distancia
/disˈtanθja/feminine
The English word distance is distancia in Spanish.
distancia is a noun used to describe an amount of space between points, acting as both a countable and uncountable noun. You can use the phrase a distancia to describe something done remotely, such as clases a distancia (distance learning). To describe spatial relationships, you can use the adverb lejos for far, cerca for close, bastante lejos for quite far or the phrase a unos pasos de to mean a few steps from. If you need to express distance in a formal context, particularly regarding geographical measurements, the term longitud can be used.
Meaning: (countable, uncountable) amount of space between points (noun)
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The feminine singular form is distancia and the plural form is distancias.
How do you pronounce it?
/disˈtanθja/
Did you know?
- While distancia refers to the space between two points, Spanish uses the specific word lejanía to evoke the poetic or nostalgic feeling of being far away.
- The expression a corta distancia is common, but in casual speech, people often use a tiro de piedra, which literally means 'within a stone's throw'.
- In Spanish, the phrase tomar distancia is often used metaphorically to mean emotionally distancing oneself from a person or a situation to gain perspective.
Examples in context
- Vi tierra a la distancia.I saw land in the distance.This sentence shows how to use distancia to describe seeing land in the distance.Tatoeba #3185708 by marcelostockle, translation #25821 by CK
- Veíamos la torre en la distancia.We saw the tower in the distance.This sentence shows how to use distancia to describe seeing a tower in the distance.Tatoeba #7816222 by arh, translation #25827 by CK
- Vimos un castillo en la distancia.We saw a castle in the distance.This sentence shows how to use distancia to describe seeing a castle in the distance.Tatoeba #2402682 by wallebot, translation #25796 by CK
- La distancia entre las dos ciudades es de 100 kilómetrosThe distance between the two cities is 100 kilometers
- La distancia que recorrió el satélite en el espacioThe distance the satellite traveled in space
- La distancia entre mi casa y el colegio es cortaThe distance between my house and the school is short
- Hoy recorrí mucho camino en bicicletaToday, I covered a long distance on my bike
- La casa está a un trecho del parqueThe house is a distance from the park
- Vivo a diez kilómetros del centroI live ten kilometers from downtown
- El aeropuerto está a cinco kilómetros de aquíThe airport is five kilometers from here
- La tienda está bastante lejos de aquíThe store is quite far from here
- 60 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Sofía and Javier are planning a road trip.
- SofíaJavier, ¿sabes la distancia total del recorrido?Javier, do you know the total distance of the route?
- JavierSí, son aproximadamente trescientos kilómetros.Yes, it is approximately three hundred kilometers.
- SofíaEs una distancia muy larga para un solo día.It is a very long distance for a single day.
- JavierTienes razón, deberíamos descansar a mitad de camino.You are right, we should rest halfway.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “distance” translations and entries distancia, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
