Voted Best Answer
Jan 07, 2019 - 06:16 AM
Hi carriesciammas, very good question!
Là and Là-bas can be confusing because the translation is not so clear-cut, and they can both mean "there" or "over there" depending on the situation. The main nuance is that "là" is used for things that are closer to the speaker, generally things he/she can point at, while "là-bas" is rather used for distant things, that are far away from the speaker. For example if you refer to another city or country you'll always use "là-bas"... Yet many times they are interchangeable and depend on the speaker's point of view.
In this example, you're right, the answer could be both:
il y a six pâtisseries et deux très bonnes boulangeries là-bas AND il y a six pâtisseries et deux très bonnes boulangeries là
Since the phrase is out of context we don't know if the speaker is referring to distant or close by shops, so both answers should be accepted and we'll make sure that they're both available.
***Watch out though: in this example there is no hyphen before "là" or "là-bas", you ONLY use hyphens in the structure: this thing here (cette chose-ci), that thing there (cette chose-là). When there is no This or That before (or these or those), then no hyphen is used.
I hope this clears things up a little! Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work!
Là and Là-bas can be confusing because the translation is not so clear-cut, and they can both mean "there" or "over there" depending on the situation. The main nuance is that "là" is used for things that are closer to the speaker, generally things he/she can point at, while "là-bas" is rather used for distant things, that are far away from the speaker. For example if you refer to another city or country you'll always use "là-bas"... Yet many times they are interchangeable and depend on the speaker's point of view.
In this example, you're right, the answer could be both:
il y a six pâtisseries et deux très bonnes boulangeries là-bas AND il y a six pâtisseries et deux très bonnes boulangeries là
Since the phrase is out of context we don't know if the speaker is referring to distant or close by shops, so both answers should be accepted and we'll make sure that they're both available.
***Watch out though: in this example there is no hyphen before "là" or "là-bas", you ONLY use hyphens in the structure: this thing here (cette chose-ci), that thing there (cette chose-là). When there is no This or That before (or these or those), then no hyphen is used.
I hope this clears things up a little! Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work!
