Ir: Saying Where You Are Going
Ir unlocks movement with only a few high-frequency forms. Pair voy, vas, or va with a and a destination to say where someone is going.
Learning objective
Use voy, vas, and va with a to name a destination.
Ir is the infinitive meaning to go. Use voy with yo, vas with tú, and va with usted, él, or ella. Vamos matches nosotros or nosotras, and van matches ustedes, ellos, or ellas. These present forms are irregular and need to be learned rather than built from a regular ending rule.
To name a destination, use a after the form of ir. Voy a casa means I am going home, and Vas a Madrid means You are going to Madrid. Here a is a preposition, a linking word that introduces the destination and is usually translated as to.
When a is followed by the masculine singular article el, the two words combine as al: Voy al hotel means I am going to the hotel. This combination is called a contraction, one shorter form made from two words. A plus la remains separate: Voy a la estación means I am going to the station.
Spanish can use the simple present for movement happening now or planned in context. Voy al trabajo can mean I go to work or I am going to work. Context decides the best English translation. For now, focus on the stable structure: matching form of ir, then a or al, then the destination.
Examples
Voy a casa.
I am going home.
Voy matches the speaker and a introduces the destination.
Vas a Madrid.
You are going to Madrid.
Vas addresses one person informally.
Ella va al hotel.
She is going to the hotel.
A plus el contracts to al.
Vamos a la estación.
We are going to the station.
A and la remain separate before a feminine noun.
Common mistake
- Instead of
- Voy el hotel.
- Try
- Voy al hotel.
A destination after ir needs the preposition a. Because hotel takes the article el here, a and el combine to form al. The corrected phrase therefore includes both the destination link and the noun's article in the compact form al hotel.
Practice
Try it yourself
Complete with voy, vas, or va and the needed destination phrase: Yo ___ ___ casa; Tú ___ ___ la estación; Usted ___ ___ el hotel. Then write we are going to Madrid.