IR+A to get there!

This has three major components.

A conjugated form of the verb IR (to go)…

yo voy, tú vas, el/ella/usted va … etc (more in the chart below!)

A “phrase relator” – namely, the preposition “A”…

Yo voy A la biblioteca.
Tú vas A las montañas.
Ella va A los bancos.

And a place

Yo voy a la librería.
Nosotros vamos a un concierto.
Ellos van a las tiendas.

When using IR+A with a location, pay close attention to the gender of the noun/place you are using.

When going to a masculine singular place, you’ll need to contract the preposition A + the masculine article EL to make the new contraction “AL”.  Here are some examples:

el cine –> Yo voy al cine.
I am going to the movie theater.

el restaurante –> Nosotros vamos al restaurante.
We are going to the restaurant.

el supermercado –> Ellas van al supermercado.
They (feminine) are going to the supermarket.

el parque –> ¿Ud. va al parque?
Are you (formal) going to the park?

No contraction is needed when talking about going to a feminine singular place:

la biblioteca –> Tú vas a la biblioteca.
You (informal) are going to the library.

No contraction is needed when talking about going to a masculine plural place:

los edificios –> Él va a los edificios.
He is going to the buildings.

No contraction is needed when talking about going to a feminine plural place:

las oficinas –> Ellos van a las oficinas.
They are going to the offices.

Use ¿Adónde? when asking (to) where someone is going:

¿Adónde van Uds.?
(To) where are you all going?

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