cerca
/SER-ka/
near
As an adverb, cerca means 'near' or 'close', describing the location of one object relative to another.
📝 In Action
El supermercado está cerca.
A1The supermarket is nearby.
Mi oficina está cerca de mi casa.
A1My office is near my house.
No te preocupes, vivimos muy cerca.
A2Don't worry, we live very close.
Ven más cerca para ver mejor.
B1Come closer to see better.
💡 Grammar Points
Cerca vs. Cerca de
Use 'cerca' by itself to mean 'nearby'. Use 'cerca de' when you're saying something is near another specific thing. Example: 'El café está cerca' (The café is nearby) vs. 'El café está cerca de la oficina' (The café is near the office).
❌ Common Pitfalls
Adverb vs. Adjective
Mistake: "Mi casa está cercana."
Correction: Mi casa está cerca. 'Cerca' describes *where* the house is (an adverb), not *what kind* of house it is. Use the adjective 'cercano/a' to describe a noun directly, like 'un pueblo cercano' (a nearby town).
⭐ Usage Tips
Location, Not Emotion
'Cerca' is almost always about physical distance. To talk about being emotionally close to someone, you'd usually use words like 'unido' (close-knit) or say 'somos muy amigos' (we're very good friends).
When used as a noun, cerca refers to a fence or enclosing wall used to mark boundaries or protect a property.
cerca(Noun)
fence
?A barrier around a property
wall
?Specifically, an enclosing wall around a property, not the wall of a room
📝 In Action
El perro saltó la cerca del jardín.
B1The dog jumped the garden fence.
Necesitamos reparar la cerca de madera.
B1We need to repair the wooden fence.
Construyeron una cerca alta alrededor de la propiedad.
B2They built a high fence around the property.
⭐ Usage Tips
Cerca vs. Muro vs. Pared
A 'cerca' is a fence or enclosing wall. A 'muro' is a bigger, solid wall, often of stone (like the Great Wall of China, 'La Gran Muralla'). A 'pared' is the interior wall of a room in a building.
The third-person singular present conjugation of the verb cercar (to fence in or surround) is cerca.
cerca(Verb)
he/she/it fences in
?Building a fence
,he/she/it surrounds
?Military or strategic context
he/she/it encloses
?General term for closing something off
📝 In Action
El jardinero cerca el huerto para proteger las verduras.
B2The gardener fences in the vegetable patch to protect the vegetables.
La policía cerca el edificio donde se esconden los sospechosos.
C1The police surround the building where the suspects are hiding.
💡 Grammar Points
Spelling Change Alert!
Notice how the 'c' changes to 'qu' in some forms (like 'yo cerqué' or 'que él cerque'). This happens to keep the hard 'k' sound. It's a regular pattern for all verbs ending in '-car'.
🔄 Conjugations
indicative
present
preterite
imperfect
subjunctive
present
imperfect
✏️ Quick Practice
💡 Quick Quiz: cerca
Question 1 of 1
Which sentence is correct and uses 'cerca' in two different ways (as a noun and an adverb)?
📚 More Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between 'cerca' and 'cercano'?
'Cerca' is an adverb that tells you *where* something is (e.g., 'Vivo cerca' - I live nearby). 'Cercano' is an adjective that describes a noun, meaning it's a *type* of thing (e.g., 'un pueblo cercano' - a nearby town). If you can ask 'where?', use 'cerca'.
When do I use 'cerca de' instead of just 'cerca'?
Use 'cerca' by itself to simply say something is 'nearby'. Use 'cerca de' when you want to connect it to another object to say it's 'near *to something*'. For example: 'La farmacia está cerca' (The pharmacy is nearby). vs. 'La farmacia está cerca del banco' (The pharmacy is near the bank).