I didn't learn how to use the 3 ways of saying there in Portuguese until I'd been in Brazil for several years. That changed suddenly when talking on the phone I said, Como vai lá? Silence followed. It was as if I had said, Como vai lá em Londres?.
Oh! Você quer dizer, Como vai aqui? Bem... Estou bem!
That was the eventual response. If you ask a Brazilian OVER THE TELEPHONE how it's going lá. It doesn't really compute. It's like you are asking them how it's going in some other place far, far away. The correct there to use is aí.
THERE in Portuguese : visualized
ali: within eyesight
lá: out of sight
lá: out of sight
This is the one you already know. Use it to talk about there that is somewhere else - where neither you nor you audience is physically located.
*You can use lá to express there for all situations by default. You_will be understood but, you're making it clear that you're just a beginner. When you start to use ali and especially aí, you're on your way to fluency in the language.
More great examples of how lá is really used in Portuguese.
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ali: within eyesight
Pointing out a restaurant on the other side of the street; that table against the wall; the Tesla X driving in the fast lane.
aí: where the listener is.
Of the 3 ways to say THERE in Portuguese, aí is the one that trips everyone up!
So for example, asking someone on the other end of the phoneline about there, use aí. Like this:
Or, they could be in the same room:
They could even be right next to you:
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