Google Maps is useful until it tells you to enter through a wall, walk across six lanes, or “arrive” at the back of a building with no door and one suspicious plant. That is when you need Mexican Spanish for directions: ¿por dónde queda?, siga derecho, en la esquina, enfrente, cruzando.
The goal is not to understand a whole paragraph. The goal is to catch the next move.
The direction phrase map
Use these before your battery and patience both hit 4 percent.
| Need | Say this | Listen for |
|---|---|---|
| Where is it? | ¿Por dónde queda…? | derecho, esquina, enfrente |
| Is it close? | ¿Queda cerca? | sí / no / caminando |
| Do I keep going? | ¿Sigo derecho? | sí, hasta… |
| Which entrance? | ¿Por dónde está la entrada? | por aquí / por allá |
| Repeat please | Perdón, ¿me repites? | slower answer |
| Confirm landmark | ¿Frente al OXXO? | sí / exacto |
Dirección means direction or address depending on context.1 In a street moment, you usually want direction first and address second.
Ask for the next step
Do not ask:
¿Cómo llego desde mi estado actual de incertidumbre hasta el destino completo?
Ask:
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Disculpa, ¿por dónde queda la entrada?Excuse me, which way is the entrance?
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¿Sigo derecho hasta la esquina?Do I keep going straight until the corner?
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¿Está enfrente de la farmacia?Is it across from the pharmacy?
A good direction question should be answerable with one gesture.
The words that carry most routes
These words show up constantly.
| Word | What to do |
|---|---|
| derecho | go straight |
| esquina | corner |
| enfrente | in front / across from |
| cruzando | crossing / after crossing |
| hasta | until / as far as |
| por allá | over that way |
| por aquí | this way / around here |
Esquina means corner,2 and frente is the base behind enfrente and frente a.3 These are not just vocabulary words. They are how people make the city visible.
Cruzando does a lot of work
Cruzar means to cross.4 In directions, cruzando often means after crossing or across.
Listen for:
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Está cruzando la calle.It is across the street.
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Cruzas y sigues derecho.You cross and keep going straight.
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Está cruzando, junto al banco.It is across, next to the bank.
The word derecho has several meanings in Spanish,5 but in directions it is your friend: straight ahead.
Recovery phrases
Someone will answer too fast. This is not a personal failure. This is just Tuesday.
Use:
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Perdón, ¿me repites?Sorry, can you repeat that?
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Más despacio, por favor.Slower, please.
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¿Entonces sigo derecho?So I keep going straight?
Confirm the one thing you understood. If they nod, move. If they correct you, congratulations: your Spanish just became useful.
Mexico City phrase guides aimed at learners also emphasize city vocabulary and location words because street signs, neighborhood talk, and directions are where textbook Spanish gets stress-tested.6
Sources
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Diccionario de la lengua española, dirección — Real Academia Española ↩
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Diccionario de la lengua española, esquina — Real Academia Española ↩
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Diccionario de la lengua española, frente — Real Academia Española ↩
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Diccionario de la lengua española, cruzar — Real Academia Española ↩
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Diccionario de la lengua española, derecho — Real Academia Española ↩
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spanishNY, City vocabulary for Mexico City — spanishNY ↩
Test yourself
tap an answer.
You want to ask where the entrance is. What do you say?
Someone says sigue derecho. What should you do?
The answer was too fast. What is the clean recovery?
