Many Yabla users have been wondering about the difference between 'vivir en' and 'vivir a' when you are talking about a particular place. In this lesson, we will explain how to properly use the verb vivir (to live) with either of these two prepositions. Let's start this lesson with a little quiz. Put the missing preposition(s) in the following sentence:

Porque si te cansas de vivir ___ Cádiz, te puedes ir a vivir ___ Málaga.

Because if you get tired of living in Cadiz, you can go to live in Malaga.

Would you use the preposition a or the preposition en? Or both? Let's find out the answer.

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When to use vivir + en

We use 'vivir en' when we want to indicate a place. Let's see some examples:

Hice mis amigos, tengo mi novia

I made friends, I have my girlfriend,

y me encanta vivir en Miami.

and I love to live in Miami.

Captions 35-36, Fiesta en Miami - Antonio

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Siempre he tenido mi idea de vivir en Alemania.

I have always wanted to live in Germany.

Caption 82, Gonzalo el Pintor - Vida

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When to use vivir + a

We use 'vivir a' when we want to indicate that someone is moving towards a place: a destination. Because of that, 'vivir a' is preceded by verbs that indicate movement such as ir (to go) or venir (to come). In fact, the preposition 'a' before the destination is required by the verb that indicates movement and not by the verb vivir (to live). Let's take a look:

Me voy a ir a vivir a Barcelona.

I'm going to go live in Barcelona.

Caption 23, Arume - Málaga, España

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¿Viene a vivir a Buenos Aires?

She's coming to live in Buenos Aires?

Caption 38, Yago - 8 Descubrimiento

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Combining 'vivir en' and 'vivir a'

Now that we understand the difference, it is time to solve our quiz:

Porque si te cansas de vivir en Cádiz,

Because if you get tired of living in Cadiz,

te puedes ir a vivir a Málaga.

you can go to live in Malaga.

Captions 10-11, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos

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That's it for now. We hope you like this lesson and don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions.

Celebrating women of a certain age, Mujer Cuarenta is an invitation to party, dance, fool around and enjoy life, Caribbean style. Listen in:

Baila y canta y vive sin pena, si te enamoras, en hora buena

Dance and sing and live without worries, if you fall in love, congratulations

Caption 11, Landa Henríquez - Mujer Cuarenta

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"En hora buena" literally means "at a good hour," but it's understood as a congratulations -- as in, "Good for you!" or "Congrats!" You hear this in Spain and throughout Latin America -- from the Caribbean coasts down to the Southern Cone.

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When it's used as a noun, "enhorabuena" is usually written as one word. For example:

Todo el mundo quería darle la enhorabuena después del partido.
Everybody wanted to offer congratulations to him after the match.

But as an interjection, you'll see both "en hora buena" and "enhorabuena" (both are correct). Here are a few more examples:

Estamos, estamos... -Enhorabuena.

It's a deal, it's a deal... -Congratulations.

Caption 46, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos

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En hora buena, Elena, tu hija es hermosa.
Congratulations, Elena, your daughter is beautiful.

¡Llegaste! ¡Enhorabuena!
You arrived! Congratulations / At last!

Queremos que Julio venga enhorabuena, porque ya han pasado dos semanas.
We want Julio to finally come back, because it's already been two weeks.

Note that in the last example above, "enhorabuena" is an adverb, modifying the verb "venir." In this usage, "enhorabuena" comes closer to its literal meaning of "at a good hour."
 

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Meanwhile, Spanish has two other congratulatory interjections: "Felicidades" and "Felicitaciones." There's some overlap between the three words, but "enhorabuena" and "felicitaciones" tend to congratulate accomplishments or achievements while "felicidades" might celebrate an occasion like a birthday.