Why is it "là" instead of "ici"?
les soirs où tu n'es pas là
- « Back to Q&A Forum
- « Previous questionNext question »
HillaryKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
les soirs où tu n'es pas là
This question relates to:French writing exercise "(Scary) Bedtime stories"
Asked 2 years ago
The simple explanation of the difference between là and ici is that là=there and ici=here. However, this falls short in several circumstances, where you'll always here one and never the other:
Viens ici! -- Come here. (that one's easy)
Je suis là. -- I'm here. That's the standard way of saying this.
My understanding is that là is a less precise description of a location than ici. Ici means "right here". Là is more general and can often also mean "here" in a more general and less precise sense.
Note that if you want to denote some other location, like "over there", you'd use là-bas.
Elle est là. -- She's here.
Elle est là-bas. -- She's over there.
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Ask a question
Find your French level for FREE
Test your French to the CEFR standard
Find your French level