Sunday, 5 August 2012

Lugar


Today's WOTD is: "lugar" = place

In Spanish, the noun "lugar" is a masculine noun of Latin origin which means place.

Some commonly used expressions containing the words "lugar" are:
  • Dar lugar a (to provoke/ to give rise to);
  • Dejar a alguien en mal lugar (to put someone in an awkward position);
  • El lugar del suceso (the scene of the incident);
  • El primer lugar (the first place – in a ranking)*;
  • En algún lugar (somewhere);
  • En cualquier lugar (anywhere);
  • En cualquier otro lugar (anywhere else);
  • En lugar de (instead of);
  • En lugar de alguien (on behalf of someone/ in place of someone);
  • En lugar fresco (in a cool place);
  • En tu lugar... (if I were you...)**;
  • En primer lugar (first of all);
  • En un lugar de la Mancha... (somewhere in La Mancha... famous first line of Don Quixote);
  • Este no es el lugar (this is not the place);
  • Fuera de lugar (out of order)
  • Hacer lugar para algo/ alguien (to make room/ space for something or someone);
  • Los habitantes del lugar (local people/ the locals);
  • Lugar común (cliché);
  • Lugar de nacimiento (place of birth);
  • Lugar y fecha de nacimiento (place and date of birth);
  • No ha lugar (petition denied – legal);
  • Poner a alguien en su lugar (to put someone in his/ her place);
  • Ponerse en lugar de alguien (to put oneself in someone else's place);
  • Tener lugar para algo/ alguien (to have room for someone/ something);
  • Tener lugar algo (to take place/ to occur/ to happen);

*NB Change the ordinal (“primer”) to another suitable ordinal to indicate a different place in a ranking, e.g. “el segundo lugar”, the second place.
**NB This expression of a hypothetical situation may be adapted to fit other situations by changing the possessive “tu” for another relevant possessive, e.g “en mi lugar, ¿que harías? (if you were me, what would you do?)


Some examples of the use of the word "lugar" are:
  • La infracción dio lugar a la sanción (the breach gave rise to the fine/ sanction);
  • Me dejas en mal lugar (you are putting me in an awkward position);
  • Tenemos lugar de gas (we have gas heating);
  • La policía se personó en el lugar del suceso (the police turned up at the scene of the incident);
  • Mario ocupa el tercer lugar de la lista (Mario is in third place on the list);
  • En algún lugar nos veremos (we'll meet somewhere);
  • Quedamos en cualquier lugar (we can meet anywhere);
  • Quedamos en cualquier otro lugar (we can meet anywhere else);
  • En lugar de llamarme a mi llamas a Pedro (instead of calling me you call Pedro);
  • Antonio firmó los papeles en lugar de su padre (Antonio signed the papers on his father's behalf);
  • Conservese en un lugar fresco (keep in a cool place);
  • En tu lugar yo no lo haría (if I were you, I wouldn't do it);
  • En primer lugar, dime que has hecho (to begin with, tell me what you have done);
  • Este no es el lugar para una fiesta como esta (this is not the place for a party like this);
  • Tu actitud está fuera de lugar (your reaction is out of order);
  • Hagamos lugar para tus amigos (let's make room for your friends);
  • Los habitantes del lugar nos brindaron su ayuda (the locals offered us their help);
  • A veces resulta difícil no caer en lugares comunes (sometimes it is difficult not to resort to clichés);
  • ¿Cual es tu lugar de nacimiento? (what is your place of birth?);
  • Lugar y fecha de nacimiento son datos personales importantes (place and date of birth are important items of personal data);
  • No ha lugar la protesta (the objection is overruled);
  • A Diego hay que ponerlo en su lugar (Diego needs to be put in his place);
  • Ponte en mi lugar (put yourself in my place);
  • Tengo lugar en mi corazón para ti (there is room in my heart for you);
  • Ayer tuvo lugar una carrera de caballos (yesterday a horse race took place);

Love-Spanish.com loves the word "lugar" in the YouTube clip: Julieta Venegas - Un Lugar

For more on the word "lugar", visit: Wordreference.com/es/en/ Lugar

*NB 'Click' on the speaker icon next to the word “lugar” in the link to hear the word pronounced.

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