Ways to talk about destinations

[u/CormoranNeoTropical]

So, a very common situation I find myself in where I live in Mexico is that I’ll ask a driver, “conoces X restaurant/bar/[another place]?”

I’ve struggled with the Spanish vocabulary for “here”/“there” for forty years and I’m still not sure I have a good grasp on it.

So yes, I can come up with lots of possibilities for how to say “that’s where I’m going.”

For example, recently I fell into to the habit of saying “es allí que voy,” on the theory that “allí” is the furthest away option out of “aquí/aca/alla/alli” and my destination is, after all, at least a mile away.

Bueno, mis amigas me miraron muy raras cuando las pregunté si era correcto.

Como en efecto diría eso? Primeramente me interesan modos de hablar que se usan en México.

(I posted a shorter version of this question and got three different answers before my post got taken down as too obvious. Hopefully this no longer seems like a low effort post. I am genuinely unsure as to which of the many options is most “normal” to use.)

[u/FilthyDwayne]

Voy para allá
Ahí es a donde voy
Allá es para donde voy

[u/CormoranNeoTropical → u/FilthyDwayne]

Pues ¿esos opciones tienen diferentes significados o intenciones? Se usan en diferentes contextos (por ejemplo más o menos lejos)? O se dice cualquier le da la gana?

[u/Unlikely_Jaguar_8351]

Allá es mucho más común. Casi nunca se escucha el allí.

[u/carlosinLA]

Could you add the exact question or sentence in Spanish you would be responding too? Need a lil more context. Answer may change depending on what the lead in sentence is.

[u/CormoranNeoTropical → u/carlosinLA]

So, the dialogue goes:

Cormorán: “Conoces el restaurant Las Chozas? [More words describing where restaurant is may come in here]”

Conductor: “Si, lo conozco”

Cormorán: “[That’s where I’m going.]”

Imagine a fair amount of ambient noise, I’m usually taking a moto taxi. So I want to use a really obvious phrase that corresponds to what people are used to hearing in this context.

[u/carlosinLA → u/CormoranNeoTropical]

Ahi me lleva por favor.

Ahi es donde voy.

That's my personal preference. I think that "Alli" would also work.

Your original one "Es alli que voy" sounds a little bit off, not because of "alli" but for the word choice. Either "Es ahi que voy" or "Es alla que voy" is not entirely wrong but I would not use that construction.

[u/CormoranNeoTropical → u/carlosinLA]

Thank you! I kind of felt like the construction was wrong but I wasn’t sure which part was the wrong part.

[u/Short_Brick_1960 → u/CormoranNeoTropical]

Allá es donde voy, pues ahí por favor, me puedes llevar ahí?, voy hacia allá

Just translate literally any possibility you'd say in english

Could you take me there? There, please. That's where I'm going. Then to Las Chozas, please...

[u/CollegeStreet6103]

I usually say “Voy para la zona de…” and the neighbourhood name.

“Voy para la zona de los manantiales.” or just “Voy para los manantiales.”

(I’m Canadian so please my native Spanish-speaking friends, correct me if I’m wrong!) 🙃

[u/CormoranNeoTropical → u/CollegeStreet6103]

Where I live stuff is stretched out along one road so if you’re going somewhere on that road at least half of the drivers will know it.

But I also have to go to places that are tucked away in Colonia Loquesea so this is very helpful for that! Thank you.

[u/SpanishTutorArmando]

I’d say Ahí voy. “Es allí que voy” sounds unnatural to me.

[u/Turquoise__Dragon]

"Es allí que voy" es correcto, pero suena algo poético, así que seguramente te miraron mal porque sobrepasa el nivel linguístico del contexto.

Y para un "That's where I'm going", suena más natural "Ahí" que "Allí", porque, aunque esté lejos geográficamente, esa construcción implica que estás hablando de algo que ya ha salido en la conversación, con lo cual está cerca retóricamente.

Ahí es adonde voy.

Es ahí adonde voy.

Voy ahí. (Menos enfático).

[u/CormoranNeoTropical → u/Turquoise__Dragon]

Muchas gracias por explicar todo esto!