fui a la escuela
/fwi a la eskwela/from spelling rules
The English phrase "I went to school" is translated into Spanish as fui a la escuela.
This phrase is used to say that someone traveled to a place of education.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of fui (I went), a (to), la (the) and escuela (school).
Which one should you use?
Unlike English, which can omit the article in "went to school", Spanish requires the definite article la before escuela.
Is it said differently in some regions?
Some regions use Instituto to refer to a secondary school.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word fui is the first-person singular preterite form of the verb ir (to go).
Did you know?
- The word escuela shares its roots with the Ancient Greek word skholḗ, which originally meant 'leisure' or 'free time'.
- The verb form fui is identical for both the first and third person singular in the preterite tense. This means fui a la escuela can mean 'I went to school' or 'he/she went to school' depending on the context.
- Depending on the region, a Spanish speaker might say fui al colegio to mean they went to primary or secondary school.
Examples in context
- Fui a la escuela.I went to school.Tatoeba #3797017 by Seael, translation #3797008 by CM
- Ayer fui a la escuela.I went to school yesterday.Tatoeba #1881025 by Shishir, translation #257759 by CK
- Fui a la escuela con Tom.I went to school with Tom.Tatoeba #8970658 by Shishir, translation #3171897 by CK
- Fui a la escuela para estudiar.I went to school to study.
- Hoy fui a la escuela temprano.Today I went to school early.
- Hoy fui al colegio a ver a mis amigos.Today I went to school to see my friends.
- Fui al colegio a entregar mi tarea.I went to school to hand in my homework.
- 3 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about their day.
- AlejandroHola María, ¿qué hiciste hoy?Hi María, what did you do today?
- MaríaHola Alejandro, fui a la escuela temprano.Hi Alejandro, I went to school early.
- Alejandro¿Tuviste mucha tarea?Did you have a lot of homework?
- MaríaSí, por eso fui a la escuela hoy.Yes, that is why I went to school today.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries a, escuela, la, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
